Before the Kansas City Chiefs’ Week 15 matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers, every one of our Arrowhead Pride panelists picked the Chiefs to win — and for the sixth time this season, our unanimous verdict was wrong. Our aggregate prediction of a 25-18 Kansas City win had 24 points of error compared to the 16-13 home loss. Our readers were significantly less confident. But while roughly a third of them correctly predicted a close Chargers win, a majority (57%) thought the Chiefs would get back to 0.500.
In Week 16, the Chiefs face the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Kansas City is favored by 2.5 points.
Here’s what the staff — and our readers — think about the matchup.
Nate Christensen (@natech32)
Would it help to lose this game? From a draft-pick perspective, yes. But I still think the Chiefs win.
Even with their season over and quarterback Patrick Mahomes injured, there are a lot of prideful players on this team. The season has been frustrating — but each week, the squad still shows competitive spirit. I don’t think they’ll quit.
And the Titans are bad. This roster has looked like it’s in vacation mode since the firing of head coach Brian Callahan. They don’t have talent on either side of the ball. They’re also incentivized to lose.
I think the Chiefs come out and play proud. It might get hard at points, but head coach Andy Reid will get the team to play with a purpose. If it can do that, it can win.
Chiefs 24, Titans 13
John Dixon (@Arrowheadphones)
The team no longer has an excuse. The offense must downshift into a lower gear — the version we should have been seeing since about the third week of the season.
It’s too late to salvage 2025, but maybe the coaching staff can still learn a few things in the season’s final games.
Chiefs 20, Titans 16
Maurice Elston (@MrMauriceElston)
This is one of the most difficult games to project in my time covering the Chiefs, largely because of the volume of uncertainty surrounding the offense. With quarterback Patrick Mahomes out, multiple backup offensive linemen expected to start and wide receiver Rashee Rice likely unavailable, Kansas City enters the week severely limited. A backup quarterback operating behind a patched-together line without its top receiving option does not present a clear path to offensive success.
That reality makes it difficult to identify where points will come from. Kansas City is unlikely to sustain long drives or consistently win in obvious passing situations. Still, the Chiefs are not in tank mode and the expectation is that they will compete. Defensively, Steve Spagnuolo should be able to manufacture pressure through blitz packages and disguises capable of disrupting a Tennessee offense that has struggled with protection and timing. Field position and turnovers may ultimately decide the game.
What remains unknown is the response. This is a version of the Chiefs we have not seen — late in the season with this many injuries and out of the playoffs. Will pride and pedigree surface, or will the lack of stakes show on the field? Against instinct, I believe Kansas City will fight. It will not be clean and it will not be convincing, but the effort should be there.
Chiefs 17, Titans 14
Mark Gunnels (@MarkAGunnels)
It feels weird to make predictions when the Chiefs have nothing to play for besides pride. I know many fans want the team to tank, but that’s not how this works.
At the same time, I would expect them to sit guys who are banged up, but the coaching staff and the players on the field will be playing to win that game.
But I don’t believe this shorthanded Kansas City team will be able to beat the lowly Titans. Despite their record, Tennessee has been somewhat competitive in recent games.
Titans 20, Chiefs 17
Caleb James (@CJScoobs)
With a long list of key players inactive, this game should be quite ugly to watch. The Titans are bad, but they have a solid young core on both sides of the ball that will be eager to knock off the Chiefs — even without quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the field.
But while the Chiefs will have their interior offensive linemen — as well as tight end Travis Kelce — the offense could still struggle. The biggest obstacle will be the Titans’ interior defensive line, led by nose tackle Jeffery Simmons, who will be in pursuit of his 10th sack of the season.
For the Chiefs, this game needs to be about getting the young guys involved, getting wide receiver Jalen Royals legit targets, letting defensive end Ashton Gillotte play the majority of snaps and finding out who has what it takes to be a part of the team in 2026.
Quarterback Gardner Minshew will also have a chance to prove he can be a long-term backup plan for the Chiefs with a quality performance.
Chiefs 13, Titans 10
Rocky Magaña (@RockyMagana)
It’s been a while since the Chiefs had nothing to play for. But then again, this coaching staff does have something to play for — or with, for that matter.
The rest of this season should be the proving ground to test out new offensive schemes and ideas. While you don’t have Mahomes captaining the team, you will be hard-pressed to find another stretch of regular-season games where the stakes are low enough to throw caution to the wind. The defense should be good enough to pull the Chiefs through in this one as it rattles the Titans’ young quarterback Cam Ward.
This game might not be pretty, but the coaching staff has an opportunity to make it meaningful.
Chiefs 13, Titans 9
Jared Sapp (@TrumanChief)
The Chiefs have made it very clear that they have no intention of tanking — but I don’t think they really need to try. Tennessee is not a good team — but in most games, they have done what they can to be competitive. Between evaluating their rookie quarterback and players (as well as coaches) concerned about what film they produce for their next stops, the Titans will have much to play for.
The Chiefs, on the other hand, were already a mess when things were going right. This week’s injury report leaves one confused about which players might actually be on the field with backup quarterback Gardner Minshew. Kansas City looks like it will play with a worse quarterback throwing to a worse receiving group — while still fielding the team’s fifth and sixth options at tackle.
I’m not going to overthink this one. I expect a very vanilla game plan, with any competitive spirit saved for tight end Travis Kelce’s final home game four days later against a hated division opponent.
Titans 31, Chiefs 14
Matt Stagner (@stagdsp)
I like to say that the matchup doesn’t matter. Instead, it’s just about whether the Chiefs execute or not. Well, this week matters less than any game in the Mahomes era.
It’s not about winning or execution. It’s not about getting ready for the playoffs or setting records. I’ll be watching, but really only to see player development.
Titans 21, Chiefs 13
With their predictions aggregated, our panelists expect the Chiefs to lose 17-16.
What do you think?
2025 Standings
| TW | LW | Staffer | W | L | Pct | Err |
| 1 | 1 | Maurice Elston | 7 | 7 | 0.5000 | 23.3 |
| 2 | 2 | Nate Christensen | 6 | 8 | 0.4286 | 21.7 |
| 3 | 3 | Caleb James | 6 | 8 | 0.4286 | 22.9 |
| 4 | 4 | Mark Gunnels | 6 | 8 | 0.4286 | 24.0 |
| 5 | 5 | Jared Sapp | 6 | 8 | 0.4286 | 24.3 |
| 6 | 6 | Matt Stagner | 6 | 8 | 0.4286 | 29.6 |
| 7 | 7 | Rocky Magaña | 5 | 9 | 0.3571 | 22.4 |
| 8 | 8 | John Dixon | 5 | 9 | 0.3571 | 25.9 |
In Week 15, Jared Sapp recorded the dubious honor of being our panelist who was the least wrong. His call for a 20-17 Chiefs win missed by 14 total points. Caleb James turned in a prediction of a 21-14 Chiefs victory, which had 20 points of error.
*To calculate a prediction’s points of error, the differences between the prediction and the actual score in point spread, home team score and away team score are added together. For example, a prediction calls for a 17-10 Chiefs win. They end up winning 16-10, so there were two points of error: the point spread was off by one point, the Kansas City score missed by one point and the opponent’s score was predicted correctly. But if the Chiefs lose the game 17-10, there were 28 points of error in the prediction: the point spread was off by 14 (the difference between +7 and -7) and both scores missed by 7.
