The Kansas City Chiefs fell flat on their face in 2025. Following three straight trips to the Super Bowl, with two of those being successful, K.C. dropped to 6-11. It was their worst season since Andy Reid became head coach in 2013.
A playoff miss was created by inconsistent play, massive underperformance from key players, and, eventually, brutal injuries at the end of the year. Kansas City had a top-10 draft selection for the first time since trading up for Patrick Mahomes in 2017. If you take that trade away, the Chiefs last had a pick in the top 10 in 2013 when Eric Fisher went first overall.
How should expectations be set for 2026? The Chiefs are navigating a position of being the hunter rather than the hunted for the first time in many years. History also tells us that Reid's teams generally respond strongly after down seasons. Let's take a look.
Reid flips record after first season in Philadelphia
Coach Reid began his NFL head coaching tenure in 1999. The Philadelphia Eagles went 5-11 that year. He and the Eagles bounced back strong in 2000. Philly flipped its record to 11-5 and finished second in the NFC East.
Reid notched his first playoff win as a head coach that postseason with a victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card Round. The Eagles' run in 2000 ended in the NFC Divisional Round against the rival New York Giants.
Tumultuous season after losing Super Bowl XXXIX
Philadelphia was in rarefied air in the early 2000s. Reid saw his team reach the playoffs in five straight seasons. It culminated with a trip to Super Bowl XXXIX in the 2004 season. Finally getting to the Super Bowl was monumental for Reid after Philadelphia lost three straight NFC Championship Games from 2001-03. Unfortunately for Coach Reid, the Eagles fell short in that Super Bowl, losing to the New England Patriots by three points.
What came in 2005 was a rash of bad results. Philadelphia went just 6-10 in the campaign following the Super Bowl loss. Most notably, Donovan McNabb played in only nine games due to various injuries. Philadelphia sputtered to 18th in scoring offense and 19th in total offensive yards with McNabb in and out of the lineup.
The Eagles then turned things around right away in 2006. Reid led them to a 10-6 season before eventually losing in the Divisional Round to the New Orleans Saints.
Final years in Philadelphia
Reid and the Eagles missed the playoffs in 2007 after going 8-8. Even at .500, that was a last-place finish in the NFC East. In 2008, Philadelphia again climbed back into the playoffs after a down year. It finished 9-6-1, a record that was potentially only a bit above average. But in the playoffs, the Eagles went all the way to the NFC Championship Game, where they lost to the Arizona Cardinals.
His last two years in Philly were the only time Reid missed the playoffs in back-to-back years as an NFL head coach. The Eagles went 8-8 in 2011 before a season that unraveled into a 4-12 finish in 2012. Ultimately, that 4-12 mark led to Reid's dismissal and allowed the Chiefs to hire him as their new head coach.
Chiefs in new territory during Reid era
Before the 2025 season, 2014 was the only year in which the Chiefs missed the playoffs under Reid. Kansas City went 9-7 that year. It was a back-and-forth season that ultimately ended with a second-place finish in the AFC West and outside the playoff picture.
Kansas City started 0-2 before winning two in a row. Then, after falling to 2-3, the Chiefs won five straight. In the end, Reid and K.C. stumbled to a 2-4 finish over their final six games. Most Chiefs fans remember that season for Kansas City finishing the year with no touchdown passes thrown to a wide receiver. They became the first team since the 1964 Giants to accomplish that and were the only team to do so in a 16-game regular season.
Coming back in 2015, Reid and the Chiefs went 11-5. Kansas City dominated and shut out the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round to secure the franchise's first playoff win in more than 20 years. The Chiefs lost in the Divisional Round by 7 points the following week to the Patriots.
Last year's 6-11 record was the first time Kansas City finished under .500 with Reid. It was also the first time he had done so in 13 years.
When you look back at Reid's teams following down seasons, the results are largely glowing. They have made the playoffs four out of five times after missing the postseason the previous year. As you can see, on three of those occasions, his teams made it to the Divisional Round. The other saw Reid take his squad all the way to a conference championship game.
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