The Chiefs Super Bowl loss opens the AFC West door for the Denver Broncos. And possibly, the Los Angeles Chargers, too.
Kansas City is a juggernaut, sure. But they were just utterly embarrassed by the champion Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. They lost 40-22 in Super Bowl LIX, but it wasn’t even as close as the final score indicates.
Philly dismantled and destroyed the Chiefs. They wrote the book on how to beat them. But outside of that game, Kansas City also looks as vulnerable as they have since their dynasty began in 2018.
Chiefs Super Bowl loss opens AFC West to Denver Broncos, Chargers
The Chiefs dynasty is over.
At least, that’s how it looks three days after the Super Bowl LIX blowout loss at the hands of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Yes, Kansas City made it to the big game. They beat all their adversaries in the AFC. And they won the AFC West for the ninth straight time.
But the Chiefs looked very un-Chief-like in the NFL’s championship game.
Their offensive line couldn’t block anyone, and Patrick Mahomes couldn’t escape to make plays like he has his entire career. They had zero running game whatsoever, even before the Eagles were blowing them out. Travis Kelce is clearly in decline; his regular season and postseason numbers show just that. And Mahomes didn’t have enough receivers who could make plays this year, either.
In the late teens and early ‘20s, the Chiefs were all about blowing teams out with their high-octane offense. The last few years, their defense led the way while the offense did just enough to beat opponents.
Defensively, Kansas City still has juice. Offensively, they are in trouble.
That Chiefs Super Bowl loss opened the AFC West up to real, legit competition. Because the Eagles showed you can get home with four down rushers, and play vanilla, zone defense on the back end.
Denver has one of the best defensive lines in football, even if they need to bulk up a bit in their linebacking corps to battle against the run. They’ve shown the ability to get after opponents with four rushers, and the Broncos led the NFL with 63 sacks this year.
Notably, Mahomes was sacked six times by the Eagles. The most in any game in his career. Denver got to him four times in that November game decided by a field goal block. Plus, two other opponents sacked him five times in 2024.
And the Eagles sat on screens, snuffing out Mahomes’ ability to go to the quick game when he’s being rushed. No doubt Denver and Los Angeles, among other opponents, will do the same in 2025.
Kansas City has a lot of contract issues to work on
The Chiefs will undoubtedly work to rebuild their offensive line. They made a late-season desperation signing of D.J. Humphries last year that didn’t work out, and they’re not just going to ignore the issue.
But it highlights a major issue for them going into the 2025 season, Kansas City only has $11.5 million in cap space and only 38 players currently under contract. That’s only 72% of a roster as of today.
That’s what happens when Mahomes ($66M) and Chris Jones ($34M) account for $100M, or 37% of cap space.
And some of the Chiefs’ free agents are at positions of need. DeAndre Hopkins likely won’t be back, and fellow receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown is also a UFA and made $7M last year. Humphreys, too, is an unrestricted free agent. Kansas City will have to decide whether or not he played well enough in two games to bring him back or not. But it’ll likely be for more than the $2.5M he signed for last year. Guard Trey Smith on that O-line is a free agent, too and is up for his first big deal. And there’s Nick Bolton, who played a vast majority of snaps at linebacker.
Kansas City’s biggest free agent, though, is safety Justin Reid, one of the unit’s leaders. He made $14.2M last year; it’s hard to see where the Chiefs will get that cash this time around.
The Chiefs still have the best head coach in the NFL in Andy Reid–who is the second-oldest coach in the league–and Mahomes. So, they will definitely be competitive in 2025 and beyond.
But Kansas City won’t be able to go and purchase a new O-line, or running back, or receivers. And they may lose their third-best defender in Reid.
Broncos ready to fight for the division
Meanwhile, the Broncos just battled through the biggest dead cap in history and still made the playoffs.
Denver’s found their quarterback in Bo Nix, and he’s on a rookie deal for three more years. The time to strike is now.
The Broncos have $34M to work with this offseason, and they need playmakers at running back, tight end, and receiver. Possibly some help at linebacker and safety, too.
But both lines are set. And if the NFL playoffs taught us anything, it’s that winning in the trenches is as important today as it ever was in this league.
Denver’s defense is legitimate, bolstered by the best defender in the league Pat Surtain, with a rising star in Nik Bonitto. Plus, Zach Allen is at the top of his game currently. And Sean Payton has shown he still has what it takes to lead a winner.
For the first time in almost a decade, the division is up for grabs. Denver and LA will both push Kansas City for AFC West superiority in what should be a fun era in the coming years.
