This is the best the NFL has to offer?
That’s the thought that crossed my mind multiple times while watching Wild Card weekend. This isn’t to diminish the quality of the games. I was locked in from start to finish — okay, maybe not to the finish. I’m not sure how many football fans truly stuck around for the end of the Houston Texans – Pittsburgh Steelers game.
But you get the point. The games rocked.
The teams, though? Can we acknowledge that every AFC team we watched this weekend appeared remarkably
flawed?
This should inform the Kansas City Chiefs as they approach the offseason. Their 2025 season was abysmal — a cataclysmic failure in every sense. Changes are necessary — and changes will come.
It’s just not time to throw the baby out with the bath water.
This shouldn’t come as much of a shock. We’ve seen enough of these teams to understand there were no truly great teams in the league this year. Still, the deficiencies were obvious as we watched hour upon hour of football.
The New England Patriots are probably the most well-rounded team the AFC has to offer. They boasted a top-five passing attack and a top-10 rushing offense, but their defense was — at best — middle-of-the-pack across the board.
The rest of the conference was even more lopsided.
The Buffalo Bills were the best the league had to offer at running the football and stopping the pass, but they were a mediocre passing offense and a bottom-of-the-barrel rushing defense. The Jacksonville Jaguars were arguably the best run defense in the league, but they were average (or perhaps slightly above) at throwing the ball and defending the pass — and their running game faded late. The Los Angeles Chargers were awful at throwing the ball and strong against the pass defensively. But they were mediocre at running the ball and stopping the run. The Texans were a middling passing offense with a bottom-5 rushing attack — although their defense finished top-5 across the board.
And then there were the Steelers. And… well… yeah. Glad that’s over.
You get the point. This was a season of turnover in the AFC. The new storylines were fun for fans outside of Kansas City, but this wasn’t a field featuring a juggernaut.
The Chiefs aren’t that far away from working their way back into contention. Count head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes out at your own expense. I won’t be joining that bandwagon.
The rushing attack needs a complete overhaul. The running back group cannot return in its current form. It’s unacceptable for this team to finish a season with just three carries of 15 or more yards. A new offensive coordinator should help. New personnel would take it further. The upcoming free-agent class is loaded with talent — including Breece Hall, Kenneth Walker, Javonte Williams, Travis Etienne, Rico Dowdle and Tyler Allgeier.
Improving the passing game is more complicated. Adding new pass-catchers is easier said than done. With Reid still in place, changing the scheme feels unlikely. A better running game should help, but much of this comes down to internal improvement — that is, health and execution. Can the team finally get a healthy season from Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy? Can Mahomes reconnect on the deep ball? That’s probably the clearest path to improvement in 2026.
The defense is tricky as well. The secondary is full of uncertainty, and the defensive line needs a real infusion of talent. Is a return to 2023 form realistic? Probably not. But the pass rush should improve with the right additions, which would help the secondary by shrinking the time quarterbacks have to operate. A free-agent addition such as Dre’Mont Jones — paired with a potential top-10 pick — could be exactly what the doctor ordered off the edge.
It’s hard to go through a six-win season and feel good about the future. Top-10 picks are earned, and they usually come with scars. This is unfamiliar territory for Chiefs fans in the Mahomes era.
It’s possible I’ll regret these words, but I left the weekend feeling better about the Chiefs’ long-term outlook than I did going in. The margin for error in this league is razor-thin — and it cuts both ways. Kansas City felt the wrong side of that variance in 2025. My bet is they land on the right side of it in 2026.
