It is weird to think about the Kansas City Chiefs losing. When you have Patrick Mahomes under center and Andy Reid wearing the headset, defeat feels like a glitch in the Matrix. But honestly, it happens. Even the most dominant teams in NFL history have those "wait, what just happened?" Sunday afternoons where nothing clicks. If you are asking who did the Kansas City Chiefs lose to, you are likely looking for more than just a box score. You want to know how a team this good actually falls apart.
Losses are the scar tissue of a championship run. They tell you more about the Chiefs' vulnerabilities—their occasional offensive stagnation or those moments when the defense bends until it finally snaps—than any 40-point blowout ever could.
The 2024 Season: A Rare Crack in the Armor
For a long time in 2024, it felt like the Chiefs were invincible. They weren't playing "perfect" football, but they were winning. Every single week. Until they weren't.
On November 17, 2024, the Buffalo Bills finally did what the rest of the league had been trying to do for nearly a year. They beat Kansas City 30-21. It wasn't a fluke. Josh Allen played like a man possessed, sealing the game with a 26-yard touchdown run on fourth down that left the Chiefs' defense looking uncharacteristically gassed. That loss was significant because it snapped a 15-game winning streak (including the previous postseason). It reminded everyone that Mahomes is human.
But if we are talking about the most shocking recent loss, we have to look back at the 2023 Christmas Day disaster.
The Las Vegas Raiders walked into GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium and essentially bullied the Chiefs. Final score: 20-14. The craziest part? The Raiders didn't even complete a pass after the first quarter. Think about that for a second. Aidan O'Connell didn't have a single completion in the second, third, or fourth quarters, and the Chiefs still lost. It was a comedy of errors. Two defensive touchdowns by the Raiders in a span of seven seconds—a fumble recovery by Bilal Nichols and a Jack Jones pick-six—turned the game upside down.
Why the Buffalo Bills Keep Showing Up
If you are wondering who the Chiefs lose to most consistently in the regular season, the answer is usually Sean McDermott and the Bills. While Mahomes has famously owned the Bills in the playoffs (think the "13 Seconds" game), the regular season is a totally different story.
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Buffalo has a specific blueprint. They don't try to "out-scheme" Andy Reid; they try to out-muscle him. In 2023, the Bills took down the Chiefs 20-17 in a game that became infamous for the Kadarius Toney offsides penalty. You remember the one. Travis Kelce threw a brilliant lateral to Toney for what looked like a go-ahead touchdown, only for the refs to bring it back because Toney was lined up in the neutral zone. Mahomes was livid. He screamed at the refs. He complained to Josh Allen during the post-game handshake.
It was a rare moment of public frustration for a quarterback who usually keeps his cool.
The Cincinnati Bengals and the Joe Burrow Problem
Before the Bills became the primary regular-season thorn in KC's side, it was the Cincinnati Bengals. For a two-year stretch, Joe Burrow seemed to have the secret code to the Chiefs' defense.
Between January 2022 and December 2022, the Bengals beat the Chiefs three times in a single calendar year.
- January 2, 2022: Bengals win 34-31 (Regular Season).
- January 30, 2022: Bengals win 27-24 (AFC Championship).
- December 4, 2022: Bengals win 27-24 (Regular Season).
That AFC Championship loss was particularly brutal. The Chiefs were up 21-3. They looked like they were headed to another Super Bowl. Then, the wheels fell off. Mahomes struggled in the second half, Lou Anarumo's defense dropped eight men into coverage, and the Chiefs' offense choked. It remains one of the most puzzling halves of football in the Mahomes era.
The Lions and the Banner Drop Curse
The 2023 season opener was another "who did the Kansas City Chiefs lose to" moment that caught people off guard. The Detroit Lions came into Arrowhead on the night the Chiefs were celebrating their Super Bowl LVII ring.
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Kansas City lost 21-20.
No Travis Kelce (injury). No Chris Jones (holdout). It showed just how much the Chiefs rely on their "Big Three." Kadarius Toney had one of the worst statistical games for a wide receiver in recent memory, with multiple drops—one of which went directly into the hands of Brian Branch for a pick-six. It was a gritty, ugly loss that set a weird tone for the first half of that season.
Looking at the "Bad" Losses
Sometimes the Chiefs lose to elite teams like the Eagles or the Ravens (though they've mostly dominated Baltimore lately). But the losses that sting the fans are the ones to teams they "should" beat.
- Indianapolis Colts (2022): A 20-17 loss to a struggling Colts team. This was the game where Chris Jones got a bizarre unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for "saying something" to Matt Ryan, which extended a drive and led to the game-winning score.
- Tennessee Titans (2021): A 27-3 shellacking. This wasn't even close. The Titans' pass rush destroyed the Chiefs' offensive line, and Mahomes didn't even throw a touchdown.
- Denver Broncos (2023): After 16 straight wins against Denver, the streak finally ended. The Chiefs lost 24-9 in a game where Mahomes was dealing with the flu and the offense turned the ball over five times.
The Super Bowl LV Nightmare
We can't talk about Chiefs' losses without mentioning the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Super Bowl LV was the ultimate humbling. 31-9.
The Chiefs' offensive line was decimated by injuries, and Todd Bowles’ defense made Mahomes run for his life. Literally. Mahomes ran for nearly 500 yards behind the line of scrimmage just trying to avoid being sacked. It was the only time in his professional career that his team failed to score a touchdown in a game. That loss changed the way the Chiefs built their roster. General Manager Brett Veach went out and traded for Orlando Brown Jr., signed Joe Thuney, and drafted Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith.
The loss to Tampa Bay was the catalyst for the "rebuilt" dynasty we see today.
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Common Threads in Chiefs' Defeats
When you analyze who did the Kansas City Chiefs lose to, a pattern emerges. They don't usually get "beat" in the traditional sense. They beat themselves.
Usually, it involves a combination of three things:
- Turnover Differential: Mahomes is a gunslinger. Sometimes he takes risks that result in multi-interception games.
- Red Zone Efficiency: The Chiefs often move the ball between the 20s with ease, then get "cute" in the red zone and settle for field goals.
- The "Chris Jones Effect": If a team can neutralize Chris Jones with double teams and get the ball out quick, the Chiefs' defense loses its teeth.
Actionable Insights for Fans and Analysts
Understanding who the Chiefs lose to helps you understand how to bet against them—or how to appreciate their resilience.
- Watch the Offensive Line Health: If the interior line is banged up, Mahomes struggles to step up in the pocket. This is when the "hero ball" starts, which often leads to the losses mentioned above.
- Monitor the Turnover Margin: In almost every loss mentioned, from the 2023 Raiders game to the 2024 Bills game, the Chiefs lost the turnover battle.
- Respect the "Lurk" Teams: Teams like the Bills and Bengals have psychological parity with the Chiefs. They don't fear the jersey. When looking at future schedules, these are the games where the Chiefs are most vulnerable.
The Chiefs are the gold standard of the NFL. But as the Raiders, Bills, and Bengals have shown, they aren't ghosts. They are a football team that can be tackled, pressured, and outplayed if the conditions are just right.
Check the current NFL standings and injury reports before the next Chiefs kickoff. Pay close attention to the "points off turnovers" stat in their recent games; it is the most consistent predictor of whether they will end the day with a "W" or an "L." If the opponent has a dominant interior pass rush and a quarterback who doesn't blink, you might just find the next team to add to this list.