Welcome back to the Arrowhead Pride Mailbag! Each week, watch for your opportunity to submit your Kansas City Chiefs questions in The Feed, which is found on AP’s home page.
The Chiefs’ 22-19 loss to the
Denver Broncos has left the fanbase desperate for answers. Let’s see what is on our readers’ minds.
WhoMe asks:
Some of Andy Reid’s coaches have been with him for decades. Others have been in the league for as long as Reid himself — and it shows. Does the Chiefs’ coaching staff need an influx of younger talent?
Yes, the Chiefs absolutely need some new voices on the offensive side of the ball. After repeatedly finishing the season so late in recent years, there has been almost no attrition among the assistants. The offense feels stagnant — especially on the road against quality opponents.
But I don’t even know that they have to be younger voices.
When head coach Andy Reid came to the Chiefs in 2013, two of his best coaching decisions were bringing on former Minnesota Vikings head coach Brad Childress (who had been his offensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles) for various analyst roles — and then hiring former University of Nevada coach Chris Ault (widely credited as the inventor of the pistol offense) as a consultant. Childress was 57 and Ault was 66 when they were hired to Reid’s staff, but both helped the scheme feel fresh after a disappointing end to his tenure with the Eagles. Childress also brought 44-year-old running backs coach Eric Bieniemy, who had been on his staff during his final season in Minnesota.
To me, the most glaring problem with Reid’s coaching this season is the degree to which defensive play callers most familiar with him (and quarterback Patrick Mahomes) have shut down the Kansas City offense. Eagles’ defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott (another former Reid assistant) and Broncos’ defensive coordinator Vance Joseph had all the answers against the Chiefs — even though each defensive unit was without key players.
The league also appears to have soured on Reid’s schemes. For the first time since 2015, this season opened with none of Reid’s former offensive assistants as a head coach — although the New York Giants have since named one-time Kansas City quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka their interim head coach after firing Brian Daboll earlier this month.
I see some calls across social media to fire Reid (as well as general manager Brett Veach). I feel that sentiment is asinine, so I will not entertain it.
But it is also clear that the coach needs to seek out new ideas to maximize the remainder of his esteemed career. I would like to see the team add a running game coordinator from outside of Reid’s coaching tree, because the Chiefs’ current philosophy on the ground appears to be badly outdated. I also wonder if there is a former offensive signal caller at some level who could take on Childress’ old role better than offensive coordinator Matt Nagy did after leading the Chicago Bears for four seasons.
Glorified KC asks:
Why has wide receiver Rashee Rice become so unproductive in the second half of the last two games? Is it getting less targets in the second half? If so, is it because he’s not getting open?
Part of it is that the Bills and Broncos have defensive play callers who are very experienced in planning for the Chiefs. They were able to negate everything Kansas City wanted to do in the second half of both games. And Rice had two key drops, too. A player who clearly has designs on being considered one of the league’s top wideouts has to make those plays.
On the other hand, I think much was put on Rice’s plate coming off a major injury and league suspension. Because he instantly stepped into a top-target workload against the depleted squads of the Las Vegas Raiders and Washington Commanders, many assumed he was ready to be the player he was before last season’s injury. Perhaps he wasn’t.
So maybe it shouldn’t be surprising that Rice is still working his way back into a full workload. Unfortunately, he has faded in two games that the Chiefs badly needed to win.
Steven Lance asks:
The Chiefs needed to come back down to Earth. What are people doing to accept that this is a much-needed gap year?
Is it reasonable to expect the Chiefs to easily advance to a fourth straight Super Bowl? No. Should we expect an annual appearance in the AFC Championship? Probably not.
But Kansas City plays with stakes that go beyond championships.
Reid and Mahomes will eventually be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame — but everything that happens before then affects their legacies. Years from now, a one-and-done appearance in the playoffs will be remembered much differently than missing the postseason altogether.
For better or worse, the Chiefs have also continued to go all-in on retaining their core players in all three phases. With tight end Travis Kelce possibly entering the final few games of his career — and defensive tackle Chris Jones uncertain to finish out the contract that runs through the 2028 season — Kansas City is not in a position to take even a year for light retooling.
@Jake_for_now asks (via X):
Each offseason the Chiefs seem to address a positional group aggressively. Do you have a prediction for which squad is the likely target this offseason?
The defensive line and pass rush would be a popular answer. There, the only players I am certain are in the plans for 2026 are defensive end George Karlaftis, defensive tackle Chris Jones and two rookies: defensive end Ashton Gillotte and defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott (assuming he is healthy to start the season). The Chiefs will need to identify at least four or five other defensive linemen who can dependably take significant snaps. Another difficult coaching conversation will consider whether defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo can adjust his scheme to allow for a wider range of available pass rushers in the draft and free agency.
With only rookie running back Brashard Smith under contract for 2026, there should be some (much-needed) changes to the running back group, too. I expect a new addition via both free agency and early in the draft.
But I would also keep an eye on the secondary. The Chiefs have reaped the benefits from the 2022 draft, where they netted three starting defensive backs: cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson and safety Bryan Cook. Watson and Cook will be free agents this offseason. While both players have their strengths, the history of free-agent defensive backs also suggests it may be wiser to let another team hand these players their lucrative second contracts. While the Chiefs do have some hypothetical replacements in-house from the last two drafts, the team may need to acquire at least one defensive back who can reliably be penciled in as a Week 1 starter.
McDuffie’s status will be one of the offseason’s most-watched topics. I still predict he and the Chiefs will agree on a lucrative extension, but a trade cannot be ruled out. I do not think McDuffie (who would instantly require a new contract) would net Kansas City a trade return comparable to the pair of first-round picks the New York Jets realized by sending cornerback Sauce Gardner to the Indianapolis Colts. Since the Jets had already negotiated a long-term contract for Gardner (and paid his signing bonus), the two situations are entirely different. But given the explosion of the cornerback market, I would be surprised if McDuffie has any intention of playing the 2026 season under his $13.6 million fifth-year option.
Thank you for reading this week’s Arrowhead Pride Mailbag! Keep watching The Feed for a chance to ask your questions.
