The kings of the AFC West had their crowns knocked to the cold, hard ground Sunday night at Arrowhead. The Kansas City Chiefs' run of nine consecutive division titles came to an end in 2025 with a 20-10 home loss to the Houston Texans, ensuring K.C. will finish outside the top spot.
Sunday's loss turned on a pivotal Andy Reid decision. The three-time Super Bowl-winning coach went for it on fourth-and-1 at his own 31-yard line with the game tied, 10-10, with 10:18 remaining. It marked the first time in his career that Reid has made such a call in a tied game in the fourth quarter inside his own 40.
Doubly dubious was that Reid didn't call on Kareem Hunt, who's regularly picked up short-yardage plays this season. Instead, with three backup offensive linemen in, he opted for a Patrick Mahomes pass. Under pressure, the QB's toss to Rashee Rice fell incomplete.
"I put the guys offensively in a tough position with the fourth downs. I tried to stay aggressive with it (and) I take full responsibility for that," Reid said, via the team's transcript. "I thought we could get it, that was the decision. I was confident we could do that. It's important that you take advantage of opportunities (and) I thought it was an opportunity. I was wrong, no? I mean, hindsight, it was wrong. We've been pretty good on fourth downs. I messed that one up."
For what it's worth, Next Gen Stats agreed with Reid's decision to go for it with 10 minutes left, giving the Chiefs an added 3.5% chance of winning by trying to move the chains with limited possessions remaining.
The failure was emblematic of a game representative of the Chiefs' season: close but just shy.
Kansas City's offense, already without two starting offensive linemen, lost starting backup tackle Wanya Morris on the first snap of the game. The crew couldn't sustain drives against a Houston defense that's been the most stingy all season. The run game was stifled, as it has been all year. Mahomes completed just 14 of 33 passes for 160 yards and was picked off three times. Several passes were just shy of being completed, including a potential game-changing bomb to Tyquan Thornton that he just couldn't squeeze. Travis Kelce dropped a late pass that was intercepted, sealing the Chiefs' fate.
Mahomes' 42.4 completion percentage was a career low, as was his 19.8 passer rating. His 0-3 TD-INT ratio was also the worst of his career. It marked the first time a Chiefs quarterback finished a game with no TD passes and three interceptions since Tyler Palko in Week 12, 2011. And it was the worst passer rating by a K.C. QB since Brady Quinn put up a 16.7 in Week 8, 2012, versus Oakland.
The defense stood tall early in the second half, holding the Texans to -2 yards in the third quarter, allowing the offense to tie the game after trailing 10-0 at halftime. However, the failed fourth downs put them in a rough spot, and the dam broke.
The loss pushed the Chiefs to under .500 through 13 games for the first time since 2012 (finished 2-14), a year before Reid moved in and turned Kansas City into a juggernaut.
"Listen, it's never over. You keep battling," Reid said of the Chiefs' season. "I've been doing this a long time (and) seen some things, so you keep going."
The loss wiped out any chance the Chiefs had of winning a 10th straight division title. Their run of nine seasons is the second-longest in NFL history, behind the 2009-2019 New England Patriots (11).
Right now, K.C. is a banged-up group whose key players look like they've been through one too many fires. Kelce -- one catch on five targets for 8 yards -- appears every bit a 36-year-old tight end taking the final steps of a Hall of Fame career. Mahomes looks like a guy who's played 21 playoff games in the past seven seasons and could use a long vacation.
Per Next Gen Stats' playoff probability model, the 6-7 Chiefs have a 15% chance at making the postseason. Sunday's loss means they'll likely need to win out and get some help -- notably, collapses from the Los Angeles Chargers and Indianapolis Colts.
"We know the chances are getting lower and lower, but I know the guys on this team are going to give everything they have every opportunity they get," Mahomes said. "You're just getting late in the season, and you're not going to get these opportunities back. That's a good team, but we had chances. We didn't execute at the right time to win it."
Mahomes has been to the AFC Championship Game every season as a starter. This year, he's staring at going fishing early.
