Everyone’s favorite season is upon us… not fall (although that’s happening too, if only the weather would agree), but FOOTBALL. For those of us living in Kansas City, football is basically a religion, so I am excited to be watching the Chiefs just like everyone else. But if you’re anything like me, you may be wondering: What exactly is happening this season, and what do we need to know before settling in to watch?

First, the official NFL season kicks off on September 9 with the Patriots taking on the Seahawks. But, of course, here in Kansas City, the big question is all about our Chiefs. One of the biggest storylines this season is Travis Kelce. The question on everyone’s mind seems to be; when will Travis Kelce retire, and could this be his final season? After everything he has accomplished, it’s hard to imagine the Chiefs without him, so there is definitely going to be a lot of attention on what he decides to do next.

Then there’s the very important question of where we can actually watch the games. YouTube TV or Hulu + Live TV, combined with Amazon Prime Video and Peacock, should cover the vast majority of in-market NFL games this season.

And finally, if you don’t know much about football, I encourage you to just enjoy it! That’s honestly where I was a few years ago. I didn’t understand every rule, every penalty, or why everyone was suddenly yelling at the television over what seemed like a very ordinary play If you’re new to football, you may feel like everyone around you knows something you don’t. They don’t. Well, some of them do—but plenty of people are just very confident.

Here are some things to say if you have no idea what you are talking about:

“That was a terrible penalty.”
There is almost always a penalty happening at the exact moment you need one. You don’t necessarily need to know what the penalty was. You can simply be disappointed by it.

“We need to establish the run.”
I’m not going to pretend I completely understood this phrase when I first started watching football, but it sounds extremely knowledgeable.

“That was definitely pass interference.”
Use this one when your team’s receiver gets tackled, pushed, bumped, looked at incorrectly, or otherwise fails to catch the ball. If the referee agrees, congratulations. If not, simply shake your head and say, “Of course.”

“Come on, Chiefs!”

Super Bowl LX wrapped up the NFL season on Feb. 8, with the Seattle Seahawks facing off against the New England Patriots. Neither team was expected to make any sort of championship run coming into the season, but when the two improbable tales collided, the Seahawks proved unstoppable. Seattle cruised to a 29-13 victory on the back of five field goals (a Super Bowl record) and a crushing defensive effort. Here’s the immediate reactions to all the action, from the Seahawks’ dominant defense to the halftime show fanfare and everything in between.

Seattle’s impressive season

Few picked the Seattle Seahawks to make the Super Bowl at the start of the season, but their win caps off an incredibly impressive year. Their 14-3 regular season record was tied for the best record in the NFL with the Patriots and the Denver Broncos (with?), including an 8-1 away record that was the strongest in the NFC. Their offense finished top 3 in total scoring, helped along by a top-tier special teams unit. The Seattle defense (more on them shortly) was likewise spectacular, leading the league in points allowed per game and ranking top ten in yards allowed against both rushing and passing attacks.

Individual Seahawks also had spectacular seasons. On offense, Sam Darnold threw for over 4,000 passing yards and had the fifth most passing yards of any quarterback in the league, while wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba led the league with 1,793 receiving yards and finished tied for sixth overall with ten receiving touchdowns. Linebacker Ernest Jones IV led a team-effort defense, bringing 120 tackles and five interceptions (good for second-most of any player this season). Capping the season off with a Super Bowl win cements an already-excellent season into the history books.

Defense wins championships, again

Most football fans enjoy watching high-flying offensive action, but solid defense is typically what wins championships, and the 2026 Super Bowl was defined by defense. The first half ended 9-0 for Seattle, with the Patriots only gaining 52 total yards of offense across five drives and the Seahawks managing just three field goals despite making it into the red zone twice. The game opened up in the second half, but the three biggest plays of the half were made by Seattle’s defense, forcing a strip-sack fumble near the end of the 3^rd quarter and snagging a pair of brutal interceptions, including a pick-six, in the 4^th to put the game away.

Even with a mediocre offensive performance, the Seahawks’ defense was more than enough to seal the victory, and this is far from the first time that a locked-down defense has pushed a team to a Super Bowl win. The Patriots defense was also clearly their strongest unit and kept them competitive even late into the game. It’s hard to know how much of the Patriots’ offensive struggles were down to the Seahawks’ defense and how much was due to their own errors, but Sam Darnold was certainly right to thank the defense during his post-game interview.

The NFC West: Best Division in Football?

The Seahawks’ win capped off not only a remarkable season for the team, but one for their entire division. Three of the four teams in the NFC West made the playoffs, with the Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers both getting wild-card berths with 12-5 records. Of the 13 combined regular season losses those three teams endured, six of them were to each other. Once in the playoffs, the only times the NFC West lost were to other teams from the division, with the Seahawks beating both the 49ers and Rams in succession.

Proclaiming any of the NFL’s eight divisions to be the best division in football would be controversial, and with roster turnover between seasons, it’s hard to predict if this year’s results will hold for 2026. The NFC West also has a nagging weak spot, with the 3-14 Arizona Cardinals arguably dragging the whole division down with them. Despite that, when both teams in the NFC championship and three of the four teams in that conference’s divisional round are all from the NFC West, and when ESPN’s two favorites for next year’s championship are both NFC West teams, it becomes hard to deny that the NFL has a standout division.

The Patriots Are Legit

They may have looked the obviously inferior team during the big game, but don’t let the lopsided scoreboard fool you: the New England Patriots are a legitimate contender for postseason glory. Drake Maye’s struggles in the big game were exacerbated by an injury-riddled offensive line with multiple rookies having to start, and once the line is healthy and gains more experience, the Patriots should be prepared to handle high-pressure defenses.

The most impressive takeaway from the Patriots’ effort was their resolve. Despite being down 19-0 in the 4^th quarter and having shown no signs of life for the first three quarters of the game, the Patriots pushed in a late touchdown to avoid the shutout, and after Seattle scored on a devastating pick-six to take a 29-7 lead with less than 5 minutes remaining, the Pats rallied to score yet another touchdown to push the final score to 29-13. For a young team that was not expected to be in the big game, that level of resolve is a great sign for the future, and the Patriots should be right back in the conversation next year. 

Beyond the Game

The Super Bowl is more than a football game. It’s arguably the single biggest event in the United States on a yearly basis, with world-famous music artists performing at the halftime show and major corporate sponsors pouring in up to ten million dollars for a single 30 second advertisement slot. The advertising, music, and general pageantry around the Super Bowl gives a quick snapshot of the state of the U.S., and the 2026 game had plenty to discuss. The action off the field brought plenty of good (including a spectacular halftime show by Bad Bunny, a fun pre-game performance by Green Day, and the reveal of Cadillac’s new Formula 1 car) and a good deal of bad (far too many AI-generated ads). The current political state of the US was not directly referred to, even by the politics-happy Green Day. However, the closing shot of the halftime show, with a parade of flags from Latin America marching down the field in front of a screen saying “The only thing more powerful than hate is love” definitely struck a political chord and even incited a social media rant from President Trump.

A study conducted by the Sports Business Journal found that sports events dominated the top 100 telecasts of 2022. Of these sports events, the majority were games by the National Football League (NFL), as they  occupied 82 spots of the top 100 telecasts.

Starting with 2012, major US cable TV and satellite TV providers have lost a total of 25 million subscribers. The majority of these lost customers switched to streaming services. The domination of sports events on television – particularly the NFL – points to cable’s increasing reliance on sports telecasts in order to keep customers. 

Though streaming is certainly the hot-topic of the day, a 2021 Nielsen report indicated that streaming services like Youtube and Netflix account for just about a quarter of total US TV viewing times. In contrast, broadcast and cable accounted for 64% of viewing times. It is still the case that what is primarily propping up cable TV is sports. 

Should the NFL undertake new avenues in terms of media and media rights, this could spell a significant amount of lost revenue for cable companies. In fact, there have already been some signs of trouble for cable companies. For example, Amazon Prime has become the exclusive home of “Thursday Night Football” for a price tag of a billion a year for 11 years. Previously through May of 2022, nearly 37%of Fox’s primetime viewership came from sports viewing, which included “Thursday Night Football.” 

The complete domination of streaming services in the industry seems a ways away. However, cable’s reliance on sports events for its returning viewership and revenue cannot be understated. 

Photo by Riley McCullough on Unsplash.

After signing the now-infamous $500 million contract ensuring that Patrick Mahomes would keep throwing touchdowns for the Kansas City Chiefs, they have found themselves in unprecedented times under his leadership. The Chiefs are currently in third place in the AFC West with a 4-4 record, a division they have won for the past five seasons.

ESPN’s Ryan Clark made his opinion clear, stating that “The Chiefs are not a good football team right now.” Going into the season, expectations were high as they have been since Mahomes took the Chiefs to the Super Bowl against the San Francisco 49er’s and won. 

Fans still consider a trip to the Super Bowl a successful season despite losing the game itself last season against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. However, the Chiefs find themselves in uncharted territory, as Mahomes and the rest of the team have not been themselves. Mahomes has already surpassed his interception total from last season after completing eight games with a total of 10 interceptions. Noticeably, there has been no loss of offensive talent during the prior offseason meaning that theoretically, there should not be a decline in results. 

This has not been the case. The Chiefs’ offense has been dropping balls and failing their assignments. Fans and analysts alike have called for the Chiefs to go back to the fundamentals in order to slow the game back down to improve their focus. Mahomes is still above the pack in total passing yards, but the turnover numbers and drop back/sack ratio are the highest they’ve ever been. 

The defense has given up 6.6 yards per play, leaving them last place in the entire NFL. Objectively, this is the worst defense Mahomes has had since he took over in 2018. However, it’s likely that the defense will make adjustments and begin to look like a competitive unit by the end of the season. 

Mahomes has had a lot going on. Not only did he amass a large amount of wealth recently, but has also become a father, husband, business owner and the face of countless merchandise and brand deals. It would be a lot for anyone to handle, and I think fans trust that Mahomes will take the necessary deep breaths to get back to normal. It is imperative that he does so soon before the Chiefs lose their chance at the playoffs. The Chiefs are set to continue their season against the Green Bay Packers on Nov. 7 at 3:25 p.m.