The sky is seemingly falling in Kansas City for Chiefs fans.

The Chiefs put together another frustrating performance Thursday in front of a national audience and lost a 31-28 decision against the Dallas Cowboys, dropping their record to 6-6 on the season.

With just five games left, Kansas City has to win out and have some help to even make the playoffs this season.

The weird thing is, the Chiefs are statistically better across the board than they were last season.

In 2024, Kansas City averaged 321.3 yards of offense and allowed 325.3. This year, the Chiefs are gaining 374.8 yards per game and allowing 306.7.

Points for and against tell the same story. Kansas City scored 23.1 points per game and allowed 20.5 last season, while this year the team averages 25.4 offensively while giving up 19.3.

The only place the team is obviously worse is record, and there’s one major reason for it.

The Chiefs simply aren’t executing when the game is on the line in the fourth quarter, something that had become a superpower for the team in its dynastic run.

Kansas City went 11-0 in one-score games during last regular season and added another against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game to make it 12-0 and set an NFL record with 17 straight dating back to the 2023 season.

What are the Chiefs in one-score games this year? That answer is 1-6.

The narrative is Kansas City was extremely lucky last season and/or benefited by the officials to always win these games.

Luck is hard to define, though, and I refuse to buy into theories of officiating deciding games. Every good coach will tell you games aren’t decided by just one play.

That brings me right back to end-of-game execution.

Here’s a quick walk-through of what happened at the tail end of each of the Chiefs’ six losses.

• Against the Chargers in Week 1, Justin Herbert scrambled for a 19-yard gain on third-and-14 to pick up the first down that allowed Los Angeles to run out the clock.

• Versus the Eagles the following week, Travis Kelce dropped what would’ve been a go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter, and Philadelphia was able to take advantage with a touchdown on the other end to make it a two-score game that proved to be just a little too steep of a hill to climb.

• Against the Jaguars in Week 4, the defense took a 28-24 lead onto the field with 1:45 to go and allowed Jacksonville to march 60 yards in seven plays before scoring the game-winning touchdown on a botched play.

• Versus the Bills in a critical game in Week 9 after the team had seemed to turn a corner, the defense gave Patrick Mahomes and the offense a chance to tie the game with about seven minutes left, and Mahomes threw what essentially turned out to be a game-sealing interception.

• Then following the bye week against the Broncos in another got-to-have-it game, the offense lost 11 yards in a three-and-out in a tie game in the final four minutes that allowed Denver to take the final 2:59 off the clock and win on a field goal on the final play.

• Thursday was the most recent example: an eight-play, 39-yard drive by the Cowboys that burned the final 3:27 off the clock in a three-point game.

Same story, different day.

I don’t have an explanation for what this team is going through, and the coaches and playing don’t seem to either.

Andy Reid has been adamant all year this team is right there and is just one or two plays away in each of these losses.

While he is correct, there is no more time for “we will figure it out” from Reid. The season is on the line in each game going forward and very well could already be finished if enough teams win around Kansas City in the playoff picture.

It’s an odd feeling for the team, coaches and fans alike.

It might not be the worst thing for the Chiefs to miss the playoffs after an emotionally draining run the past few years, but I also will never count this team out.

Because at the end of the day, Reid is correct. If this team can find a way to get out of its own way, it is still an extremely good football team.