Do the Chiefs miss Commanders OC Eric Bieniemy?
Do the Kansas City Chiefs find themselves missing Eric Bieniemy after just two weeks of the 2023 NFL season? One national outlet suggested on Wednesday that they just might have some regrets about letting Bieniemy leave to become the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach with the Washington Commanders in 2023. The NFL on CBS […]
Do the Kansas City Chiefs find themselves missing Eric Bieniemy after just two weeks of the 2023 NFL season?
One national outlet suggested on Wednesday that they just might have some regrets about letting Bieniemy leave to become the offensive coordinator and assistant head coach with the Washington Commanders in 2023.
The NFL on CBS shared an image on the app formerly known as Twitter showing the change in offensive rankings between Bieniemy's old team and his new one. The Chiefs ranked first in scoring offense in 2022, but in two games in the 2023 NFL season, they're ranked 22nd with an average of just 18.5 points scored per game. As for the Commanders, they ranked 24th in scoring offense a season ago and now rank seventh in 2023 with an average of 27.5 points per game.
While the Chiefs are likely to miss their longtime offensive coordinator in certain ways, the raw numbers after two games are hardly an indication that Kansas City is worse off without Bieniemy. There are a lot of nuances to both situations that simply aren't captured in this graphic.
For instance, Carson Wentz was the starting quarterback for the Commanders for seven games last season. He's not even on an NFL roster or practice squad right now. Sam Howell is the starter for Washington through two games this season. Their offensive success could just as easily be attributed to the change at quarterback in concert with Bieniemy's presence.
For the Chiefs, Bieniemy had an entirely different situation in his receiver room in 2022 compared to what Matt Nagy is dealing with in 2023. The Chiefs had plenty of newcomers in 2022, but they mostly went the route of surrounding Patrick Mahomes with veterans in Marquez Valdes-Scantling and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Kansas City is working through growing pains with a relatively green group of receivers in 2023 outside of Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson.
There are also adjustments on the offensive line for K.C. with two new bookend offensive tackles. That type of change typically takes a few weeks before guys begin to gel and play their best football.
It's entirely reasonable to be concerned about the Chiefs' offensive production through two weeks, but we know far too little about both of these teams to suggest that the departure of Bieniemy is the culprit for Kansas City's early struggles.
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Featured image via Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
