There will always be a lot of love for former Kansas City Chiefs running backs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt from Chiefs Kingdom. The former started for two Super Bowl champion teams, and the latter was easy to root for when he returned to Kansas City in 2024 and helped win the team’s most recent AFC title.
So if you’re reading this, Isiah and Kareem, don’t take offense at quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ words after the 31-10 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 1, a dominant victory that featured the most
rushing yards (173) by a single Chiefs player under head coach Andy Reid.
Running back Kenneth Walker introduced himself to Chiefs fans in as exciting a fashion as he possibly could, even if it didn’t surprise the two-time MVP quarterback.
“I told you all, literally, the first press conference,” Mahomes reminded local media after the game. “You all were asking, ‘What is the difference in the offense?’”
“It’s K9,” Mahomes emphasized. “It’s that simple.”
From the get-go, it was clear that the Chiefs’ offense would be willing to lean on Walker to an extreme. The first four plays of the game were rushing attempts by Walker, and Kansas City needed all four runs to move the chains initially.
As Walker’s rushing tally increased, he had more space to burst into the second and third level. By the third quarter, the fifth-year back was streaking down the sideline, shaking off a defensive back on his way to a 60-yard touchdown run on fourth-and-1.
“We ran the play a few times” Walker recalled during his post-game press conference. “I knew they were going to crash in, so when they crashed in, I just bounced it out. I was one-on-one with the corner, I outran him, and it was off to the races from there.”
The Chiefs’ new lead back finished with 23 carries and 3 catches; head coach Andy Reid knew he had to ride the hot hand on Monday night.
“You never know going in how many times you’re going to give him the ball; that’s not a calculated thing that you can do,” Reid said in his post-game press conference. “You have to be making yards.
“For him to play the way he did, I thought it was spectacular,” Reid declared. “It was something that you hope for, and you got to see it where he’s the main guy there.”
It wasn’t a productive day for the Chiefs’ pass offense, but it didn’t need to be. It’s why the Chiefs paid $28.7 million guaranteed to secure the talent of last year’s Super Bowl MVP.
“It’s just a special ability to run the ball tough between the tackles,” Mahomes described Walker. ”Then he does have the speed to go all the way out. We’ll utilize him.“
Sharing the backfield with Walker was rookie running back Emmett Johnson, who contributed 68 yards to the offense over 10 touches.
“Emmett did a nice job too when he had an opportunity to get in there,” Reid pointed out. “Both of these guys’ contact balance is ridiculous, so they got a lot of yards after contact, and that’s a special thing to have there.”
On a night where Mahomes — 275 days removed from tearing the ACL and LCL in his right knee — was clearly working his way back into full-speed football, Walker made life easier on Kansas City’s superman.
Someone else wore the cape for once, as defensive tackle Chris Jones alluded to at the podium Monday night.
“If you run like that, you can always be my hero,” Jones said, smiling.
