Despite an uncharacteristically inconsistent offense, countless dropped passes, and a receiving corps that never quite clicked, Patrick Mahomes still managed to drag the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl last season.
They were just one victory away from completing a historic three-peat. But for all the admiration their resilience earned, not everyone believes the Chiefs‘ golden run is sustainable.
In fact, analyst Jason McIntyre has drawn a hard line in the sand.
“I think I said it the last time I hosted [The Herd] – the Chiefs aren’t going to the playoffs next year, guys,” McIntyre declared.
On the surface, it may sound like a hot take. But when you dig into the numbers and context, the cracks in the Chiefs‘ armor begin to show.
“They were 12-0 in one-score games last year,” McIntyre emphasized. “Good luck duplicating that one.”
Kelce’s decline and a brutal schedule are raising red flags
Historically, teams that go undefeated in one-score games tend to regress the following season. Those games often hinge on tiny margins not on a replicable formula. And McIntyre believes Kansas City exhausted every bit of that good fortune.
“In the final two games of last year, Travis Kelce looked lost,” McIntyre said. “Two catches for 19 yards against Buffalo. Then in the Super Bowl – four catches for 39 yards.”
This is a man with 1,810 career postseason receiving yards. For Kelce, those stats are a dramatic drop-off.
“I don’t want to say he looked washed – that’s a little harsh – but he’s starting to look his age,” McIntyre added.
Even Mahomes, who tried to reassure fans by saying, “If this is the last ride, you would never know,” couldn’t shift the analyst’s perspective.
“Endings aren’t always pretty,” McIntyre warned. “That [the three-peat chase] was the last ride. They were going for the three-peat. And they failed.”
Beyond individual decline, McIntyre laid out a grueling schedule that paints a bleak picture for Kansas City‘s prospects.
“You open with the Chargers. Then the Eagles, Lamar Jackson, Jared Goff,Jayden Daniels, and a trip to Buffalo,” he rattled off. “That is a brutal stretch.”
The road ahead doesn’t get easier. The AFC West has improved across the board. The Raiders are reinvigorated, the Chargers are retooling under new leadership, and even the Broncos are showing signs of life. The Chiefs’ wide receiver group is still a work in progress, and the offensive line remains unsettled.
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