Kansas City Chiefs: Wasting offensive firepower

Here is what we do know. We know the length of the average completion in the Reid/Smith offense is down. In the first three years together in Kansas City the Chiefs averaged 10.9 yards per completion. In 2016, that number is down to 9.8 yards per completion. That number ranks 31st in the NFL as I am writing this. You can blame Smith for checking down or you can blame Reid for the play call and design, but regardless of who is to blame the Chiefs HAVE to get that number up if this offense is going to succeed.

There is one area where we can definitely take issue with Reid and his play calling and that is the running game. The past three years the Chiefs have consistently had one of the better running games in the NFL. Even last season when Jamaal Charles was out most of the year the Chiefs maintained a productive running game. Over the first three years under Andy Reid the Chiefs have averaged 27 carries per game and 125.4 yards rushing per game.

In 2016, the Chiefs are only averaging 20.8 carries per game and 90.2 yards rushing per game. Let me take a moment to acknowledge that I understand that teams won’t rush the ball as often when they are losing. That having been said, the Chiefs aren’t trying to establish the run. Andy Reid has reverted back to his pre-Kansas City days where everyone said he didn’t run the ball enough and that “screen passes are his running game”.

The efficiency of the KC running game is down a little. They are averaging 4.3 yards per attempt as opposed to 4.6 yards per carry during the first three years of Andy Reid’s tenure. That having been said, 4.3 yards per carry is still a respectable enough number to get the job done in the running game. Now that Jamaal Charles is back there is no excuse not to take some of the pressure off the struggling passing game by committing to the run. A winning formula for the Chiefs would be getting at least 25-30 combined carries a game for Jamaal Charles and Spencer Ware.