The Kansas City Chiefs have become synonymous with dominance in recent NFL history, but ESPN analyst and NFL veteran Stephen A. Smith believes their reign could be nearing an end. Following their crushing Super Bowl defeat earlier this year, Smith delivered a blunt assessment of the team\u2019s chances in the upcoming 2025\/26 season, warning that history may repeat itself.<\/p>\n
A crushing loss that lingers<\/p>\n
The Chiefs\u2019 40-22 Super Bowl loss to the Philadelphia Eagles has raised serious concerns about their ability to bounce back. For Patrick Mahomes, it marked yet another lopsided defeat on football\u2019s biggest stage. As Smith pointed out, the quarterback now joins John Elway as one of only two players in NFL history to lose multiple Super Bowls by 18 or more points.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the 2020 season, Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs lost the Super Bowl by 21 points, 30-9, to Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. Philadelphia beat Kansas City 40-22 in February,\u201d Smith reminded fans.<\/p>\n
While Mahomes\u2019 individual brilliance remains unquestioned, Smith stressed the impact of poor protection, stating, \u201cHe couldn’t be protected. They got slaughtered, just like he couldn’t be protected against Tampa and they got slaughtered.\u201d<\/p>\n
Offseason moves to fix protection<\/p>\n
The Chiefs wasted little time addressing their weaknesses after the Super Bowl. They secured offensive tackle Jaylon Moore on a two-year, $30 million deal and used their first-round draft pick on Ohio State\u2019s Josh Simmons. Despite Simmons\u2019 previous knee injury, he has already locked down the starting left tackle role during training camp, showing promise in solidifying Mahomes\u2019 protection.<\/p>\n
Competition heating up in the AFC<\/p>\n
However, Smith believes bolstering the offensive line may not be enough. He predicts stiff competition from teams like the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills, both capable of keeping Kansas City away from the Super Bowl this time around.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, all of those things give us an indication that the road to prosperity is going to be a bit more difficult for the Kansas City Chiefs this year than it has been in recent memory,\u201d Smith said. \u201cThey’ve been pretty damn dominant. At some point in time, people are saying it’s got to end, and I think that this year is the year that it does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Smith also highlighted the Denver Broncos\u2019 defensive strength, suggesting they could finally dethrone the Chiefs in the AFC West after Kansas City\u2019s nine consecutive division titles.<\/p>\n
The Kansas City Chiefs have thrived in adversity before, but the scars of repeated Super Bowl blowouts may weigh heavily on Mahomes and his team this season. With AFC rivals strengthening and their dynasty being questioned, the 2025\/26 campaign could become a defining chapter in Kansas City\u2019s storied run.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Kansas City Chiefs have become synonymous with dominance in recent NFL history, but ESPN analyst and NFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":293586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,11159,17458,17453,7,1488,118,110,2438,2437,6,15749,56259,835,499,1871,26275],"class_list":{"0":"post-293585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-chiefs-news","10":"tag-chiefs-vs-bills","11":"tag-chiefs-vs-ravens","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-josh-simmons","14":"tag-kansas-city","15":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","16":"tag-kansascity","17":"tag-kansascitychiefs","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-nfl-2025-season","20":"tag-nfl-2025-26-season-preview","21":"tag-nfl-news","22":"tag-patrick-mahomes","23":"tag-stephen-a-smith","24":"tag-us-sports-news"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115040299685043011","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}