Ranking the worst KC Chiefs teams of all time

The Kansas City Chiefs have recently enjoyed a remarkable amount of success, securing two Super Bowl victories and hosting five consecutive AFC Championship Games. The instrumental role played by Andy Reid's hiring and Patrick Mahomes' drafting cannot be overstated. However, these men have not been around forever and the history of the team stretches a lot farther back than 2013.

Despite emerging as one of the most decorated NFL franchises in the past decade, the Chiefs, much to the knowledge of the majority of their devoted fans, have not always experienced such greatness. The team has endured a range of adversities, from dismal seasons to heart-wrenching playoff defeats. Notably, Kansas City endured a lengthy half-century gap between Super Bowl appearances and went 22 years without a playoff victory until 2015.

Today, let us reflect upon the five most challenging seasons in the annals of the Kansas City Chiefs. Although this exercise may evoke painful memories for the Chiefs Kingdom, including myself, it is crucial to recall these trying times to truly appreciate the team's current success.

Note: Only seasons the franchise has been in Kansas City were factored in, so no Dallas Texans years were considered.

Methodology

To identify the specific seasons, I employed three primary criteria: Win %, Average Point Differential, and Pro Football Reference's Simple Rating System (SRS) metric. Each season was individually evaluated and assigned a ranking from 1 to 60, with 60 representing the poorest performance, in each category. Subsequently, I computed the average of all three metrics to determine the bottom five seasons. All of these statistics are from Pro Football Reference.

Honorable Mention

2007 (4-12)

Following their initial playoff appearance since the infamous "No Punt" game against the Colts in 2003, the second year under Herm Edwards proved to be a catastrophic downturn after the bye week. Prior to their Week 8 bye, the team displayed promise with a solid 4-3 record and held a narrow lead over San Diego and Denver for first place in the AFC West.
Notably, this marked the first complete season since the passing of Chiefs founder and owner, Lamar Hunt Sr.

Unfortunately, the season swiftly derailed as the Chiefs endured a distressing 0-9 stretch, coupled with an alarming -98 point differential (-10.9 points per game). Brodie Croyle was tasked with starting six of the final seven games but failed to impress, posting a lackluster 68.6 passer rating during that span.

This team ranked tied for 55th (out of 60) in Win %, 54th in Point Differential per Game, and 54th in SRS.

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