It goes without saying that the Kansas City Chiefs failed to live up to the club's wildly lofty expectations in 2025. Their reign of three consecutive Super Bowl appearances, including two victories, came to a screeching halt by missing the playoffs entirely.
Worst of all, Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes tore his ACL and LCL in the loss to the Los Angeles Chargers that eliminated them from contention. The devastating injury and that one game perfectly embodied Kansas City's nightmare campaign, though the problems predate this double whammy of unfortunate events.
Mahomes is the first to admit that things had gone off the rails for him and the Chiefs well before he got hurt. There are several areas for improvement in a pivotal offseason for the franchise. His first press conference since undergoing knee surgery made that quite clear.
Patrick Mahomes didn't mince words when looking back at Chiefs' failed season
The Chiefs don't only want to be playing football this time next year; that's the expectation. They anticipate being among the favorites, if not atop the list, to hoist the Lombardi Trophy annually. That's become the standard of the Mahomes era, and he knows the team wasn't up to snuff this season, including himself.
"I think just compounding mistakes. For myself, I look at the red zone interceptions I threw ... . ... I think offensively we weren't consistent enough throughout games. ... We've got to be better, and that starts with me ... ."Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes
Step one of recovery is recognizing there are issues to address, as Mahomes ostensibly understands. He and the Chiefs must confront their demons to return to the historically dominant heights they've been able to reach over the past half-decade-plus. The two-time MVP is looking inward, knowing Kansas City has plenty of work to do entering 2026.
With an extensive rehab process ahead of him, Mahomes has an opportunity to build himself from the ground up. He has ample time to assess his and the Chiefs' shortcomings and come back better than ever, which appears to be the mindset.
As Mahomes highlighted, he personally made too many mistakes in scoring territory. He was one of just seven passers to toss at least three picks inside the 20. Moreover, his 53.95 completion percentage in the red area was lower than both Justin Fields and Tua Tagovailoa, who were benched by their respective squads.