The Kansas City Chiefs have played uninspired regular-season football more than a few times during their current dynasty and still managed to compete in five of the last six Super Bowls. So there's a real sense of feeling like we've seen this movie before and everything will snap into place when the playoffs come and Patrick Mahomes turns into an unstoppable force.
Yet things have never looked this uncertain. Following Sunday's last-second loss to the Denver Broncos, Andy Reid's team is 5-5 and in actual jeopardy of missing the postseason altogether. The AFC West seems almost completely out of reach. What the Chiefs do over the next seven weeks will determine their path to representing the conference for yet another time—or if they'll be watching from home as someone else takes a turn.
What's clear now, though, is that there are legitimate reasons for concern in Kansas City.
Speaking on Monday's Get Up, NFL analyst Damien Woody offered up a blunt assessment.
"The aura is gone in Kansas City," he said. "I really do."
.@damienwoody says "the aura is gone in Kansas City" 👀 pic.twitter.com/hVDHYyzsvm
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 17, 2025
Woody compared the Chiefs with the dynasty they supplanted, that of the New England Patriots. The difference, he says, is that this current unit does not present as much of a mental challenge.
"The hell with Kansas City," Woody said of opposing teams' outlook on their matchups. "Last year they won a bunch of one-score games on their way to the Super Bowl and then get shellacked by the Philadelphia Eagles. Guess what? This year they're 0-for-5 in one-score games. They're not able to finish these type of games. I don't think teams are scared of the Kansas City Chiefs anymore."
A 5-5 record might suggest Woody is correct. But this is the same type of conversation that's occurred multiple years before the Chiefs play in the sport's biggest game. One of these times the sky is actually going to be falling.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Analyst Says Struggling Chiefs Have Finally Lost Their Aura.
