Here are four things that stood out in Chiefs' loss to Titans
Chiefs have dropped six of last seven games
The Chiefs hoped to finish strong the final three games, starting Sunday against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium.
Cancel that thought, however, as the Titans dominated the Chiefs in a 26-9 win.
Kansas City’s loss dropped them to 6-9 overall this season, with a dubious 1-6 mark on the road.
The last time the Chiefs lost six or more road games? Go back to 2012, when the Chiefs finished 2-14 with a 1-7 record on the road.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it’s been that bad in 2025.
OK, the Chiefs were without quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a host of contributors – covered later – but Sunday’s loss was downright ugly.
The Titans, who improved to 3-12 with Sunday’s win, outplayed the shorthanded Chiefs throughout the contest.
Tennessee outgained the Chiefs in total offense by a wide margin, 376-133, dominated time of possession, 38:01-21:59, and held the Chiefs to 1-of-9 conversions on third down (11%).
Defensively, the Chiefs couldn’t consistently get to Titans rookie quarterback Cam Ward, who completed 21-of-28 passes for 228 yards and two touchdowns for a career-high 122.3 passer rating.
The Chiefs also allowed the Titans to rack up 164 yards rushing and a touchdown on 40 attempts (4.1 yards per carry).
Kansas City has now lost four straight games and six of the last seven games.
Here are four things that stood out:
LIFE WITHOUT MAHOMES
Backup quarterback Gardner Minshew’s much-anticipated start in place of Mahomes barely made a whimper.
Minshew left the game early in the second quarter with a knee injury, which is reportedly believed to be a torn ACL.
With Minshew in the locker room, the Chiefs turned to Chris Oladokun, who was signed from the practice squad to the active roster over the weekend.
Oladokun did his best to keep the Chiefs in the game, finishing the contest by completing 11-of-16 passes for 111 yards with no touchdowns and turnovers for an 88.3 passer rating.
But the Titans swarmed Oladokun and the Chiefs’ offense in the second half, limited Kansas City to 61 yards in the third quarter and an incredible -28 in the fourth quarter. That’s not a typo.
Oladokun projects as the starting quarterback for the remaining two games – Denver Broncos in Week 17 and Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18.
QB’S BEST FRIEND
“The run game is a quarterback’s best friend,” the saying goes in the NFL.
With the Chiefs down to their backup signal-caller, and then the third quarterback, it would’ve been reasonable to think the Chiefs would take some pressure off the quarterbacks with a running game.
The matchup surely favored the thought process when considering the Titans entered the game ranked a dismal 20th against the run, allowing 123.6 yards per game.
Alas, if there’s anything we’ve learned this year about the Chiefs, it’s the team’s aversion to running the football even when it makes sense to do it.
The Chiefs finished the game with 51 yards rushing on 15 carries, averaging 3.4 yards per attempt.
Isiah Pacheco paced the ground game with 34 yards on eight carries, while Kareem Hunt managed 2 yards on three carries. Hunt, by the way, was also stuffed 2 yards in the end zone for a safety.
Minshew had 8 yards on one carry and Oladokun totaled 7 yards on two carries.
ROYALS, ANYONE?
The chatter out of One Arrowhead Drive throughout the week surrounded a desire to get a look at the young players.
This made perfect sense, of course, because the Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs in Week 15.
One player stood out as potentially seeing meaningful snaps against the Titans, and his name is rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals.
Royals, the Chiefs’ fourth-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, has been buried on the depth chart this season and if there’s ever a time to see what he can do, it would be the final three games.
Unfortunately, the time apparently didn’t present itself against the Titans.
A total of six Chiefs players recorded at least one target on Sunday, and Royals wasn’t among the group.
PRESEASON FEEL
Sunday felt like a late-summer preseason game.
Multiple key contributors were ruled out for the contest: starting cornerback Trent McDuffie (knee), starting wide receiver Rashee Rice (concussion), starting defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi (illness), swing tackle Jaylon Moore (knee) and wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (concussion).
Additionally, starting right tackle Jawaan Taylor (elbow) and starting linebacker Leo Chenal (shoulder) were placed on injured reserve on Saturday.
The Chiefs were basically down to backups, and in some cases, like the offensive line, backups to the backups.
While it would’ve made sense to see what rookie linebacker Jeff Bassa could do with meaningful playing time, the Chiefs opted to roll with Jack Cochrane in place of Chenal.
Buckle up, though, because Sunday probably served as a preview for the remaining two games.