Creed Humphrey says the key for the Kansas City Chiefs to remain competitive with the rest of the AFC West is “execution.” (Photo by Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
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Creed Humphrey knows the Kansas City Chiefs have a target on their backs every time they take the field.
As the defending AFC champions and a team that has won the Super Bowl three times in the past six seasons, the Chiefs get the very best of every NFL team on a week-to-week basis. In fact, Kansas City has been the dominant AFC contender for so long that they have advanced to the AFC Championship Game in the Patrick Mahomes era every season since 2018.
However, the Chiefs appear to be at their most vulnerable this season. Kansas City is coming off of a 22-19 loss against the Denver Broncos and their chances of winning the AFC West are slim to none. They’ve won the division in nine consecutive seasons, but at 5-5 and the Broncos at 9-2, their AFC West supremacy appears to be over.
Humphrey, the Chiefs’ three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro center, says it’s a matter of “execution” as being the difference in those tight divisional games.
“It’s just execution,” says Humphrey in a one-on-one interview when asked how the Chiefs can keep up with the rest of the AFC West. “We’ve had a lot of close games, and there’s certain times in the game where we need to execute better, and we do that, we just focus on the details throughout the week and really nail everything down.”
The Chiefs were neck-and-neck with the Broncos, the AFC’s top team, all throughout the game. It wasn’t until a 10-play, 58-yard drive by Denver at the end closed them out.
Humphrey – who has been with the Chiefs since the 2021 season – says Kansas can be a “really good team” if they can start executing better.
It’s worth noting that every one of the Chiefs’ losses this season have been by one possession, with Kansas City actually going 0-5 in those types of games this season. It’s ironic considering the Chiefs were on the other end of the spectrum last season when they went 11-0, an NFL record.
“Then this can be a really good team,”Humphrey says if the Chiefs start executing better. “We can take it as far as we want to go. So for us, it’s just about focusing on the execution.”
There has been only time in the past six seasons that the Chiefs have failed to make it to the Super Bowl, with that occurring during the 2021 season when they lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Championship Game.
Entering Week 12, the Chiefs are actually on the outside looking in, currently ranked as the ninth-best team in the conference. They’re a game behind the Jacksonville Jaguars for the final spot in the playoffs and have already previously lost a game against the Jaguars earlier this season.
They still have a 52% chance of making it into the playoffs, but they have one of the tougher remaining schedules in the NFL with games against the Indianapolis Colts, Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos.
Humphrey says the key towards the Chiefs making another Super Bowl run is simply not looking too far ahead. If there’s any team that can go on a hot run at the end of the season, it’s the most proven one of them all in Kansas City.
“It’s just staying in the present,” says Humphrey. “Don’t look into the past, don’t look in the future. Just focus on taking it one day at a time and make sure you can be the best version yourself every single day in everything you do.”
Creed Humphrey Shows Off Dance Moves With Chiefs Offensive Linemen In Dairy Queen Ad
The three-time Pro Bowl recently inked a four-year contract extension worth $72 million, with $50 million being guaranteed. That makes Humphrey the highest-paid center in NFL history.
Humphrey is certainly one of the most established offensive linemen in the NFL and he happens to be playing on the team that garners the most attention due to stars such as Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce on the team.
While Mahomes and Kelce are the ones that obviously get most of the screen time and attention outside of the football field, Humphrey – and his fellow Chiefs offensive linemen – are finally getting some publicity off of the field.
The 26-year-old and the rest of the Chiefs offensive line is starring in a commercial for Dairy Queen that showcase their touchdown celebration dances off the field. The commercial is in honor of DQ’s new sweet chili sauced and tossed chicken strip baskets.
“It got presented to me and it felt like a no-brainer for me,” says Humphrey. “Just a big guy and I love food, and it was a lot of fun getting the teammates involved too. We had a lot of fun with it. Everybody loves food, everybody loves Dairy Queen. It was a blast.”
The commercial literally showcases Humphrey and the Chiefs offensive line doing a touchdown dance. Humphrey describes exactly what that felt like to do it in a national commercial.
“It was a lot of fun,” says Humphrey of dancing with his fellow offensive linemen. “It was a lot of fun getting to practice the dance and put it on the camera and everything. I don’t have the best moves. I do know that some guys picked it up quicker than I did, but it was a lot of fun.”
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/djsiddiqi/2025/11/19/kansas-city-chiefs-creed-humphrey-on-the-key-to-remaining-competitive-in-the-afc-west-execution/
