If you have been a Chiefs fan over the last two seasons, it has been a very frustrating two years. We have struggled with passing the ball, and anytime we have someone in the wide receiver role who is competent enough to support Mahomes’ efforts, they get in some kind of legal trouble, or we get an underperforming wide receiver who, despite his speed, cannot run basic routes or develops issues with dropped catches.

This season has been interesting. The Chiefs started hot, with Kenneth Walker running for 100-plus yards in each of the first five games. Then, in Week 7 against the Seahawks, the league found out that all you need to do to stop the Chiefs’ offense is stop K9. Everything else stalls.

This week they had a big challenge facing the 5-2 Broncos, who seemed to be in a better place than when they faced them at Arrowhead in Week 1. Sean Payton took over play-calling duties for the offense, and Vance Joseph has fixed the tackling issues from Week 1.

A debatable false start by right tackle Jaylon Moore wiped out Rashee Rice’s game-winning touchdown catch. On the following play, the Chiefs failed to score a touchdown, losing 28-24 and giving away the division lead.

Now that my frustrations are out of the way, let’s analyze this. Are the Chiefs on their way to missing the playoffs for a second year in a row? I don’t think so. Most likely they will be a Wild Card team that would have to play a couple of road games in the playoffs to make a deep run.

In order to do that, the team has to get over its biggest issue: resistance to change. For the last three years, the Chiefs have “patched” their issues, and I think it is time for them to be more aggressive in fixing them.

What I will say is that they face some challenges they need to clean up along the way:

• New Kicker: As great a kicker as Harrison Butker has been for the Chiefs over the years, this has not been his year. He has clearly lost his “fastball” and has yet to make a kick over 50 yards this season. It should not be too difficult to find a kicker in free agency. I heard a former Mizzou kicker is looking for a job!

• Wide Receiver: As I mentioned last week, the Chiefs really need to pick one up before the trade deadline. My pick is Josh Downs. He has proven that he is still playing at a high level, and given the current state of the Colts franchise, they are having a fire sale, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for Veach to negotiate a deal for Downs.

• Defensive Line: As great as Spags’ defense has been over the years, I have noticed a drop in performance from some key players on the defensive line. There has been unfavorable tape on Chris Jones, and the Twitter experts are saying he is aging and may not be in the shape he was before. The team has tried to address that by drafting Gillotte last year and Peter Woods and Mason Thomas this year, but it has still been an underwhelming performance.

• Offensive Line: Since left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. left for Cincinnati, the Chiefs have yet to find an answer at either tackle position. It has been a roulette of players who have failed to protect Mahomes and open decent running lanes. There was some hope in 2025 when the Chiefs drafted left tackle Josh Simmons in the first round, but unfortunately that hasn’t worked out. This season they have Kahlil Benson, who played guard in college and was moved to left tackle for the needs of the team. It has worked out, and given the history of subpar left tackles, “working out” is enough. Aside from that, there have been some off-the-field issues with Suamataia, which put career backup Caliendo at left guard, leaving us wishing he’d be better.

But what I think is the biggest issue the Chiefs face this season is their resistance to change and to reacting to the needs of the team. The offensive line has been an ongoing issue for three years, and it feels like the Chiefs as an organization have tried to Band-Aid the problem with temporary solutions that haven’t worked out in the long term.

2024 Offseason Pickups

• Marquise “Hollywood” Brown (WR) — No longer on the team (signed with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2026)
• Drue Tranquill (LB) — Still on the team | Current Starter
• Irv Smith Jr. (TE) — No longer on the team
• Carson Wentz (QB) — No longer on the team

Out of that crop of free agents, Tranquill obviously ended up being a home run, averaging 16 games played from 2023 to 2025 with 79 or more tackles in each of those seasons. Aside from him, everybody else was a miss. Brown could not recover from his injuries, Irv did not see much playing time, and Wentz was a backup quarterback who was not up to par in the one game he played.

2025 Offseason Pickups

• Jaylon Moore (LT) — Still on the team | Current Starter (Playing RT)
• Kristian Fulton (CB) — Still on the team | Backup / Defensive Depth
• Elijah Mitchell (RB) — No longer on the team
• Jerry Tillery (DL) — No longer on the team
• Marlon Tuipulotu (DL) — No longer on the team
• JuJu Smith-Schuster (WR) — No longer on the team

Even though Moore is the current starter, it was definitely a head-scratcher of a move. When he was signed, it was based on his performance with the 49ers while Trent Williams was out, and he was described as raw talent needing some coaching to improve his craft. Fulton has proven to be a serviceable cornerback in Spags’ defense, and as we all know, Spags’ talent is leveling up the cornerbacks who come through his defense, so I’d argue not much talent was needed to make him a serviceable cornerback.

2026 Offseason Pickups

• Kenneth Walker III (RB) — Still on the team | Current Starter (Lead RB)
• Alohi Gilman (S) — Still on the team | Current Starter (Free Safety)
• Khyiris Tonga (DT) — Still on the team | Current Starter (Defensive Tackle)
• Kader Kohou (CB) — No longer on the team (released during training camp)
• Emari Demercado (RB) — No longer on the team (released during training camp)
• Kaiir Elam (CB) — No longer on the team (released during training camp)

For the first 5 games of the season Walker was the slam dunk, Veach opened his checkbock and payed what the Super Bowl MVP was worth. Once they figured out how to stop him the last two games it doesnt seem like as big of a slam dunk but still a good signing. Aside from that Gilman and Tonga has proven to be servicable role players on Spags defense and the rest did not even make the team.

The draft hasn’t been any different. Veach has proven he can draft well on defense, but on offense he has struggled, drafting role players at best and no impact players at the level the Chiefs once did with Mahomes, Kelce, and Hill under John Dorsey.

2024 Draft Class (April 2024)

• Xavier Worthy (WR, Rd 1, Pick 28) — Still on the team | Current Starter
• Kingsley Suamataia (OT, Rd 2, Pick 63) — Still on the team | Backup / Not a Starter
• Jared Wiley (TE, Rd 4, Pick 131) — Still on the team | Backup / Fourth-String TE
• Jaden Hicks (S, Rd 4, Pick 133) — Still on the team | Backup / Safety Depth
• Hunter Nourzad (OL, Rd 5, Pick 159) — Still on the team | Backup Interior OL
• Kamal Hadden (CB, Rd 6, Pick 211) — No longer on the team
• C.J. Hanson (G, Rd 7, Pick 248) — No longer on the team

Worthy was drafted with the expectation that he would be the answer at wide receiver and the Chiefs’ next star receiver since Tyreek Hill. But since breaking the 40-yard dash record with a 4.21, he has underperformed in the big leagues. During the 2026 season, he has 27 receptions on 41 targets for a total of 230 receiving yards through 7 games, ranking him 91st in the NFL.

As discussed earlier, as talented as Suamataia is, he has had some off-the-field issues that the Chiefs have still declined to share, which has affected the offensive line and given Caliendo the starting role. Aside from that, the guys still on the team are backup players with serviceable roles, but nothing of high impact.

2025 Draft Class (April 2025)

• Josh Simmons (OT, Rd 1, Pick 31) — Still on the team | Out for Season (Injured Reserve)
• Omarr Norman-Lott (DT, Rd 2, Pick 63) — Still on the team | Out / Injured (PUP List)
• Ashton Gillotte (DE, Rd 3, Pick 66) — Still on the team | Backup Edge Rusher
• Nohl Williams (CB, Rd 3, Pick 85) — Still on the team | Current Starter
• Jalen Royals (WR, Rd 4, Pick 133) — Still on the team | Current Starter
• Jeffrey Bassa (LB, Rd 5, Pick 156) — Still on the team | Current Starter
• Brashard Smith (RB, Rd 7, Pick 228) — Still on the team | Out for Season (Injured Reserve)

I feel that out of the last three years, this has definitely been the strongest draft class Veach and Reid have had, with a lot of great players to support the defense. The biggest miss here is without question Simmons, who, with all of his injury issues, has proven to be a draft bust. I hope he can come back soon and contribute to the team.

2026 Draft Class (April 2026)

• Mansoor Delane (CB, Rd 1, Pick 6) — Still on the team | Current Starter
• Peter Woods (DT, Rd 1, Pick 29) — Still on the team | Key Rotational DT
• R Mason Thomas (EDGE, Rd 2, Pick 40) — Still on the team | Backup Defensive End
• Jadon Canady (CB, Rd 4, Pick 109) — Still on the team | Backup Slot Corner / Special Teams
• Emmett Johnson (RB, Rd 5, Pick 161) — Still on the team | Backup / Second-String RB
• Cyrus Allen (WR, Rd 5, Pick 176) — Still on the team | Backup Wide Receiver
• Garrett Nussmeier (QB, Rd 7, Pick 249) — Still on the team | Third-String QB

The jury is still out on this draft, but I do think it has the potential to be a good one. As expected, there is great value on defense, and on the offensive side, Cyrus Allen shows a lot of promise, and Johnson’s performance against Denver shows that Bieniemy can use him in more passing packages.

Overall, I think the Chiefs need to be less resistant to making changes, and if a player is not performing, they shouldn’t be afraid to make a change and spend the money or draft capital to find a viable replacement.

To take the Chiefs to the next level, they need to get a new kicker and a wide receiver and fix the offensive line. Even though I talked about issues with the defensive line, I do think it is on track to be fixed as the season develops.