Can the Kansas City Chiefs Still Make the Playoffs? Here’s What Needs to Happen for Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes

Will they drop the ball?

After a string of close loses this year, the Kansas City Chiefs are a longshot to make the 2025 NFL playoffs — but there are still several scenarios that can help the four-time Super Bowl-winning team to stay in the game.

For the first time in nine years, the Chiefs have been bucked from the top spot in the AFC West. The team’s disappointing 20-10 loss to the Houston Texans during Sunday Night Football on Sunday, Dec. 7 sealed their inability to nab the division title.

But despite the Chiefs’ 6-7 record this season, there’s still a small chance for the Patrick Mahomes-led team to make the playoffs. However, the Chiefs quarterback himself is aware of the uphilling challenge.

“We know the [playoff] chances are getting lower and lower, but I know the guys on this team are going to give everything they have, every opportunity we get,” Mahomes said during a press conference after the loss to Houston.

Travis Kelce, the three-time Super Bowl winner on the Chiefs, also expressed his frustrations.

“It’s been a tough f—ing go-around for the last two days,” the star tight end, 36, told his brother Jason Kelce on their New Heights podcast. “You put in all this f—in’ work and hope that it pays off and right now, for whatever f—in’ reason, man, it’s little things, I don’t know, discipline.”

He added, “I feel like I’ve always had the answers in years past and this year I just can’t find them.”

Should the Chiefs make it to the playoffs, they instantly become a threat to other teams. This is largely due to their historical success in the postseason, specifically Mahomes’ 9-0 record when playing in the wild card (2-0) or divisional round (7-0).

What needs to happen for the Kansas City Chiefs to secure a playoff berth? Read on.

The Kansas City Chiefs must win out.

Simply put, the Kansas City Chiefs can’t lose for the rest the season. They have four games left against the following teams: The Los Angeles Chargers (Dec. 14), Tennessee Titans (Dec. 21), Denver Broncos (Dec. 25) and the Los Vegas Raiders (Jan. 4 or Jan. 5).

The Chiefs face the Chargers and Broncos at Arrowhead Stadium and take on the Titans and Raiders on the road, so this scenario is fairly doable. The Chiefs lost to the Chargers and the Broncos earlier this season, however, but now they’ll have a home team advantage.

Winning out would give the Chiefs a 10-7 record.

The Los Angeles Chargers must finish 10-7 or worse.

Heading into Week 15, the Los Angeles Chargers have a 9-4 standing. The team must finish 10-7 or worse to help the Chiefs’ chances at a playoff berth.

The Chargers have to lose to the Chiefs on Dec. 14 and the Broncos on Dec. 25, and then at least one of their other two games left this season, against the Cowboys and the Texans. This would ensure the Chiefs and Chargers have the same division record.

If this happens, both the Chiefs and the Chargers would be 10-7 with a 4-2 division record, and the Chiefs would finish ahead of L.A. because of the common games tiebreaker (which means comparing a team’s record — wins, losses, ties — against the exact same opponent).

The Colts, Dolphins and Ravens must lose.

The Indianapolis Colts, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens also need to slip up.

The Colts, who are 8-5 heading into Week 15, must lose two of their last four games. This will make their record worse than the 10-7 record needed by the Chiefs if they win all four of their remaining regular season games. And with Colts quarterback Daniel Jones’ injury taking him out for the rest of the season, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.

The Dolphins and the Ravens, meanwhile, are both 6-7 like the Chiefs heading into Week 15. They could also finish their season 10-7 (though the probability of that happening is slim), which would then result in a four-way tie.

What happens if there’s a tie between teams?

If all four teams (Dolphins, Ravens, Chiefs and Colts) finish 10-7 to wrap up the regular season, the Chiefs would stand superior in the four-way tie due to their better conference record and snag the AFC’s 7th seed — but only if one of the Colts’ two losses is to either the Jaguars or the Texans.

If the Chiefs win their next four games, then their postseason odds jump to 45 percent, per The Athletic.

The outlet also points out one specific game involving two different teams that will have a significant impact on the Chiefs’ playoff berth: Chargers-Broncos in Week 18.

“The Chiefs winning out, combined with a Broncos victory there, would put K.C. at 72 percent to make the playoffs. Win out with a Chargers victory, though, and the Chiefs’ probability drops to 7 percent,” reports The Athletic.

Now, when does the excitement start? The Kansas City Chiefs will get their first test when they face the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 14.