A broken streak of nine consecutive AFC West division titles and the franchise’s first losing season in over a decade would have left a sour taste in anyone’s mouth. But on the heels of a 6-11 season, as the Kansas City Chiefs flew back home from Las Vegas this January, something had already shifted for head coach Andy Reid. As team president Mark Donovan put it at the start of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2026 training camp, the conversations on that flight were about “What are we going to do to fix this, and what do we need to do to fix it?”

The head coach has had eight months to sit with those thoughts, come up with a plan, and fix it all. With just a week to go until the regular season kickoff, Coach Reid was asked in an interview with Sky Sports whether he’s still hung up on last season’s disaster. With that usual twitch of a smile under his mustache, Reid said that he’d already put that disappointment behind him.

“Yeah, you know, we got through that, and we put it in the part,” he responded. “And now in this business, you know that the next year, things can be different; that’s what’s so great about the NFL. Every year is different because of the turnover, and it happens.

“I mean, you see teams that might not have done well, and then all of a sudden they make these big jumps, and all of a sudden they’re in the playoffs and competing for a championship. So, we understand that. So, you learn from it back then, and you move on, man. You move on, and you concentrate on the present.”

Even when team CEO and chairman Clark Hunt addressed the team at the opening of training camp, he’d issued a similar statement alongside a strong vote of confidence in Coach Reid.

“You can’t think about what happened last year, and you can’t look ahead,” Hunt had said. You’ve got to be focused on winning the day … It’s time to move forward. That’s certainly Andy Reid’s mentality.”

The Chiefs struggled with their run game last season, so they got the Super Bowl MVP running back Kenneth Walker from the Seattle Seahawks.

Their offensive schemes needed more discipline. Eric Bieniemy returned to Kansas City to fix that with his no-nonsense attitude. Even the addition of Chad O’Shea as the wide receivers coach has instilled new life into the receiver room. Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes needed a reliable target, and star tight end Travis Kelce is now sticking around on a one-year deal.

When Mahomes went down last season with an ACL/LCL tear, KC’s playoff hopes went down with their franchise quarterback’s knee. This year, they’ve acquired Justin Field from the New York Jets to add some reliable depth behind him. They needed some premium draft picks and traded CB Trent McDuffie to the Los Angeles Rams to get them. Once loaded with ammunition, they aimed for a defensive rebuild.

CB Mansoor Delane (6th overall), DT Peter Woods (29th overall), DE R. Mason Thomas (40th overall), and DB Jadon Canady (109th overall) became the stepping stones of a new defense. Nose tackle Khyris Tonga came from the New England Patriots to provide veteran depth, along with CB L’Jarius Sneed and safety Alohi Gilman. The Chiefs even added some promising pieces on offense through RB Emmett Johnson, WR Cyrus Allen, and LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier.

In short, this isn’t the same team that went 6-11 last year. And when Andy Reid was asked what it takes to reach the Super Bowl despite the roster reshuffles, he had the answer ready once again.

“Well, you got to play well,” Reid said. “You got to be accurate in your play, and then you’ve got to win. It doesn’t matter if you win by one point or 20 points, you got to win and have those percentages on your side in the win column. And then from there, if you have that opportunity to get in the playoffs, you want to hope you’re the hot team that’s in, and that you’re rolling at that particular time.”

To get there this season, Andy Reid has already shielded Patrick Mahomes from the preseason games. Having attacked the offseason “seven hours a day,” Mahomes seems ready to take the field when the Chiefs go up against the Denver Broncos in Week one. From there, Coach Reid already knows how to win the long game; it’s just a matter of reaching January football.