Pressure on Chiefs: Why History Says Beating Philly Critical

Since 2020, when the NFL increased its postseason field to 14 teams, 40 clubs have started their seasons 0-2. Only five of those 40 teams (12.5 percent) — Cincinnati in 2022, Houston in 2023 and Baltimore, Denver and the L.A. Rams in 2024 — made the postseason.

Only the 1993 Cowboys, 2001 Patriots and 2007 Giants have won the Super Bowl after beginning seasons without victories in their first two games.

Chiefs bounced back from season-opening loss in 2023

Although Kansas City rebounded from a season-opening loss in 2023 to win the Super Bowl, the odds were steep for any 0-1 team before the Chiefs’ 27-21 season-opening loss to the Chargers on Friday in Brazil. According to Elias:

• Since 1990: 136 of the 541 teams that started 0-1 made the playoffs (25.1 percent).

• Since 1990: 35 of the 288 teams that started 0-2 made the playoffs (12.2 percent).

“I expect more than that ,” head coach Andy Reid said in Brazil after Friday’s loss. “I need to make sure we come out with better emotion. It’s a nice big stage for us against a good football team. They made a couple of plays early, got things going. And we weren’t able to do that. And I thought they did a better job in that area.

“Listen, I’m on the sidelines. I expect there to be emotional support there. I also expect the
players to fly around and do things that I’ve seen us do.”

What Reid’s seen the Chiefs do is start at least 1-1 in 10 consecutive seasons (2015-24). The last time they opened 0-2 was 2014, Reid’s second year as Kansas City head coach, when they dropped their season opener at home to the Titans, then lost in Denver to Peyton Manning and the Broncos.

Streak without 0-2 start is fourth-longest in league

According to Elias, Kansas City’s 10 straight seasons without opening 0-2 (2015-24) is the NFL’s fourth-longest active streak. Tampa Bay entered the day at 10 before the Buccaneers escaped Atlanta with a 23-20 win on Sunday. Dallas hasn’t opened 0-2 since 2010. Green Bay owns the league’s longest stretch, last winless over its first two games in 2006.

In Denver’s 24-17 Week 2 win on Sept. 14, 2014 (11 years to the day of Sunday’s Super Bowl rematch), Manning was 21 of 26 for 242 yards and three touchdowns, with no interceptions. Patrick Mahomes that day was two weeks from taking his first college snap as a true freshman at Texas Tech.

The Chiefs, meanwhile, wound up 2-3 after Week 5 – two full games behind the first-place Chargers – before reeling off five consecutive wins to match Denver (7-3) atop the division. However, Kansas City then dropped three of its next four to fall out of the playoff race, missing the postseason by one game with a 9-7 mark.

For the first time in the realignment era, since the NFL expanded to 32 teams and shifted to eight four-team divisions, the Chiefs are the only AFC West team without a win after one week of play. Both the Broncos and Raiders secured wins, joining the Chargers at the top of the division, one full game ahead of Kansas City.