The Chiefs’ playoff hopes were heavily impacted on Monday by the Philadelphia Eagles, who notably kickstarted Kansas City’s decline with blowout win in Super Bowl LIX
00:01 ET, 09 Dec 2025Updated 00:01 ET, 09 Dec 2025
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs’ playoff hopes were greatly impacted by the Eagles’ performance on Monday(Image: Getty Images)
The Kansas City Chiefs’ postseason hopes took another sizable hit thanks to one of their recent rivals.
On ‘Monday Night Football,’ the Eagles and Chargers combined for a whopping eight turnovers — two of which bizarrely came on the same play from quarterback Jalen Hurts, whose game-sealing fourth interception in overtime capped off Philadelphia’s 22-19 defeat. The game outcome had significant ramifications for the Chiefs and their playoff aspirations, which currently are hanging on by a thread.
Following a 20-10 defeat to the Houston Texans, Kansas City would realistically need to win the remainder of its games while receiving considerable help from the outside. A late-season collapse from the Chargers — who occupied the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoff picture entering play Monday — certainly would’ve helped.
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The 2025 Chiefs have hardly resembled the team that came just short of a historic Super Bowl three-peat last season. The beginning of the end of Kansas City’s dynasty can be traced back to Super Bowl LIX back in February, during which the Eagles coasted to a dominant 40-22 victory.
Much of the Chiefs’ woes in 2025 stem directly from their inability to squeak out wins in close contests, which once was a strong suit of Kansas City. This year, Andy Reid’s squad boasts a meagre 1-6 record in one-score games — a stark contrast to their spotless 12-0 record in such contests last season.
Upon falling to the Texans at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 14, Kansas City’s reign as king of the AFC West came to an official end — thereby snapping the Chiefs’ streak of nine-straight division titles.
With the defeat, the Chiefs fell to 6-7 on the season — marking the first time that the team has fallen under .500 through 13 games since 2012.
Jalen Hurts struggled mightily in the Eagles’ 22-19 loss to the Chargers(Image: Getty Images)
According to Next Gen Stats’ playoff probability model, Kansas City’s chances of making the postseason subsequently dropped to a mere 15%.
“Listen, it’s never over. You keep battling,” Reid said when asked about the Chiefs’ playoff hopes. “I’ve been doing this a long time [and] seen some things, so you keep going.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes particularly struggled during the losing effort, completing 14-of-33 passes for 160 yards, zero touchdowns and three interceptions.
Once the dust had finally settled on his uncharacteristically poor performance, the 30-year-old finished with a career-worst completion percentage (42.4) and passer rating (19.8).
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While Mahomes acknowledged that time is running out to make the playoffs, the star signal-caller asserted that he and his teammates weren’t letting off the gas any time soon.
“We know the chances are getting lower and lower, but I know the guys on this team are going to give everything they have every opportunity they get,” Mahomes said.
“You’re just getting late in the season, and you’re not going to get these opportunities back. That’s a good team, but we had chances. We didn’t execute at the right time to win it.”