The Kansas City Chiefs’ run game has powered their offense all season, and Sunday against the New York Jets was no different. The Chiefs’ running backs finished with 27 carries for 155 yards (5.7 yards per carry) with two touchdowns. What made the performance impressive was that Kansas City’s longest run of the day only went for 13 yards. It was a surgical performance on the ground, as the Chiefs finished with a 55% success rate.
What powered the Chiefs’ impressive run game against the Jets? Let’s
dive into some film:
This is an impressive play from multiple offensive linemen on this play. Center Creed Humphrey creates displacement on the 1-technique, getting push and keeping him from falling back inside. Left tackle Kahlil Benson and left guard Kingsley Suamataia do a fantastic job on the backside of this run. Suamataia gives enough of a punch, and Benson is able to drive his hips into the defender’s outside shoulder and into the linebacker, opening up the cutback for Kenneth Walker to hit.
This is impressive from a run-blocking and scheme standpoint. The pre-snap motion bumps the weakside linebacker out of the box, bringing a smaller safety straight into the run fit. The backside defensive end worries about the bootleg and stays home. This gives the Chiefs six blockers to block five, which creates a ton of space.
The Chiefs run weakside zone here. Humphrey creates horizontal movement on the nose by driving on his inside shoulder. Benson cuts off the backside by getting around the three-technique again, which is not an easy block. Benson was dominant on the backside of these blocks, and that’s critical in the zone run scheme.
This play is a good example of the value of having a player as dynamic as Walker in the backfield. The Chiefs run a shortside toss to Walker here, but Jets outside linebacker David Bailey is all over it. This should be a 1-2 yard run at most, but Walker’s ability to get all the way backside and make multiple defenders miss is rare. He puts an incredible amount of pressure on a defense horizontally. You’re not always going to get the right run call into the defense, so having a back that can mitigate those moments has transformed the offense.
The Chiefs’ under-center run game has been rediscovered this year, and this was a great play using it. The Chiefs are running outside zone from 13 personnel. Benson gets stonewalled by the frontside defensive end to start this play. Benson actually does a good job sustaining his block, but there’s still no frontside gap. Fortunately, a massive gap opens on the backside as right tackle Jaylon Moore and right guard Trey Smith annihilate the three-technique and move him vertically, creating an easy cutback for Walker to hit.
Being able to run both directions is an underrated part of a good run game. Kansas City’s offensive line can do that because both Moore and Benson can block frontside or backside in zone blocking, and the Chiefs’ interior offensive line does a great job clearing space to create cutback lanes.
Walker’s footwork and vision set this up here. Walker gets the linebacker going the wrong way by getting backside, faking a cut left, then immediately bouncing it back to the right, which lets Humphrey cut him off. Smith and Moore help create the hole, but Walker’s ability to cut at full speed is rare and lets him set up defenders in the hole.
Benson is excellent on the backside of these zone runs, and the Jets had no answer for it. Benson creates horizontal displacement and gives Walker the easiest cutback to get north on.
Emmett Johnson didn’t get much run into late in the game, but in the limited run he got, he also flashed. The Chiefs run that weakside zone concept again, which Benson isn’t quite as good at. The defensive end is able to disengage his block and, in theory, has the angle to get to Johnson, but Johnson hits the jets to beat him to the spot and gets around the edge.
Being able to hit that frontside edge is very important in any zone concept, as teams will overplay the cutback lane if you can’t hit that. Seeing Johnson do that on film is important.
The Chiefs mainly run zone blocking with Walker, which makes sense with his skillset. However, this offensive line can block gap runs, and frankly, they should do it more. Johnson feels like a natural fit in that role, and the Chiefs give him a chance to do that here on his touchdown. The Chiefs are running power with Smith pulling. Suamataia and Benson set up this block again, annihilating the head-up defensive tackle. Johnson presses to the left, sees the space created by that block, and scores.
The Bottom Line
The Chiefs’ run game has been so much better this year for numerous reasons, including Andy Reid’s playcalling. But ultimately, personnel matters, and Kansas City’s personnel is better this year.
Having Walker in the backfield has changed everything for the Chiefs. It’s brought life back to the Chiefs’ dormant zone run game, as they now have a back that can explode through the run lanes created by the offensive line. He can make people miss in space and is a threat to take anything to the house. Walker’s vision and agility have been special this year and power the offense.
But the offensive line deserves credit too. Benson has been so much better than expected. Moore is shaky in pass protection, but he does give the team something as a run blocker. With Benson and Moore out there, it’s almost like the Chiefs have five guards on the field. Both Benson and Moore have guard traits as run blockers. They’re best when they can move defenders horizontally with their strength and first step. Having what is essentially five guards creates so much extra space for Walker to exploit, and that’s been huge this year.
