Game Preview, Week 8: Washington at Kansas City Chiefs
October 26, 2025
by Steve Thomas
I think it’s a virtual guarantee that Washington turns things around this coming Monday against the pathetic Kansas City Chiefs, who truly aren’t a very good team. Okay, okay, fine, none of that is true. Washington obviously has yet another very tough matchup this week, one that does not bode well for the team’s chances of making a comeback from their recent loses. Kansas City started the year a lit slow, but seem to have rounded back into form, just in time to beat up on the Redskins Washington Football Team Commanders Washington live in front of a national audience. Washington definitely has a very tough hill to climb this week, and almost nobody thinks they can do it. You never know, though, in any particular 60 minutes of NFL football. Can Washington pull off a miracle? I recommend not betting the house on it. Our game preview begins below.
Game time & location: Monday, October 27, 2025, 8:15 p.m. ET, Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri; Gates open 5:15 p.m. CT; parking lots open 12:15 p.m. CT
Television: ABC
Television announcers: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, Lisa Salters, Laura Rutledge
TV broadcast map: Click here
DC-area radio: BIG-100 (WBIG FM)
Washington radio network: Click here
Chiefs radio network: Click here
Satellite radio: SiriusXM: 88 (nat’l broad.); 226 (Wash. broad.); internet: 831 (Wash. broad.)
Washington roster: Click here
Washington depth chart: Click here
Chiefs roster: Click here
Chiefs depth chart: Click here
All-time head-to-head record vs Chiefs: 1 – 10 (last 5: 0 – 5)
Last meeting: L, October 17, 2021, 13 – 31
Chiefs record: 4 – 3 (2nd place) / NFC: 1 – 1 / Home: 3 – 1
Washington record: 3 – 4 (3rd place) / AFC: 2 – 0 / Away: 1 – 3
Early odds: Chiefs, -12.5
3 KEYS TO THE GAME
Focus on Patrick Mahomes
The Chiefs have a large number of playmakers on offense, far more than the average NFL team, which is most definitely a major reason behind their dynasty. However, everyone should understand that Patrick Mahomes is the man behind everything. It isn’t possible or productive to focus on any one other particular player, because Mahomes is incredibly skilled at spreading the ball around to anyone else that he chooses. Washington needs to control the line of scrimmage, put pressure on Mahomes without blitzing, and keep him in the pocket. A significant amount of blitzing by linebackers or the secondary won’t be productive with a quarterback like Mahomes. Washington will be much better served if the front four can pressure him. I don’t think that’s very likely, mind you, but that’s what they’ll need to do in order to succeed.
Tight secondary coverage
Along with controlling Mahomes comes the need for Washington’s secondary to play their best game of the season. Leaving anyone open courtesy of busted coverages and missed assignments is only going to result in a Chiefs blowout, because Mahomes is a master at finding open receivers, and sometimes receivers who aren’t open. Once again, I don’t think this is a very likely thing to happen in this game, because Washington’s secondary hasn’t played a complete game all year; regardless, this is what they need to do in order to win. Good luck, guys.
Control the game through the run game and short passing
Regardless of the fact that the starting quarterback is Marcus Mariota instead of Jayden Daniels this week, Washington needs to focus on ball control. This means running, alot. There’s simply no way Washington beats the Chiefs in a shootout. That’s an impossible result. Instead, they need to hope and pray that the offensive line plays better than they did last week and creates some rushing lanes for Jacory Croskey-Merritt and company. Washington only wins if they can keep Kansas City’s offense off the field for long stretches of the game. This means ball control: running and short passes. Take note Cliff Kingsbury. Of all of these keys to the game, I think this one has the best chance of actually happening.
3 KEY MATCHUPS
Travis Kelce is obviously a future Hall of Famer, and Patrick Mahomes’ long-time favorite target. It’s going to fall primarily on Bobby Wagner to at least manage the coverage of Kelce over the middle – a task that admittedly probably won’t go well. I don’t expect Washington to put Wagner in man coverage on Kelce, obviously, which is something that would no doubt work out poorly. However, Washington; meaning, primarily Wagner, is going to have to figure out a way to limit Kelce’s effectiveness. This is an interest matchup because it pits two highly accomplished, but older, players against one another.
This matchup features the newly-returned Cosmi against Kansas City’s 9x All-Pro against Washington’s best guard. Washington is going to need Cosmi to be at his best immediately in order to keep Jones from being overly disruptive in both passing and rushing situations. It will be interesting to see whether Cosmi can handle this matchup despite being out for an extended period of time with his knee injury. Keep an eye out on whether Jones has a big impact in the trenches, because if he does, it will probably be Cosmi’s fault more than anyone else.
Mike Sainstril and Trey Amos vs. Marquise Brown
Marquise Brown is Kansas City’s big play receiver, not the big “X” receiver, so it appears as though coverage will primarily fall to Saintrisil and Amos more than Lattimore, fortunately. Brown has burnt many a corner in his day, and realistically, it’s probably going to happen in this game as well. As I said above, Patrick Mahomes is an elite quarterback who is a master at spreading the ball around, so even if Sainristil and Amos do well against Brown, the odds are good that Mahomes will find others. Regardless, watch out for this matchup and how open Brown is throughout this game.
OFFICIAL INJURY REPORT (active roster only)
LP – limited practice FP – full practice DNP – did not practice
NIR – not injury related Q – questionable O – out
D – doubtful
| Washington | Chiefs |
| QB J. Daniels, hamstring; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; Sat: DNP; game: O | T J. Simmons, NIR; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; Sat: DNP; game: O |
| DT D. Payne, toe; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; Sat: DNP; game: Q | RB K. Hunt, ankle/knee; Thurs: DNP; Fri: LP; Sat: FP |
| TE C. Yankoff, hamstring; Thurs: NL; Fri: LP; Sat: DNP; game: P | G T. Smith, ankle/abdomen; Thurs: DNP; Fri: DNP; Sat: DNP; game: D |
| G S. Cosmi, back; Thurs: DNP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP | DE C. Omenihu; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP |
| WR T. McLaurin, quad; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP | CB C. Roland-Wallace, hand; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP |
| WR D. Samuel, heel; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP | RB B. Smith, toe; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP |
| LB B. Wagner, thumb, Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP | T J. Taylor, knee/shoulder; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP |
| K M. Gay, back; Thurs: NL; Fri: NL; Sat: DNP; game: Q | DL J. Tillery, elbow; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP |
| CB J. Watson, back; Thurs: LP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP | |
| WR X. Worthy, shoulder/ankle; Thurs: FP; Fri: FP; Sat: FP |
Steve’s Prediction
This one is another loss for Washington. Chiefs win 32 – 20.