The Kansas City Chiefs’ reign atop the AFC has officially come to a stunning end. On Sunday, December 14, 2025, the Chiefs were mathematically eliminated from the NFL playoff picture, a scenario that became reality following their 16-13 home loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. The defeat, coupled with wins by the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans, and Jacksonville Jaguars, sealed Kansas City’s fate, marking the first time the franchise will miss the postseason since 2014. This also ends a remarkable 10-year playoff streak, the second-longest in league history and the longest active run in the NFL.
The loss to the Chargers was a microcosm of a frustrating season for the Chiefs, who finish the year with a 6-8 record, their most losses since 2012. The game was decided in the final moments when quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was battered throughout the day and took five sacks, aggravated a knee injury and left the game with under two minutes remaining. Backup Gardner Minshew entered and threw a clinching interception on the final drive, sealing the defeat and the Chiefs’ playoff elimination. Mahomes’ injury status moving forward is now a primary concern for a team looking ahead to an uncharacteristically early offseason.
This outcome represents a dramatic fall for a team that had become the NFL’s premier dynasty. The Chiefs had advanced to the past three Super Bowls, winning two, and had appeared in five of the last six AFC Championship games. Their elimination also preserves a unique piece of NFL history: the Buffalo Bills’ record of four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s remains untouched. The Chiefs, coming off three straight Super Bowl trips, will not be able to match or surpass that feat next season.
The path to elimination was paved by a season of uncharacteristic struggles. After a 5-3 start, Kansas City lost five of its last six games. A critical shift was their performance in close contests; after a record 12-0 run in one-score games through the end of last season, the Chiefs finished this year 1-7 in such situations. Key losses to the Jaguars, Bills, and Texans earlier in the season left them vulnerable in tiebreaker scenarios, and last week’s defeat to Houston officially ended their nine-year reign over the AFC West. Head coach Andy Reid, while defiant last week saying “it’s never over, so you keep battling,” now faces his first losing season with the franchise.
For Patrick Mahomes, this is a career first. The 2025 season will be the first time in his career that his team has missed the playoffs. The Chiefs’ record this year stands in stark contrast to the dominance of the Mahomes era. While a pre-game article outlined a narrow, mathematically possible path to the postseason requiring the Chiefs to win out and get significant help, that scenario evaporated on Sunday. The broader NFL playoff picture now moves forward without its most consistent contender of the last decade, signaling a potential power shift in the AFC as a new chapter begins for the Kansas City Chiefs.