KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs’ season ended last year in the Super Bowl one win short of a three-peat. That loss has given the Chiefs plenty of fuel for the 2025 season, which opens against the Chargers at 7 p.m. Friday in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
“We have a lot of motivation going into this season,” Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis said. “Prove some people right, prove some people wrong. Fired up and super excited to get this thing started and prove what we got and what we’re made of.”
In the early portion of last season, the Chiefs struggled to sack the quarterback. But Karlaftis said there has been an emphasis on that area all offseason.
“We’re definitely aware of that, and it’s been talked amongst ourselves the whole offseason,” Karlaftis said. “Definitely one of the motivators we have going into the season. Just affecting the quarterback in any way we can because that’s going to help our team win at the end of the day, and our defense succeed. Definitely something that we’re going to strive for just getting the quarterback down and affecting the game the best way we can.”
Last season, Karlaftis led the Chiefs with eight sacks in the regular season and added four more in the postseason. In 2023, Karlaftis had 10.5 sacks and as a rookie in 2022, he had six. The Chiefs have always viewed Karlaftis as a big part of their future, and in July, Karlaftis and the Chiefs agreed to a four-year, $93 million contract extension with $62 million guaranteed.
Karlaftis, a native of Greece, was able to return to his home country in May. He said he has seen the growth of the game firsthand and is looking forward to playing on the international stage again. And he hopes the NFL will continue to work to expand the game globally.
“The sport is growing a lot more in the Spanish-speaking countries,” Karlaftis said. “I know it’s huge in Spain and Greece certainly. And I think in Europe, you’ll see more and more of it as we play more international games. So I’m all for it.”
