Mandatory Credit: Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

Kansas City Chiefs Scenarios and Odds to Clinch a Spot in the 2025–26 NFL Postseason

At 6-7 the Kansas City Chiefs are in a dire situation as we head near the end of the regular season!

Mandatory Credit: Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

The last time the Kansas City Chiefs didn’t make the playoffs was in the 2024 NFL season, when they finished second in the AFC West with a 9-7 record. It’s been 10 straight seasons that KC has figured in the postseason, but that streak is currently in grave danger.

Presently, the Chiefs are 6-7 with four games still left to play. Not only have they not been in such a position for a long time, but this has also never happened since Patrick Mahomes took over as the team’s starting quarterback. In fact, in his eighth season as the starter, Mahomes has yet to miss the playoffs.

Finding themselves in a real hole, here, we take a look at how the Chiefs can still make it to the postseason and the odds they have of still progressing.

What Are the Chiefs’ Odds of Qualifying for the Playoffs?

Frankly speaking, the odds for the Chiefs to make the playoffs are not great at all. Last week’s loss to the Houston Texans has further dented the team’s chances of trying to win another Lombardi Trophy.

Below is a representation of the Chiefs’ chances to progress to the postseason as per the official NFL website, along with their odds as sourced from FanDuel.

	Playoff Chances (Current)	Playoff Chances (Win)	Playoff Chances (Loss)	Odds
Kansas City Chiefs	12%	19%	Less than 1%	+530

As per the NFL website, the Chiefs currently hold just a 12% chance of progressing, and a win over the Chargers in Week 15 will increase their chances to only 19%. However, a loss in any game hereon will almost certainly mean that they miss the playoffs for the first time since 2014.

Looking to carry Sunday's defensive efforts into Week 15. pic.twitter.com/PIgoOTKvPz
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 9, 2025

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Scenarios for Kansas City to Make the Postseason

The path to the postseason is a rather complicated one for the 4-time Super Bowl Champions. A lot has to go exactly in their favor for them to progress to the next stage. With a 6-7 record, the Chiefs find themselves tenth in the AFC, with the Colts and Ravens ahead of them for the final wild-card spot.

First and foremost, the Chiefs have to win all of their remaining games, which is going to be a tough task, considering they face the Chargers and the Broncos in 2 of those games. With the AFC West top spot no longer a possibility, the Chiefs can only go through via a wild-card spot. The main problem is that they have lost to the Chargers, Bills, and Texans, all three teams currently occupying the wild-card positions.

But, even if Kansas City wins its matchup against the Chargers, evening out their head-to-head at 1-1, the Chiefs would need the Chargers and the Colts to lose as well. The Chargers are currently 9-4, but they have a tough schedule with games against the Cowboys, Texans, and the Broncos.

Even then, the Chiefs would need the Colts to lose multiple games since Indianapolis has a better conference hierarchy. But that certainly is possible since the AFC South team is on a downward spiral and has just lost Daniel Jones for the season.

In a nutshell, things are not looking too bright for the dynastic Chiefs at this point of the season, and a loss in the upcoming game would almost certainly leave them without a spot in the postseason.

Mandatory Credit: Amy Kontras-Imagn Images

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Devavrat Kulkarni

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I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!