Arrowhead Pride
Two weeks into the season, the Kansas City Chiefs are still looking for a consistent rushing attack. Speaking after Thursday’s practice, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy admitted that his staff has to do a better job of highlighting the opportunities his running backs are getting.
“There [are] some runs where I think we all see that,” Nagy said of the creases that open during a running play. “It’s our job as coaches to make sure that [the backs] understand where that’s at. Then, when to hit it is a big part of it.
“The correction part of any game, when you go through it — win, lose or draw — [is that] you want to make sure that we’re teaching the right stuff to them. Then they’ve got to execute it… It hasn’t been there yet, but that’s something we want to emphasize.”
Through two weeks, the Chiefs have 219 total rushing yards while averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Unfortunately, quarterback Patrick Mahomes accounts for more than half of that total, leading the team with 123 rushing yards.
By comparison, running backs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt have yet to break through. Pacheco has totaled 47 yards on 15 carries (3.1 yards per attempt), with 25 yards coming in the opener against the Los Angeles Chargers and 22 yards in Week 2’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Hunt has nearly mirrored that output with 47 yards on 13 carries (3.6 yards per attempt). He managed just 16 yards on five carries in Week 1 before adding 31 yards against Philadelphia.
Nagy pushed back on the idea of leaning on a particular player to carry the load in the running game.
“For the running back position, guys can get hot when they have certain carries, and you can start to feel that,” he explained. “Some games are different for other guys. We don’t have anything in particular where we’re like, ‘We’ve got to get one guy or the other more carries.‘ But it’s probably like a shooter [in basketball]: when you’re on fire, you keep getting more carries — and vice versa.”
As it is still early in the season, the Chiefs continue to search for their offensive identity. While having Mahomes at quarterback means the team will tend to emphasize the pass, Nagy insisted that the team also needs a reliable ground game.
“Any quarterback’s best friend is the run game,” he noted. “It helps out with so much… [But] I’d say the Kansas City Chiefs, with our quarterback, are probably a little bit more dropback — and maybe not as much play-action — as some teams.”
Establishing a clear identity will be one of the keys to getting Kansas City’s offense back on track. The passing game has been damaged by losses in the receiving corps — which, in turn, has made it harder to establish the run. The eventual return of deep threat wide receiver Xavier Worthy should help open up the field. But to climb out of its...
