Chargers vs. Chiefs: Kansas City needs offensive role players to step up

The Kansas City Chiefs have lost multiple offensive playmakers in the past couple of weeks and need role players to step up against the Chargers.

The Kansas City Chiefs entered the season with a plethora of offensive weapons to surround their first year starting quarterback. Given the amount of talent surrounding Patrick Mahomes and the combination of head coach Andy Reid designing a creative offensive scheme, it was hard to feel that anything could go wrong.

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill is having a monstrous season already surpassing his career high from a season ago totaling more than 1,200 receiving yards. Another playmaker that has exceeded his career high in receiving yards is tight end Travis Kelce who comes in with 1,159 receiving yards on the season. Both players have been on fire with Patrick Mahomes under center in 2018, but with the loss of other playmakers in the offense, will be seeing more attention.

Sammy Watkins has been knicked up throughout the season earning himself a bust label from many fans already. He was starting to come along as another excellent weapon for Mahomes in the new offense before reinjuring his foot in practice. Watkins will likely miss a few more games before returning which is one big blow to the offense that doesn’t have much proven talent behind him.

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Another weapon lost was running back Kareem Hunt following the Chiefs cutting him for incidents that happened over the offseason. Hunt had established himself as one of the leagues best running backs once again this season bringing a versatile nightmare for defenses to try and prepare for each week. Luckily, GM Brett Veach avoided last years mistakes and brought in more running back talent over the offseason in Damien Williams and Darrell Williams.

Spencer Ware struggled to get going against Oakland in his first game as the starter as did the rest of the offense. The entire team seemed out of sorts just 48 hours after losing their teammate. Ware looked more explosive against the Baltimore Ravens averaging five yards per carry on the ground and over 100 yards from scrimmage. However, an injury suffered on Sunday could limit him against the Chargers if he’s able to play at all.

Another injury suffered against Baltimore was Tyreek Hill. Given that he’s expected to play despite limited practices this week, it’s still concerning when you watch your biggest weapon hobbling around the field in pain. Kansas City is one more injury away from seeing the offense take a major step backward.

In the absence of Watkins, neither Chris Conley or Demarcus Robinson have been able to step up from their role-playing positions into a playmaking one. Conley started the season off strong but hit a wall throughout the middle of the season. He’s looked better the last few weeks without Watkins on the field catching three touchdowns in the last three weeks. It’s still not been enough to get this offense back to its juggernaut self and take pressure off of Tyreek Hill.

Demarcus Robinson has been a major let down in 2018. Fans raved about his performance last preseason and wanted to see him in a bigger role with the offense and Patrick Mahomes. That has yet to look promising as Robinson has dropped crucial passes, run the wrong routes, and caused rookie penalties and crucial moments.

Kansas City brought in former first-round pick Kelvin Benjamin last week after he was cut from the Buffalo Bills. It’s unfair to expect him to play a significant role in this offense after only a week, but we could see him in some simplified looks against the Chargers. The Chiefs are desperate to find a third weapon without Watkins, but it’s unlikely that will be Benjamin considering his performances over the last couple of seasons and the enormous playbook that Andy Reid rolls with.

While still having Hill and Kelce the offense is in pretty good shape, it only takes one of them getting injured to hurt this offense significantly. Without Watkins on the field, the offense hasn’t been nearly as dominant most of the time outside of the game against the Los Angeles Rams. The Chargers bring a favorable matchup with rookie safety Derwin James to cover Travis Kelce this week. It could give them more room to stack Hill.

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The question for this statement game will be whether not other offensive pieces can take this opportunity to prove themselves as more than a role player. Given the playmaking abilities of Patrick Mahomes, we know he elevates the players around him. Will one of these guys step up against the Chargers?

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