{"id":41111,"date":"2026-01-06T23:19:41","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T23:19:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111"},"modified":"2026-01-06T23:21:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T23:21:10","slug":"should-chiefs-have-any-reason-to-be-optimistic-about-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111","title":{"rendered":"\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40"},"content":{"rendered":"<section id=\"article-body\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_sporting_news_articles_584\/c9bdce6bb8da31768fd2d74e4e0bf69d\" alt=\"Should Chiefs have any reason to be optimistic about 2026 season? - Yahoo Sports\" \/>The Kansas City Chiefs were due for an off year after being the gold standard for excellence in the NFL for the past five or so years.<\/p>\n<p>But 2025 was a significant drop-off from the AFC champs.<\/p>\n<p>A 6-11 record, coupled with poor play and injuries, saw the Chiefs be a shadow of their former selves.<\/p>\n<p>Called a soft reset this offseason, is there any reason for Chiefs Kingdom to be optimistic about their team&#8217;s chances in 2026?<\/p>\n<p>For CBS Sports&#8217; Josh Edwards, the answer is yes, and it&#8217;s because of one player.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The reasons for optimism should be pretty straightforward,&#8221; Edwards writes. &#8220;If Patrick Mahomes is on schedule to return next season, Kansas City will once again be in the mix to contend for the AFC. &#8220;Fortunately, the Chiefs are strapped with premium draft capital which they have not seen in quite some time.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h2>Chiefs have high draft pick&#8230;finally<\/h2>\n<p>Having spent the past few seasons picking either at the end, or near the end of the first round, Kansas City will now get a genuine look at supreme talent in the draft.<\/p>\n<p>Currently holding the No. 9 overall pick, the Chiefs have a shot at landing a high-quality player.<\/p>\n<p>But where do they look?<\/p>\n<p>A running back to ease the workload on Mahomes? A pass rusher or corner?<\/p>\n<p>All of the above are needs, so it will be interesting to see how the Chiefs play it out.<\/p>\n<p>They haven&#8217;t picked this high in a draft for years, so the Chiefs can&#8217;t waste this opportunity.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a horror 2025 season, can we expect things to improve in 2026?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":41112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kansas-city-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"After a horror 2025 season, can we expect things to improve in 2026?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Breaking News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-01-06T23:19:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-01-06T23:21:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kansas-city-bau-8.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MrKen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111\",\"name\":\"\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kansas-city-bau-8.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-01-06T23:19:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-01-06T23:21:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kansas-city-bau-8.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kansas-city-bau-8.png\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"Breaking News\",\"description\":\"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15\",\"name\":\"MrKen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MrKen\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News","og_description":"After a horror 2025 season, can we expect things to improve in 2026?","og_url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111","og_site_name":"Breaking News","article_published_time":"2026-01-06T23:19:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-01-06T23:21:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kansas-city-bau-8.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"MrKen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MrKen","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111","name":"\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40 - Breaking News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kansas-city-bau-8.png","datePublished":"2026-01-06T23:19:41+00:00","dateModified":"2026-01-06T23:21:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kansas-city-bau-8.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/kansas-city-bau-8.png","width":1080,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?p=41111#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\ud83d\udd25 Are the Chiefs Quietly Building a 2026 Comeback? \ud83d\udc40"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/","name":"Breaking News","description":"Explore top US sports stories, and live updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/b503ba061d907097809c4aa8a240af15","name":"MrKen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MrKen"},"url":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41114,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41111\/revisions\/41114"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/breakingnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}