2022 Kansas City Chiefs season


The 2022 season was the Kansas City Chiefs' 53rd in the National Football League, 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 [2022 2022 Houston Texans season|Houston Texans season|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 [2022 Buffalo 2022 Buffalo Bills season|Bills season|Bills]–[2022 2022 Cincinnati Bengals season|Cincinnati Bengals season|Bengals] game in Week 17 declared no contest, the Chiefs clinched the top seed in the AFC, but they did not clinch 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 [2022 2022 Philadelphia Eagles season|Philadelphia Eagles season|Philadelphia Eagles] 38–35. It was the Chiefs' third Super Bowl appearance and second win in four years.
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.
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 of the Never Miss a Super Bowl Club. She was a minority owner of the Chiefs at the time of her death.

NFL Top 100

The Chiefs only had three players ranked in the 2022 Top 100 players, their lowest number of selections since 2018. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was once again the highest ranked player for the Chiefs on the countdown despite dropping 7 places in the rankings.
RankPlayerPositionChange
8Patrick MahomesQuarterback7
10Travis KelceTight end5
39Chris JonesDefensive tackle5

Offseason

All transactions in this section occurred between the end of the 2021 season and the Chiefs first preseason game.

Players lost

Below are players who were on the roster at the end of the 2021 season, but were either released or did not re-sign after their contract expired.

Futures contracts

Players signed to futures contracts typically spent most, if not all, if the 2021 season on the Chiefs or another team's practice squad. These contracts are signed after the conclusion of the regular season through the beginning the next league year.

Players added

Players below played for another team in 2021 and signed with the Chiefs.

Trades

Listed below are trades were a player was included in the trade.

Draft

'''Draft trades'''

Signed and released in the offseason

Players listed below were signed and released in the offseason before playing for the team.
NamePosition
Luq BarcooCB
Shilique CalhounLB
Gehrig Dieter*WR
Chris FinkeWR
Anthony GordonQB
Nakia Griffin-StewartTE
Brenden KnoxRB
Lorenzo NealDT
Josh PedersonTE
Gene PryorT
Matthew SextonWR
Darius StillsDT
Mark VitalTE
Jonathan WoodardDE

Preseason transactions

All transactions below occurred in between the Chiefs first preseason game on August 13 and their first regular season game on September 11.

Cuts

The Chiefs made their first set of roster cut downs on August 16. They made another three cuts on August 23, they also placed two on reserve lists. Their final roster cut, which will be 27 cuts, will occur by August 30. The Chiefs also placed players on reserve lists to meet the roster requirements.
;Down to 85
NamePosition
Omar BaylessWR
Austin EdwardsDE
Devin GrayWR
Gary Jennings Jr.WR
Lonnie Johnson Jr.CB
Evin KsiezarczykT

;Down to 80
NamePosition
Brandin DandridgeCB
Derrick GoreRB
Nasir GreerS
David SteinmetzT

;Down to 53
NamePosition
Zayne AndersonS
Matt BushmanTE
Dicaprio BootleCB
Mike CaliendoG
Jermaine CarterLB
Jack CochraneLB
Corey ColemanWR
Dustin CrumQB
Matt DickersonDT
Jerrion EalyRB
Tayon Fleet-DavisRB
Daurice FountainWR
Jordan FranksTE
Josh GordonWR
Vitaliy GurmanT
Nazeeh JohnsonS
Roderick JohnsonT
Azur KamaraDE
Devon KeyS
Elijah LeeLB
Kehinde OginniDE
Aaron ParkerWR
Cornell PowellWR
Austin ReiterC
Mike RoseLB
Danny SheltonDT
Taylor StallworthDT

Regular season transactions

Transactions below occurred after the Chiefs first game on September 11 and through their final game, which includes the playoffs.

Standard elevations

Players listed below were elevated using a standard elevation, which allows the Chiefs to add someone to the active roster from the practice squad then move back to the practice squad without needing to clear waivers first. This can only be used a maximum of 3 times per player.
NamePositionWeek used
Daurice Fountain*WR1
Elijah LeeLB1, 4, 5
Matt Ammendola*K2, 3
Dicaprio BootleCB2, 3, 7
Matthew WrightK4, 5, 18
Zayne AndersonS6, 12, 13
Cole ChristiansenLB6
Marcus KempWR7, 11,,,
Ugo AmadiS10
Cornell PowellWR11, 12, 13
Ihmir Smith-MarsetteWR14, 18, AC
Danny SheltonDT16
Austin ReiterGDR, SB

Trades

Listed below are trades were a player was included in the trade.
TeamReceivedCompensation
New York GiantsWR Kadarius Toney3rd round selection 2023 draft
6th round selection 2023 draft
Atlanta Falcons7th round selection 2023 draftCB Rashad Fenton

IR activations

Players listed below spent a portion of the season on injured reserve and were activated.
PositionPlayerDated
added
Date
activated
CBTrent McDuffieSeptember 13November 1
TLucas NiangAugust 23 November 23
TEBlake BellSeptember 5December 23
WRMecole HardmanNovember 17January 4*
TEJody FortsonDecember 23January 28
RBClyde Edwards-HelaireNovember 23February 6

Preseason

Game summaries

KSHB carried the preseason games in the Kansas City area. Other networks throughout the region, primarily in Missouri and Kansas, also carried the games. Broadcasters provided are the Chiefs' broadcast. The Chiefs opponents also had their own broadcast team.

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 9: vs. Tennessee Titans


Week 17: vs. Denver Broncos


Postseason

Game summaries

AFC Divisional Playoffs: vs. (4) Jacksonville Jaguars

With the win, the Chiefs advance to the AFC Championship Game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

AFC Championship: vs. (3) Cincinnati Bengals

With the win, the Chiefs advance to Super Bowl LVII against the Philadelphia Eagles.