The

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

was the franchise's 17th season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

and the 27th overall. It ended with a 10–6 record, the most wins for the franchise since

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses ( February 25, July 22 and August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 10, and August 6). The world population increased by 2.1% this year, the highest increase in history. Events Ja ...

. The Chiefs clinched a wild card playoff berth, but lost to the

New York Jets The New York Jets are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Jets compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The J ...

35–15. Former linebacker

Willie Lanier Willie Edward Lanier (born August 21, 1945) is an American former professional football player who was a middle linebacker for the Kansas City Chiefs from 1967 through 1977. He won postseason honors for eight consecutive years, making the Amer ...

was enshrined in the

Pro Football Hall of Fame The Pro Football Hall of Fame is the hall of fame for professional American football, located in Canton, Ohio. Opened on September 7, , the Hall of Fame enshrines exceptional figures in the sport of professional football, including players, coach ...

on August 2. On the field, the pieces started coming together for head coach

John Mackovic John Mackovic (born October 1, 1943) is an American football coach. He is currently the head coach of the Italy national American football team, which was formed to compete in the EFAF European Championship. Previously, Mackovic served as the ...

. His offense displayed plenty of scoring punch, while the club's defense and special teams became increasingly effective. With the team sitting at 3–3,

Bill Kenney William Patrick Kenney (born January 20, 1955) is an American former quarterback who spent nine years in the National Football League with the Kansas City Chiefs from 1980 to 1988 and a former politician who spent 8 years as a Missouri State Se ...

replaced

Todd Blackledge Todd Alan Blackledge (born February 25, 1961) is a former American football quarterback in both the NCAA and National Football League. In college, he led the Penn State Nittany Lions to a national championship. A member of the famed Class of 19 ...

for the second half of the season in a game against

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, guiding the club to a 42–41 victory. That win was the first of four consecutive triumphs with Kenney at the helm, the club's longest winning streak since

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – ...

. Poised with a 7–3 record after 10 games, three straight losses in November put the Chiefs playoff chances in jeopardy. Two December wins gave Kansas City a 9–6 mark, putting the Chiefs on the verge of their first postseason berth in 15 years. The defining moment of the season came in the regular season finale at

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

on December 21. Despite being outgained in total yardage by a 515–171 margin, the Chiefs were able to notch a 24–19 victory as all of the team's points came via special teams on a blocked punt return, a field goal, a kickoff return and a blocked field goal return. With a 10–6 record the Chiefs earned an AFC Wild Card berth, winning a tiebreaker with

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

. Kenney was injured in the fourth quarter of the Steelers contest, meaning Blackledge drew the starting assignment for the club's first playoff contest since

, a 35–15 loss at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. Mackovic was fired after the season.

NFL Draft

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Cincinnati Bengals

Week 2: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 3: vs. Houston Oilers

Week 4: at Buffalo Bills

Week 5: vs. Los Angeles Raiders

Week 6: at Cleveland Browns

Week 7: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 8: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 9: at San Diego Chargers

Week 10: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 11: at Denver Broncos

Week 12: at St. Louis Cardinals

Week 13: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 14: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 15: at Los Angeles Raiders

Week 16: at Pittsburgh Steelers

Standings

Postseason

Schedule

Game summaries

AFC Wild Card Playoffs: at (4) New York Jets

Quarterback Pat Ryan led the Jets to the victory with 3 touchdown passes. The Chiefs scored first on a 67-yard drive capped by running back Jeff Smith. On their ensuing possession, the Jets faced fourth down and 6 on the Kansas City 33-yard line. Rather than attempt a long field goal, Ryan faked a handoff and rushed for a 24 yard gain. Two plays later, running back

Freeman McNeil Freeman McNeil (born April 22, 1959) is a former professional American football player. He was selected by the New York Jets in the first round as the third overall pick of the 1981 NFL Draft. Early life McNeil was born in Jackson, Mississippi. ...

scored on a 4-yard rushing touchdown. In the second period, Ryan completed two touchdown pass: a 1-yarder to McNeil and an 11-yarder to wide receiver

Al Toon Albert Lee Toon Jr. (born April 30, 1963) is a former professional American football wide receiver who played for the New York Jets of the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. A two-time First-team All-Big Ten pick at the Univers ...

. On the first play of the second half, Jets linebacker Kevin McArthur returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown. Ryan later clinched the victory in the fourth period with a 6-yard touchdown pass to tight end Billy Griggs. The Chiefs' only scores in the second half was a blocked punt recovery in the end zone, and an intentional safety by the Jets. McNeil finished the game with 135 rushing yards, 3 receptions for 16 yards, and 2 touchdowns.

References

External links

1986 Kansas City Chiefs
at

Pro-Football-Reference.com Pro-Football-Reference.com is a website providing a variety of statistics for American football. It is one of the few sites that provides information on both active and retired players. The site provides statistics for teams dating back to 1920. ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:1986 Kansas City Chiefs season

Kansas City Chiefs seasons

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...