The Kansas City Chiefs worked on several things during their Week 5 bye week. On offense, one of their biggest focuses was fixing their short-yardage struggles.

In the two weeks leading up to the bye, the Chiefs converted just three of their eight short-yardage attempts on third down, fourth down, and goal-to-go situations. They spent much of their break evaluating the short-yardage game and how they could improve there.

Kansas City’s Week 6 win over the Los Angeles Chargers showed that the short-yardage game still leaves something to be desired. The most notable example came on a fourth-and-goal play. The Chargers stuffed running back Kenneth Walker, and the Chiefs turned the ball over on downs. It marked the third consecutive game in which Walker was stopped on a fourth-down run with one yard to gain.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid knows that the short yardage game needs to improve

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid didn’t sugarcoat the issue after the win. He also took responsibility for one call that didn’t work.

“Yeah, well, I mean, you saw it,” Reid said. “We spent time on short yardage and we didn’t do very good on it today, so we’ve got to figure that out. And get that straightened out. You’re down in there for a couple more touchdowns in the goal line situations. You’ve got to score on short yardage. You’ve got to pick the first down up, and then one of those— comma, they got us. I mean, the play that we called— I called the play, so I mean, the play I called wasn’t set up for that coverage. We’ve got to do better there,” Reid said.

Between play-calling and execution, the Chiefs can’t seem to find consistency in their short-yardage game. Part of that might have to do with personnel combinations. Injuries have forced different players in and out of the offensive line, and the wide receiver position has dealt its own injuries.

The truth is that Kansas City is struggling to find something that works consistently, both in the run game and in the short-yardage passing game. The Chiefs don’t have a go-to target. They also don’t have a go-to formation or play that consistently works. At first it was Khyiris Tonga coming in at fullback, but that play has grown stale. It might simply take more experimentation to find the right combination of players, plays, scheme, and formation.

Kenneth Walker takes pride in winning short-yardage situations

As for the player who gets his number called the most in these run situations, Chiefs RB Kenneth Walker takes a lot of pride in executing short-yardage plays.

“As a runner, you always want to get that one yard. That’s how I look at it. We’ve got to get that one yard no matter what,” Walker said.

So far, the Chiefs haven’t been getting that one yard no matter what. However, given how successful Walker has been this season and how the offense is trending, it seems like only a matter of time before they figure this out. Hopefully for Kansas City, that happens before a short-yardage failure costs them a game.

The Chiefs were nearly automatic in short yardage a season ago

The frustrating part is that the Chiefs were virtually automatic in short yardage just a season ago. Kareem Hunt converted 46 of his 56 (82%) short-yardage carries in the 2025 regular season, according to Sumer Sports. That held true even when everything else on offense seemed to struggle. Now, it seems like K.C. traded its short-yardage success for success elsewhere on offense. If only the Chiefs could figure out how to recapture what made Hunt so successful in those situations last season and use it in this offense. Maybe it’s worth picking up the phone and calling the free agent running back?

Whatever they decide, Kansas City needs to get back in the lab to figure out short-yardage situations. The self-evaluation during the bye week didn’t go as planned, and the matchups are only going to get harder from here on out.