‘People aren’t afraid of them anymore’ – HOF pass rusher Jared Allen delivers harsh but true criticisms about the Chiefs
Allen weighs in on the state of the Chiefs.
Many people believe that the Kansas City Chiefs are in a vulnerable state.
Although they won 15 games in 2024, 12 of them (including the AFC Championship Game) were decided by just one possession. The Chiefs were then blown out by the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, and started the 2025 regular season off with a 27-21 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Kansas City struggled on both sides of the ball during those two losses. While joining Kay Adams on “Up & Adams” on Tuesday, former Chiefs and recent Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee pass rusher Jared Allen said teams just don’t have the fear they once had for the Chiefs.
Jared Allen weighs in on the Chiefs’ struggles
“I’m a big MMA fight fan,” Allen said. “I’ll never forget when Rich Franklin knocked out Chuck Liddell. Then it seemed like nobody was afraid of Chuck Liddell in the UFC anymore, even though Chuck is one of the greatest fighters of all-time in the UFC. That beating the Eagles put on the Chiefs wasn’t like, man, that was a tough day. They beat them in the biggest game possible. They laid a foundation on how people are going to attack them. So, unless the Chiefs are willing to do a deep self-scout and say – we got some aging players here, we need to retool here, scheme-wise do some things here, you’re going to see this, because people aren’t afraid of them anymore.”
Allen went on to say that the Chiefs can help themselves by establishing a consistent rushing attack and getting the ball to tight end Travis Kelce more often.
“Why Tom Brady is arguably considered the greatest ever play at the (quarterback) position, is because he never really left outside the system. They ran the ball. I think if the Chiefs get back to controlling the line of scrimmage, controlling the down and distance, get the tight ends involved back in the game, I think it’ll open things up a lot more. Over the last couple years, I feel like they really spread the ball, but if I got one of the best tight ends to ever play, I’m feeding him the ball. I’m going to run the ball to take a little stress off Mahomes (Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes), and then I’m going to let Mahomes do what Mahomes does.”
What Allen says there is good in theory, but the problem with the Chiefs establishing the run is that they aren’t good at it. Starting running back Isiah Pacheco has not been able to take the next step in his development, and 30-year-old backup Kareem Hunt is running out of juice. It is becoming clear that K.C. should have addressed the RB position in a bigger way during the offseason.
The Chiefs could get Kelce more involved, especially with wide receiver Xavier Worthy likely to miss time, but other pass catchers have to step up as well. Kelce is in the late stage of his career, and just can’t be counted on to produce like he did in his prime. Fortunately, K.C. has 16 more games to figure things out, and has a championship coaching staff to lead the way.