The 2025 NFL season has been anything but kind to Travis Kelce and the 6–6 Kansas City Chiefs. With the organization in Missouri now having its back against the wall, the star tight end sent quarterback Patrick Mahomes, head coach Andy Reid, and the rest of the team a powerful message—one that also served as a warning to the rest of the league.
Though far from being in a comfortable spot in the NFL, the Chiefs have their job cut out for them. They either sink or swim. With fives games remaining in the regular season, Kelce and Kansas City can afford no stumbles. Coming into the season, not many expected a team commanded by Mahomes and Reid to be in this position, yet here they are.
However, the story could’ve been much different. If the Chiefs could turn back the hands of the clock in the 2025 NFL campaign, make no mistake—they’d definitely do so. Kelce indicated exactly that. Far from making excuses, though, the veteran tight end delivered a clear statement, warning the league not to sleep on Kansas City.
“I’m sure everyone is sick of us saying it, but we’re a few plays away from being a one seed in my mind,” Kelce confessed, via Sports Illustrated. “All of the losses are within one score, and there’s a handful of plays within those games that are determining the outcome. It’s hard. It’s crazy that you watch the film and you see what’s real, and what’s real is we’re this (expletive) close.”
Travis Kelce #87 of the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Chiefs can’t buy their luck
When going through the Chiefs’ losses in the 2025 NFL season, Kelce’s comments make a lot of sense. Kansas City has fallen just short in several games where the coin could’ve easily landed on its side. It didn’t, and now the Chiefs are fighting for their lives with 5 games left in the schedule.
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In many ways, it seems the tide has turned for the team in the Paris of the Plains. Plays that once went their way are now bouncing in their opponents’ direction. In past seasons, the Chiefs walked away with nail-biting victories, often prevailing after chaotic endings. This time around, the Chiefs are 1–6 in one-possession games.
Kelce’s comments have plenty of evidence behind them. Still, they don’t tell the whole story. Everyone on the team knows many things could’ve been done differently, and though it’s easy to point the finger at the bounce of the football, the Chiefs hold their own share of responsibility for the 6–6 record that has their Super Bowl hopes hanging by a thread.
What’s next for the Chiefs?
However, Kelce and the Chiefs know better than to cry over spilled milk. What’s done is done. Mahomes may be capable of making any throw in football, but he can’t go back and change the past.
Kansas City must simply move on and focus on what lies ahead. For starters: a Week 14 matchup with the Houston Texans on Sunday night. Back home at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Reid and the Chiefs must deliver a statement victory as they go up against the No. 1 defense in the NFL.
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