2022 Kansas City Chiefs season

The 2022 season was the Kansas City Chiefs' 53rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 63rd overall, their 10th under head coach Andy Reid, and their sixth under general manager Brett Veach. The Chiefs finished the regular season 14–3, improving their win total from the previous season and matching the franchise record for wins.

In the offseason, the Chiefs traded wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins. Hill had been with the Chiefs since 2016. The Chiefs wore a decal with the number 16 on their helmets for the entire season in honor of former Chiefs quarterback and Super Bowl IV MVP Len Dawson, who died on August 24, and wore 16 his entire tenure with the Chiefs. Before the Chiefs first offensive play of the preseason game the following day, the Chiefs lined in a huddle popularized by Dawson where the quarterback stands in front of all other 10 offensive players instead of the quarterback standing in the middle with the players making a circle around him.

After their ninth victory in Week 12 over the Los Angeles Rams, the Chiefs clinched their tenth consecutive winning season, a franchise record. With a Week 15 win over the Houston Texans, they won the AFC West for the seventh consecutive year and fifteenth overall. It also was the Chiefs' franchise-record-extending eighth straight year making the playoffs. With a Week 18 win against the Raiders, and the Bills–Bengals game in Week 17 declared no contest, the Chiefs clinched the top seed in the AFC, but they did not home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs after the Bills beat the New England Patriots in their final game. The Chiefs hosted their fifth consecutive AFC Championship Game after the Bengals beat the Bills 27–10, where they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 23–20. In Super Bowl LVII, the Chiefs defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 38–35. It was the Chiefs' third Super Bowl appearance and second win in four years. Kansas City finished the season with its tenth consecutive winning record under head coach Andy Reid, going 14–3 and advancing to their third Super Bowl in the last four years with one-score wins over the Jacksonville Jaguars (Divisional Round) and Cincinnati Bengals (AFC Championship Game).[35]

The Chiefs traded star wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins in the offseason for draft picks but still finished the year as the NFL's best offense, leading the league in yards (7,032) and points scored (496).[36] Quarterback Patrick Mahomes made his fifth consecutive Pro Bowl and won his second NFL Most Valuable Player award, leading the league with a career-high 5,250 passing yards and 41 touchdowns while throwing 12 interceptions.[37] His passer rating of 105.2 was the second-highest in the league. He also rushed for 354 yards and four touchdowns, setting the NFL record for most combined passing and rushing yards in a season with 5,608.[38] Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce was the team's leading receiver with 1,338 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns. The team also added in a pair of veteran receivers to help make up for the loss of Hill: JuJu Smith-Schuster (933 yards and three touchdowns) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (687 yards and two touchdowns). The Chiefs' running game was led by rookie Isiah Pacheco, who had stepped into the leading role due to a midseason injury to starter Clyde Edwards-Helaire. Pacheco finished the season with 830 rushing yards and five touchdowns while also gaining 130 receiving yards and returning kickoffs with an average of 20.6 yards per return.[39] Veteran running back Jerick McKinnon added 803 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns. Their offensive line featured three Pro Bowl selections: guard Joe Thuney, tackle Orlando Brown Jr., and center Creed Humphrey. Punter Tommy Townsend also made the Pro Bowl, ranking second in the NFL in yards per punt (50.4) and leading the league with a 45.4 net average.[40]

Kansas City's defensive line featured Pro Bowl defensive tackle Chris Jones, who led the team with 15.5 sacks, along with defensive ends George Karlaftis (6 sacks, seven pass deflections) and Frank Clark (5 sacks). Linebacker Nick Bolton led the team with 180 combined tackles and two interceptions. The secondary was led by cornerback L'Jarius Sneed (three interceptions, 108 tackles, three forced fumbles, 3.5 sacks) and safety Juan Thornhill (three interceptions, 71 tackles).[41]

This was Kansas City's fifth Super Bowl, following wins in Super Bowls IV and LIV and losses in Super Bowls I and LV. Prior to the Super Bowl era, the Chiefs won the American Football League championship in 1962.[42]

The Super Bowl was the final for Norma Hunt, the widow of the Chiefs' founder, Lamar Hunt, who died in June 2023. She was a member (and the only woman) of the Never Miss a Super Bowl Club.[43] She was a minority owner of the Chiefs at the time of her death.[44]

Playoffs: The Chiefs entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the AFC.[56] They defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars, 27–20, in the AFC Divisional round. In a tightly contested game, the Chiefs held off a late fourth-quarter rally by the Jaguars.[57] Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes went down early in the game with a high right ankle sprain injury which forced him out of the game for a drive, but he was able to return shortly after leaving.[58] The AFC Championship pitted the Chiefs against the Cincinnati Bengals in a rematch of the 2021 AFC Championship game. This was the fifth consecutive AFC Championship hosted by the Chiefs, extending their record.[59] Much like the previous year's contest, the game was close toward the end of the fourth quarter. On the game's last drive, tied at 20, Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai was flagged for a late hit on Patrick Mahomes after he stepped out of bounds, which set the Chiefs up in field goal range with eight seconds remaining. Harrison Butker then kicked a 45-yard field goal to send the Chiefs to the Super Bowl with a 23–20 win.[60][61]