Losing belief in the Kansas City Chiefs has become a regular pastime around the National Football League, both within the fan base and outside of it. Who can blame them? The Chiefs are 5-5, sitting outside of the playoff picture, and came out of their bye week with a confusing game plan and sloppy effort against the Denver Broncos in Week 11.
Not only have the Chiefs already lost three more games than they did all of last season, but analysts are predicting more losses in the very near future—as in next week. The Chiefs host the Indianapolis Colts, who are coming off of a bye week of their own, and what was projected to be an easy opponent before the season has turned into a serious AFC showdown, especially for K.C.
The Chiefs' backs are against the wall, and another loss might doom them with six games to go. They're down 3.5 games in the AFC West, so the division title has already slipped through their fingers. But a loss to Indianapolis would also pierce the hull for their postseason hopes, which are already drifting farther away.
NFL analysts are predicting the end of the line for the Chiefs as they host the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.
Instead of getting the benefit of the doubt from NFL experts for their sustained success, this year's Chiefs are finding naysayers aplenty. Kay Adams had former NFL players Will Compton and Taylor Lewan on her show Up & Adams earlier this week to talk about a number of subjects. When the Chiefs came up, it was difficult to find any believers.
Both Lewan and Compton brought up the Chiefs' newfound ability to lose games in 2025, and the latter thinks the Colts will be the ones to drive a stake through their heart.
"Water is infiltrating their ship. Taylor [Lewan] said it. They’re 0-5 in one score game—something that they were hanging their hat on last year. They've been the dominant force in the NFL [for] it feels like the last decade.
"But again, water is seeping in, the ship is sinking, and it's going to be fully sunk this year, because they’re going to go out and lose to Indianapolis. They're going to have a lot of games at home and they're going to lose in front of their home crowd and really knock them out of the playoffs. But I would just say it's a sinking ship and water's continuing to flood in those hallways."
The Colts are the surprise of the AFC in 2025. Daniel Jones has been reborn under Shane Steichen's leadership, and it doesn't hurt to have such an impressive array of playmakers around him. Running back Jonathan Taylor is having an MVP-worthy season. Alec Pierce and Josh Downs and Michael Pittman are solid wideouts, and Tyler Warren looks like the league's best young tight end.
At 8-2, the Colts should feel confident even on the road, but the Chiefs know what's at stake. For a team that's played in five of the last six Super Bowls, that's a lot of experience in big games to draw from. That said, they've been unable to draw from it in other big games that would have corrected course on a frustrating season—which has led very few people to believe they can do it on Sunday.