The Kansas City Chiefs’ offense has underwhelmed in two recent losses to the Buffalo Bills and the Denver Broncos. The two-game skid currently has Kansas City on the outside of the AFC playoff picture.
Some frustration among the fan base has risen from watching quarterback Patrick Mahomes force passes while the Chiefs’ running game has seemingly been abandoned in the second half of each loss.
During his weekly Zoom call with Kansas City media on Monday, Chiefs’ head coach Andy Reid denied that the run game is being ignored. He explained that the results of calling run-pass option (RPO) plays have slanted towards passing.
“We’re calling quite a few of the RPOs,” Reid said. “[The Broncos] were giving us opportunities to throw the football, so we utilized the opportunities there, and those things end up being as good as a run for you. We’re getting four plus yards, and you go with it. The runs are being called — it’s just sometimes they get turned into passes in today’s world. That’s how it goes. We’re getting them in.”
The coach also acknowledged he should have considered using true run plays in the losses.
“Now, we have some hard runs where you just get up, line up and go. [We] probably could call more of those.”
Before Wednesday’s practice, Mahomes assessed his performance on balancing the run and pass on such plays.
“I feel like I’ve done a good job of it,” he remarked. “I think there are times when I should hand it [off], and there are times I should throw the ball more. You have to continue to read and get better and better with it. More than anything, I think it’s just giving guys chances, either catching the ball or running the ball, even if the perfect look is not there. There are times where I might’ve thrown it and we got five or six yards — and that’s a positive play — but you can hand the ball off and kind of keep defenses honest as well.”
“That’s stuff that I’ve worked with throughout my entire career,” Mahomes continued. “It’s something that has been huge in our offense for a long time. I think for us, it’s just continuing to get better and better each and every game.”
Mahomes discussed his process for the plays by explaining the preparation with Reid and offensive line coach Andy Heck. Run or pass, they have the same yardage threshold to measure success. Sometimes, however, the decision is made to ensure defenses see different looks throughout the game.
“There are times where we’re reading a certain guy, and there are times we’re reading coverages and there are times where you’re reading space,” Mahomes began. “It just kind of depends on that week and the team that you’re playing and being able to adjust accordingly. Our goal is to get five or six yards every single time we run RPO — either running the ball or throwing the ball — and I think we’ve done a good job at that throughout this season.”
“At the end of the day, sometimes you have to hand the ball off — even if the throw gets you five or six yards — just to keep the defense honest and to set up other stuff throughout the rest of the game,” he admitted.
Mahomes elaborated on two examples of going with the pass on Sunday: one was an 11-yard throw to wide receiver Rashee Rice on the Chiefs’ first offensive play, and the other resulted in an insignificant completion to tight end Travis Kelce.
“With that safety pressure, we knew they might get into a run blitz type of thing,” Mahomes recalled of the first play. “You throw the ball to Rashee, you get a first down, and kind of get things going. That’s the stuff that you want, but then there are times where you throw the ball and it might get three yards, like I did Travis later in the game.
“You want to make sure you give guys chances to run the football on plays like that,” the quarterback noted. “Just reading the coverage, understanding what the defense is doing and then making the best decision you feel like for the team.”
In his disappointing outings in Buffalo and Denver, Mahomes seemed to be forcing deep passes at the expense of more manageable passes. He cited the defensive strategies they have faced as a reason for that.
“Teams are playing more man coverage against us, which gives more opportunities to throw the ball down the field,” Mahomes said. “Until we can prove that we can hit those throws down the field, teams are going to continue to play man coverage. That’s something that’s going to be important for us: to hit some of those throws.”
The only long completion against the Broncos was a 61-yard deep pass that wide receiver Tyquan Thornton hauled in. Mahomes reflected on that play as a learning lesson.
“Once we start hitting some of the throws like you saw this last game against Denver,” Mahomes began. “You hit one deep throw, and all of a sudden, the offense opens up, and then you’re able to hit other throws as well. I think we’ve always done a really good job of being able to take what’s there, it’s just about hitting some of those deeper throws to loosen the defense up and then give us opportunities to throw the ball everywhere throughout the offense.”
The next test for Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense will be as good as any: the defense of the Indianapolis Colts is led by former Cincinnati Bengals’ defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo; he has caused issues for Kansas City’s offense before.
