Kansas City Chiefs red zone offense will dramatically improve in 2018

The Kansas City Chiefs struggled tremendously in the red zone the last two seasons. 2018 is the season that those problems go away.

How many times were you watching the Kansas City Chiefs last season and found yourself just shaking your head when the team got to the red zone? Here we go again, kicking another field goal. I’m not sure about you, but that was a consistent and frustrating thing for me last season. The Chiefs have missed out on a tremendous amount of points the previous two seasons being forced to kick field goals in the red zone.

That’s kind of ironic, isn’t it? Considering that defensive coordinator Bob Sutton runs a bend-don’t-break system that allows for yards but ends in field goals. Regardless, the Chiefs have struggled to get the ball in the red zone the last two seasons ranked 29th in 2017 and 26th in 2016. To give you another glimpse of how bad the offense was in the red zone, kicker Harrison Butker played only 13 games last season, but led the league in field goal attempts and ranked second in field goals made. In 6 of his 13 games with the Chiefs, Butker attempted a kick four or more times.

Butker also earned Special Teams Player of the Week last season following the week 16 win over the Miami Dolphins where he successfully kicked six field goals to help the Chiefs clinch the AFC West title for the second season in a row. Here’s what former quarterback Alex Smith had to say following the week 16 award for Butker.

"“I think we have a good thing going … If there is an area that does jump out, certainly would love for Harrison (Butker) not to be the AFC (special teams player of the week), for him to not be kicking so many field goals. Certainly, points are good nonetheless. I think there are some areas to keep improving on”"

The first three seasons under head coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs were in the top part of the league in red zone efficiency. In 2013, the Chiefs were ranked 5th in the league with a 59.68 touchdown percentage, 2014 ranking 9th with 58.33 percent, and 2014 ranking 12th with 57.38 percent. Starting in 2016, the offense took a ten percent drop in the red zone. With a 47.37 percentage ranking 26th in 2016 and ranking 29th last season with a 45.28 percentage.

Given the ten percent drop from the first three seasons under Reid and the last two seasons, what has been the difference? Much of it comes from play-calling and execution. Following offensive coordinator Doug Pederson leaving for Philadelphia to take over as head coach was when the issues surfaced. Pederson’s offense ranked second in the league last season while the Chiefs ranked 29th.

In 2016, the Chiefs ranked 26th as they went away from the run game inside the red zone. Starting running back, Spencer Ware ranked 25th in the league in rushing attempts inside the red zone. The inability to run the ball when the field shrinks were not just a first-time problem, however. In 2015, Charcandrick West ranked 25th among rushing attempts inside the red zone.

The last time Kansas City ranked well in rushing attempts inside the red zone was back in 2013 with Jamaal Charles which comes to no surprise. When I first started talking about the red zone complications, the first thing I got from fans was that they refused to run the ball again last season. In 2017, Kareem Hunt ranked seventh in that category with 36 attempts which are still nearly half of the top running backs inside the red zone with 62. Not to mention that all those triple option trick plays that ended in pitches to Albert Wilson or Travis Kelce counted as passes.

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Another issue that has hurt the Chiefs inside the 20 is the lack of big receivers. Receivers that can go up and get those jump balls are something needed for a team to have red zone success. In the last couple of seasons, Travis Kelce has been the centerpiece of the red zone targets. He’s also been Smith’s security blanket over the seasons. Outside of Kelce, the only receiver that has the body size and 50/50 ball abilities is Chris Conley.

Conley was hurt during the week five game against the Washington Redskins last season. We have yet to see his full potential however as he’s not Smith’s type of receiver. Smith is not the kind of quarterback that is going to throw many contested balls in or out of the red zone. The rest of the Chiefs receivers are small, speedy guys like Tyreek Hill, Albert Wilson who left for Miami, De’Anthony Thomas, and Demarcus Robinson.

Which brings us to one reason this season will be different. The Chiefs signed wide receiver Sammy Watkins over the offseason who is an outstanding red zone target. Standing at 6-foot-1 and 211-pounds, Watkins doesn’t seem like the big body threat that would dominate in the red zone. However, his great awareness, separation, and strong hands make him a monster for the Chiefs in the red zone. Just last season, Watkins had eight touchdown catches with the Los Angeles Rams. Seven of those touchdowns came in the red zone, and four of those seven came inside the ten-yard line.

All offseason the talk about Watkins has been around his deep ball skills. Yes, Watkins is a great player to add to the Chiefs offense to bring more talent deep down the field, but he is also a red zone threat that not many people are talking about. Add in the fact that quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be starting instead of Alex Smith and I think there is a huge reason to be excited about the red zone offense in 2018.

Smith was a good quarterback and helped the Chiefs in many ways. However, even in the best statistical season of his career, he and the offense ranked 29th in the league for red zone efficiency. Given that Patrick Mahomes is stepping in and more willing to give his wide receivers opportunities to make plays, the team signed Sammy Watkins, Chris Conley will come back from injury and thrive under a quarterback willing to throw to him without major separation, and you still have players like Travis Kelce and Kareem Hunt, it’s going to be a good season.

Mahomes brings an entirely new skill set to the quarterback position in 2018. With the ability to make throws that most quarterbacks can’t. Including across the body throws to the other side of the field, it makes it very difficult for defenses to guard. Even former Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib who is still known as one of the best shutdown cornerbacks in the league raved about what he saw from Patrick Mahomes in his limited time on the field during the week 17 matchup.

"“The guy got an AK-47 for an arm, Vic,” Talib said. “He can throw it where ever he wants. It doesn’t matter if he’s running left, running right. It doesn’t matter. The guy has got a gun for an arm, and it shows on the field, definitely.”"

Next: Patrick Mahomes has the best supporting cast in the NFL

If Andy Reid can stop over complicating things and stop the significant trick plays and move the ball, we should see a significant increase in red zone production out of Kansas City. Mahomes is surrounded by the best supporting cast in the NFL in 2018. With big addition Sammy Watkins and Chris Conley returning to go with Travis Kelce, this offense has some of the best red zone threats in the game.

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