The Kansas City Chiefs are in a spot they never expected to be in. With a 5-5 record, they’re fighting just to get into the playoffs. This Sunday’s game is a huge one. They’re hosting the tough Indianapolis Colts, who are 8-2 at Arrowhead. For Patrick Mahomes and the whole Chiefs squad, there is no room for error now.

After a tough loss to the Denver Broncos last week, the mood is focused, not defeated. Defensive lineman Mike Pennel, who was recently brought back to the team, said the Denver loss left a “sour taste. However, he believes that such adversity is precisely what they need. He said,

“We got a sour taste in our mouth about Denver. I think it’s going to be, no losses. No losses are ever good in this league at all, especially when you play it at the highest level, when you play for the Tennessee Chiefs. But I know that everybody’s going to respond really well. And sometimes, you need something like this to respond to, a little bit of adversity, a little bit of, not everybody patting you on the back to turn it up. So, I’m excited for Sunday. I’m excited.”

Even though the 2025 season has been rough for a team used to winning, they’ve lost a lot of close games, the players still have total faith in Mahomes and are optimistic they can turn it around. Veteran tight end and team leader Travis Kelce kept it short and direct, giving his teammates a wake-up call on his “New Heights” podcast:

“It’s about time we put it together.” He said.

Considering the current situation, if the Chiefs lose by 5-6 record their chance of making the playoffs drops way down to only about 15%. If the Chiefs win 6-5 record their playoff odds jump up to about 43% Hence, Coach Andy Reid and Mahomes need to get the team playing their best football right now.

Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs must win the week 12 game 

For the past decade, the Chiefs have been the AFC’s unstoppable force, practically owning their division with nine straight titles and making the playoffs every single year. They’ve been to five AFC Championships and won three Super Bowls recently. This year? Everything has changed.

The Chiefs are sitting at a shaky 5-5 record coming out of Week 11. What’s truly shocking is that this dominant team, coached by Andy Reid, lost its last two games: one to the Bills and, incredibly, one to the AFC West rival Broncos, right after their bye week.

Simply put, the Chiefs are in serious trouble and must go on a winning streak just to grab a Wild Card spot. The playoff race in the AFC is crowded, and the Chiefs have fallen way behind. The Chiefs are now at No. 9 in the AFC standings. The top seven teams make the playoffs. They need to jump at least two teams to get back in.

 The final playoff spot, the No. 7 seed, is currently held by the 6-4 Jacksonville Jaguars, meaning Kansas City is a full game back. Even worse, the 5-5 Houston Texans are ahead of the Chiefs due to better conference records, and both the Jaguars and the L.A. Chargers, No. 6 seeds, already hold tiebreakers over Kansas City because they won their head-to-head matchups earlier in the season.

Considering these points, the Chiefs cannot make a single mistake in week 12’s game as they have a very thin chance of making it into the playoffs. Therefore, their upcoming home game against the 8-2 Indianapolis Colts is a must-win.