Arrowhead Pride
Coming out of their bye week, the Kansas City Chiefs are 5-4 on the season, sitting third in the AFC West. So far, this season has shown little of the dominance displayed by the Chiefs since quarterback Patrick Mahomes took over the offense in 2018. Down the stretch, the team will have to fight to make the playoffs.
One thing that will help is that after some early-season struggles, the Kansas City offense appears to be back on track — aided in large part by the team’s fourth-down decision-making.
During Reid’s early seasons with the Chiefs, the team was routinely in the lower third of the league in fourth-down attempts. During Mahomes’ first four seasons as a starter, Kansas City’s highest number of attempts was 16 in 2020. That season, the team converted only nine of those attempts, which also ranked toward the bottom of the league.
But in recent years, all of that has changed.
By now, most of the NFL has joined the high-risk, high-reward world of fourth-down attempts. Over his career, Reid has typically been one of the league’s more conservative coaches in this area — but this season, he has bucked his own trend.
Over the last three seasons, the Chiefs have increased the number of times they’ve gone for it on fourth down, staying in step with a league where these aggressive decisions have become more common.
In 2025, however, they’ve outdone themselves. The team has elected to go for it on fourth down 20 times this season. Second to the Carolina Panthers (who have 21 this season), that’s easily Kansas City’s highest rate since head coach Andy Reid arrived in 2013.
The Chiefs’ 16 conversions from these attempts leads the league. And while many teams have depended on variations of the tush push to succeed on fourth down, Kansas City has managed to lead the league without a single quarterback sneak.
The Chiefs’ fourth-down attempts have been evenly divided between passes and runs — and the team has converted eight of the 10 plays of each type. This balance has made the team unpredictable in these situations — but it has also leaned heavily on one player: running back Kareem Hunt, who converted all eight rushing first downs. He’s also caught two fourth-down conversions — one of them good for a touchdown.
Wide receivers Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy have both collected a pair of fourth-down receptions — and each has also recorded a fourth-down score. Otherwise, Mahomes, the other wideouts (and tight end Travis Kelce) have pitched in to keep the sticks moving.
Hunt became the team’s short-yardage back in 2024. He’s reprised this role in 2025, becoming an important factor in the team’s success.
While the offensive tackles have been inconsistent this season, the reliable interior trio of Kingsley Suamataia, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith — with Mike Caliendo sprinkled in — have provided Hunt with the...
