At 6-7, the Kansas City Chiefs have their work cut out for them when it comes to reaching the postseason this year. NextGen Stats has given them a mere 15% to make the playoffs but crazier things have happened and if any team could lock in and go on a run, it's the Chiefs.
Some might view the Chiefs as a "I won't believe they're out of it until they're officially eliminated" type of team and it's not hard to see why. They can't win the division at this point but they could still hypothetically make it into the dance as a wild card team.
How can they do that? Well, let's break it down.
What has to happen for Chiefs to reach playoffs in 2025 season
First and foremost, Kansas City can't afford anymore losses. They're 6-7 right now so winning out would give them a 10-7 record, which, most of the time, would be good enough to get into the playoffs. Their remaining games come against the Chargers, Titans, Broncos, and Raiders with the Chargers and Broncos games taking place at Arrowhead where K.C. is 5-2 this year. Winning all four of those games is doable but that won't be enough on its own to get this team into the postseason.
The second thing that needs to happen is that Chiefs fans need to root against the Chargers every week, which shouldn't be hard considering they're a division rival. If the Chargers finish 10-7 or worse and the Chiefs win out, they'd pass them in the playoff standings. Most importantly, L.A. needs to lose to both K.C. and Denver so that the Chiefs can boast a better record in the division games. The Chargers finish the year against the Chiefs, Cowboys, Texans, and Broncos.
Lastly, the teams to watch are the Colts, Dolphins, and Ravens. Indy is 8-5 and just three weeks ago, looked like it could win the AFC South and potentially vie for the top seed in the AFC. Life comes at you fast, unfortunately, and they've since lost three straight games and their quarterback. Since K.C. owns the tiebreaker, they just need the Colts to finish with the same (or worse) record than them so the Chiefs can pass them in the standings.
The only way Baltimore and Miami, both 6-7 along with K.C., could be a threat here is if they win out but that feels unlikely given both of those teams' remaining schedules. Kansas City owns the tiebreaker over the Ravens and currently owns a better conference record than the Dolphins do so that would help them out here as well. Chiefs fans should be rooting against all of these teams if they weren't already doing so.
The "Too long, didn't read" version of all that is that the Chiefs need to win out and fans need to root against the Chargers, Colts, Dolphins, and Ravens in the final month of the regular season. There's a reason the Chiefs' playoff path only sits at 15% and they only have themselves to blame for it but this isn't a death sentence. There's still a legitimate path to the postseason but everything moving forward has to break Kansas City's way if this team wants to continue its playoff streak.