The Write Zone

All teams have their era. The Forty Niners from 1981-1994, the Colts in the Peyton Manning era from 1998-2011, and the Patriots from 2001-2019 with Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. The Chiefs have reined from 2019 to the present, but when I saw this season start, I had to wonder, “Are they who they were anymore?”

Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes. He was MVP in 2018 and 2022, and has a career 34,977 passing yards, 263 passing touchdowns, and a passer rating of 101.6 as of the 2025 season. He has played 122 regular season games so far, and has dominated in a lot of them. And some of his throws are INSANE. But during the first part of this season, he didn’t look like the had that Mahomes magic that he did last year, and his team was being affected by it. People are still saying that they’ll make the Superbowl, but when it all comes down, I don’t think so. I think that the Bills are craving revenge for the previous years, and the Colts and Patriots and Broncos are out seeking glory.

So why did they fall from being back to back Superbowl Champs to being a team struggling to secure a low seed playoff spot? Well, here’s a bit of a breakdown…

• 1. Struggling in Close Games. One of the biggest head-scratchers this season has been how the Chiefs suddenly forgot how to win tight games. Last year they were basically unbeatable in one-score situations, going 10–0 and making it look routine. This season starts and boom — they look terrible, either winning or losing by one possession. Game 1: Loss to the Chargers, score was 29-28. Game 2: Loss to the Eagles, score was 17-16. Game 3: Win against the Jaguars, score was 17-13. Game 4: Win against the Panthers, score was 17-10. Game 5: Loss to the Jaguars, score was 31-28. It wasn’t even that the team got blown out; they just couldn’t finish drives, couldn’t make that last defensive stop, or couldn’t get the one spark they needed late. When your whole identity used to be “don’t let Mahomes have the ball last,” it’s jarring to see the script flip like that. They finally started to get their head in the game a few weeks back, but the early run really showed how thin the margin is when the team is uncoordinated.
• 2. Injuries and Issues at Running Back. Losing Isiah Pacheco for several games with his knee issue put a massive dent in the offense. Pacheco isn’t just a solid back — he sets the tone with how hard he runs, and that energy is contagious. Without him, the rotation behind him has been more “patchwork” than productive. They haven’t gotten the burst, the physicality, or even the steady 4-yard gains that keep a drive alive. Because of that, defenses have been sitting on the pass game. Safeties stay deep, linebackers don’t have to bite on play-action, and suddenly every yard through the air feels more difficult. When the Chiefs are at their best, the run game complements everything else; this year, it’s made the offense easier to diagnose.
• 3. Offensive Ups and Downs. On paper, the yardage totals say the Chiefs are still moving the ball just fine, but the scoreboard hasn’t matched the stat sheet. Long drives keep stalling inside the 20, and instead of punching it in, they’re settling for field goals or — even worse — coming away empty. Mahomes has talked multiple times about missing throws he expects himself to hit, and you can see it on film: a tad off on timing, a hair late on reads, just not the razor-sharp execution we’re used to. Add in the dip in explosive plays and the offense feels almost… methodical, which is weird to say about Kansas City. They’re getting yards, sure, but not the back-breaking chunk plays that flip games in one snap.
• 4. Penalties and Self-Inflicted Mistakes. This has been one of the most frustrating parts of the season for them. The Chiefs aren’t getting beat because teams are out smarting them — they’re beating themselves. Random false starts on third-and-short, holds that wipe out big gains, special teams penalties that force them to start drives in a hole. When you stack all those little mistakes together, they become huge momentum killers. And in one-score games, those mistakes usually end up being the difference between a win and a long walk back to the locker room. It’s not a talent issue; it’s discipline slipping at the worst possible times.
• 5. Predictability on Defense. Steve Spagnuolo is known for throwing creative looks at quarterbacks, but this year teams have been a little quicker to figure him out. Instead of being surprised by the pressure or the coverage rotations, offenses seem more prepared — especially on third down, where KC normally thrives. Some of the blitzes that used to catch teams off guard aren’t landing the same way, and offenses are finding the weak spots they want to attack. The defense isn’t necessarily “bad,” but you can tell it’s easier for opponents to diagnose what they’re seeing. When a Spags defense becomes predictable, even just a bit, the whole structure loses its edge.

When you look at all of that as a whole, you realize, “Oh, that explains it”. And the thing that made the Chiefs the great team recently was the unpredictable plays that were just wild. But in all, they need to fix their serious problems if they have any hopes of holding a trophy in their hands once more.

See you at the next snap,

Tatum.

(One last thing, Happy Birthday to my good friend Jacob!)