Chiefs coaching staff could be close to solving their biggest flaw on offense as they did last season
Despite boasting an 11-1 record, the Kansas City Chiefs have had a lot of struggles on offense this season. The Chiefs' offense ranks 12th in passing, 19th in rushing and have allowed the 10th-most sacks with 32. Those numbers could be even worse if not for the magic of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who overcomes a […]
Despite boasting an 11-1 record, the Kansas City Chiefs have had a lot of struggles on offense this season.
The Chiefs' offense ranks 12th in passing, 19th in rushing and have allowed the 10th-most sacks with 32. Those numbers could be even worse if not for the magic of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who overcomes a lot of issues.
Most would agree that Kansas City's offensive woes begin with the left tackle position. Wanya Morris has played subpar for most of the season and has had to battle through a nagging knee injury, and rookie Kingsley Suamataia is simply not ready to play at the NFL level yet.
This has caused Mahomes to be under constant pressure and throw off the timing of the passing game. Fortunately, a possible upgrade is coming in the form of the newly acquired D.J. Humphries. If Humphries can make for a decent upgrade over Morris, it will give a tremendous boost to both the Chiefs' passing and running game.
Humphries isn't the only reinforcement coming to the aid of K.C.'s offense. Running back Isiah Pacheco returned against the Las Vegas Raiders last week after missed over two months with a leg injury. He looked great, breaking off a Chiefs' season long 34-yard run.
The combination of Humphries and Pacheco could get the Chiefs to be what they want on offense – more balanced. Too many times this season K.C. has been in long yardage to-go situations, which takes a toll no matter who your quarterback is. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy talked to the media on Thursday about the challenges of contently playing behind the chains.
"It's tough," Nagy said. "It's really just, not easy. Especially if you're losing yards. And we haven't done that a whole lot, but there was a few plays last week where we were losing yards. So naturally, you get into a moment of, okay, geez, the run game is not working, let's pass. And you got a pretty good quarterback back there that makes good things happen. So, you combine that, but then you also have to be able to understand too, that when you're dropping back 45 times a game, it can be advantageous to the defense. They can pin their ears back, so there's a balance, and there's no one better in this league than [Chiefs] coach [Andy] Reid being able to figure out those answers and fix it. And that's what we want to do, is be a little bit more balanced."
Having Pacheco back and still having Kareem Hunt in the mix at running back is going to go a long way in helping the Chiefs be more balanced on offense. Pacheco and Hunt keeping each other fresh will make for a more efficient and potentially more explosive rushing attack, which means less long yardage situations.
A better run game also means less pressure and hits that Mahomes has to take. That will give him the opportunity to work off play-action and find receivers down the field. This week's game against the Los Angeles Chargers is a great time for a more balanced approach, as the Chargers have a very talented defense that has forced the fifth-most turnovers in the league.
Chiefs are taking a different mindset against the Chargers this week than in previous matchups
It’s different this time.
