Arrowhead Pride
For the third straight year, I’m considering the 10 biggest questions I have about the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025.
In 2024, the Chiefs ran an efficient offense. They finished eighth in offensive success rate. Their success rate on dropbacks ranked 10th, while they ranked eighth in rushing. Despite having poor play at left tackle — and too many injuries among their wide receivers and running backs — these were strong offensive rankings.
Still, Kansas City lacked an important offensive element: explosive plays. The team recorded just 42 passes of 20 or more yards, which was 27th in the NFL. On the ground, the Chiefs generated only seven running plays of at least 20 yards, which also ranked 27th.
Eventually, this caught up with them. In Super Bowl LIX — when the Philadelphia Eagles were able to squeeze the airspace — the Chiefs had no way to take the top off the defense. The team had no one who could break a tackle and make a play. The Eagles’ defense was able to rally against the underneath routes and tackle slower ball carriers, forcing Kansas City out of its ground game.
This has been an issue for the last two seasons. The team must find more ways to generate explosive plays. Fortunately, the Chiefs’ offseason moves suggest they recognize the problem — and are taking steps to correct it.
While we covered this last week, it bears repeating: Kansas City has deliberately assembled a wide receiver corps with four players — Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Jalen Royals — who can be explosive downfield. When Rice and Brown went down early in 2024, the Chiefs had no way to fill that void. By itself, the return of Rice — who can take any underneath reception and turn it into a 30-yard gain — will be a tremendous boon for the offense.
Rice’s return will also help Worthy, who struggles to break tackles. That has been an issue during his time with both the Texas Longhorns and the Chiefs. But with Rice available underneath, Worthy will be able to concentrate more on downfield routes that he can run very well — especially when he gets a free release. Without Rice in 2024, Kansas City had to use Worthy underneath. This season, however, the Chiefs will be able to maximize the strengths of both players.
The presence of Josh Simmons at left tackle is likely to be another significant factor. If he is immediately able to play at a high level, quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be able to run deeper dropbacks and have more time to throw. That automatically improves the deep passing game.
So I’m very optimistic that the Chiefs will be able to get more explosive plays in the passing game.
Unfortunately, that optimism doesn’t extend to Kansas City’s ground game.
This is, in fact, my primary offseason gripe: the Chiefs didn’t do enough at running back. In 2024, their elite interior...
