NFL: 25 Most Disappointing 1 Seeds In NFL Playoff History
By Nick Villano
![Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/shape/cover/sport/bbbb1480eeec6df2589ca6216f1bf8be5f3dff705df3ab505d9f9131e0ac27af.jpg)
25 Most Disappointing 1 Seeds In NFL Playoff History: 22. 1995 Kansas City Chiefs
The rest of this list is one-and-done losers in the NFL Playoffs. These teams came into the postseason with all of the momentum to win, but they lost immediately. That’s what happened to the 1995-96 Kansas City Chiefs.
The Chiefs won 13 games in 1995, winning the conference pretty convincingly. No other team had more than 11 wins in the AFC. This was the team that came into the year after Joe Montana retired, thinking if they can get a few things to fall their way, they could make a push for a Super Bowl without him. It looked like they were right at first. The talent around Steve Bono was immense. Marcus Allen was at the end of his career, but he could still ball. The offense let the defense run the show, and it led to wins. However, that wasn’t a good enough formula in the playoffs.
The Chiefs took on the fifth-seeded Indianapolis Colts in the Divisional Round. The weather was not anyone’s friend. It was six degrees below zero on the thermometer! A pass from Bono to Lake Dawson in the endzone put the Chiefs up 7-0. The Colts were sputtering with Jim Harbaugh under center, and the Chiefs looked as if they were warming up.
Then, they went ice cold. Even colder than the temps. A pass interference play in the endzone led to a Colts tying score in the second quarter. There were a plethora of mistakes by the Chiefs from then on. A fumbled punt return, missed field goals, bad interceptions (including one in the endzone that was mistakenly called out of bounds), and a screen play where the fullback slipped before running for a first down. Bono was eventually benched for future MVP Rich Gannon, but Lynn Elliott missed his third field goal of the game, and the Chiefs lost by three.