The Kansas City Chiefs had a lot of questions coming into the 2025 season after a blowout in the Super Bowl against the Philadelphia Eagles, but even their biggest skeptics have to be a bit surprised at the way this fall has started for Patrick Mahomes and company.
Following a 27-21 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers where the Chiefs had their chances to come back and win in Week 1, Kansas City was beaten 20-17 by the Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch in front of its home fans on Sunday. That leaves the Chiefs at 0-2 as questions persist about their hopes of getting off the mat and making the playoffs.
Of course, if the Chiefs are able to get into the playoffs, nobody will want to play them in a win or go home scenario. Mahomes and company have proven that they can beat anyone and know how to win those games in the clutch moments. Over the course of the season, however, the Chiefs have some real problems to address when it comes to doing what is required to get into the postseason.
Chiefs still have the same offensive problems
Coming out of the offseason, a lot of the talk around the Chiefs was about how the offense would be much more explosive in 2025. The offensive line had improved, and a second-year leap from Xavier Worthy combined with the return of Rashee Rice would give Mahomes more places to go with the football to create big plays.
While the offensive line has held up better in pass protection, the Chiefs' running game has been absolutely hopeless through two weeks. Patrick Mahomes has been dangerous as a scrambler, notching 123 yards on 13 carries this season, but no Chiefs running back has more than 47 yards on the season.
The pass-catching group has also not held up, as Rice is serving a six-game suspension and Worthy is still sidelined with a shoulder injury that he suffered on Kansas City's first drive of the season. Travis Kelce's decline has continued into this season and was on full display with his crucial drop that cost his team seven points on Sunday, and that has left this group without any explosiveness once again.
Mahomes did hit new addition Tyquan Thornton for a long touchdown near the end of that loss to the Eagles, but overall the offense still seems like it is operating in a phone booth. That is a big problem for the Chiefs as they try to navigate the early part of the season.
Kansas City's defense has some real problems
Those offensive issues aren't necessarily new, but the problems that this Chiefs team is having on defense haven't been an issue in past years. Attrition has hit this unit and has left Steve Spagnuolo with less difference-makers than he is accustomed to having.
The biggest issue with the Chiefs is the pass rush. Kansas City is currently just an average team in pressure rate while ranking second in the league in blitz rate through nearly two weeks, with Monday night's doubleheader still to come according to Next Gen Stats. The inability of this team to get home without blitzing has been a big issue through two games, and was especially problematic in Week 1 against Justin Herbert.
Spagnuolo is still able to dial up a couple of designer blitzes each week that create some negative plays, but now offensive lines can focus entirely on Chris Jones and block up everyone else one-on-one.
Outside of Trent McDuffie, the Chiefs also don't have the same depth of reliable defensive backs that they are used to having during this dynastic run. The combination of opposing quarterbacks having a lot of time to throw with some exploitable players on the back end is a big issue moving forward.
Looking at the Chiefs' schedule
On paper, the Chiefs should be able to get in the win column in Week 3 against the New York Giants, who are also winless to start the season. However, they have dates with the Ravens, Jaguars and Lions coming up after that. Later in the season, Kansas City makes a trip to Buffalo to play the Bills and still has two games against the Broncos, a game against the Chargers and a tough test in Dallas.
Those are all games that the Chiefs could lose, and that's not even taking into account a game against the red-hot Indianapolis Colts. Most of those teams will be able to exploit the issues that the Chiefs are having defensively while making it difficult on Mahomes if the offense remains one-dimensional and too reliant on its star quarterback.
If the Chiefs don't address these issues quickly, getting to even 10 wins will be a big challenge for Andy Reid and his staff.
