The Kansas City Chiefs are in uncharted waters. After opening 2025 with back-to-back losses to the Chargers and Eagles, Patrick Mahomes’ team looks shakier than it did even during last year’s uneven run to the Super Bowl, where it felt like they barely crossed the finishing line in each of their regular-season matches.
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However, today, with two of Mahomes’ top receiving options in Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice sidelined, plus veteran tight end Travis Kelce showing the kind of inconsistency that comes with age, the Chiefs suddenly feel a far cry from the well-oiled machine that terrorized the league over the past half-decade.
Chad Johnson, however, isn’t pressing the panic button just yet. On the latest edition of Nightcap, the former Bengals WR insisted that the pairing of Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid is still too good to crumble.
“The Kansas City Chiefs, with Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid, will find a way to win. It ain’t pretty right now in September, and it’s probably not going to be pretty in October. But when it matters most, they’re going to be all right because they got 15,” Johnson said, doubling down on his belief that Mahomes’ presence alone is enough to keep Kansas City relevant.
Shannon Sharpe, however, didn’t share that optimism. To him, the eye test makes it clear: the Chiefs simply don’t look like a Super Bowl-calibre team anymore.
“Buffalo looks better. The Chargers look better. The Ravens look better,” Sharpe countered. He argued that while Patrick Mahomes’ brilliance has masked holes in the roster for years, the gap is closing, and it’s getting harder for the 3x Super Bowl winner to carry the load.
“I’ve never been one to believe, well, they did it in the past. That means they can do it again. No, you got to evolve. You have to get better. If you notice, Ocho, it’s getting harder and harder for them. And it’s getting harder and harder for Mahomes to overcome the lack of talent that he has,” the Broncos legend said.
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This lack of ‘evolution’ has been evident in the Chiefs’ inability to establish a ground game this season, considering Mahomes, who is barely known for his running game, is currently their leading rusher with 123 yards.
Even his partner in crime, Travis Kelce, has been playing unusually error-prone so far, with his costly drop in the Week 2 loss to the Eagles that turned into an interception being the most notable of the lot.
While Andy Reid publicly has shouldered responsibility for the shocking start and Patrick Mahomes has labelled the 0-2 start an “opportunity,” it cannot be overlooked that the cracks are widening.
The only concern that the Chiefs should have right now is how quickly they can bounce back. Since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970, only 10.1% of teams that began 0-2 have gone on to reach the postseason. So for Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs, it’s no longer about whether they can repeat the past; it’s simply about whether they can still keep pace with the present.
Safe to say, their Week 3 matchup against the Giants, who are 0-2 themselves, will be an absolute cinema.
