The Kansas City Chiefs are not Super Bowl worthy right now

The Play Calling

We already discussed how the coaching staff deserves real scrutiny for how sloppy and undisciplined the team has been, especially when it comes to penalties. Now it’s time to talk about their blame in the play calling. Actually, I’m going to go even a step bigger than play calling and talk about their overall philosophy.

This team is soft at the point of attack on both sides of the ball because this coaching staff places no importance on running the football. None. They don’t practice it enough. They don’t preach it enough. They don’t spend any time trying to build a team that is tough up front because dropping back to pass is far and away their primary focus.

I’m not saying that K.C.’s offensive and defensive lineman would turn into a bunch of maulers on both sides of the ball if they practiced running the ball more, but as a teacher by profession, I can tell you that people naturally get better at what they do on a regular basis, and the Chiefs pass the ball on a regular basis.

Now, I understand that there are some of my fellow Chiefs fans and writers that will tell you all about how the advanced metrics show that passing is more efficient than running. I don’t dispute that at all. Many of these same people will also point out that this team is by far its most effective when Patrick Mahomes has the ball in his hands. I don’t dispute that at all either.

My argument is this. When you completely neglect the run game to the extent that K.C. is, you make it harder for your passing attack. Defenders aren’t worrying about the run at all. They can 100% focus on the pass. You are making the defense’s job easier for them by letting them completely disregard one entire aspect of playing defense. The Chiefs don’t need to be a run first football team. The Chiefs don’t even need to be a balanced offense. What they do need is enough of a run game to make the opposing defense actually account for stopping the run.

When defenders have a legit concern about the run game pass rushers have to hesitate a second longer before attacking. Defenders in coverage have to hesitate a split second longer before breaking towards their man in coverage. It helps the passing attack. I don’t want the Chiefs to run more because I think it in itself is more effective. I want them to run the ball more so that their passing game can be more effective.

I also truly believe that putting a little more focus on the run game would toughen this team up and make both the run game and run defense more effective. With the limited amount of contact in practice during the season there probably isn’t a lot that can be done about this aspect this season. It needs to start in training camp.

The play calling absolutely can be improved right now. The past two games have been the two lowest scoring games of Patrick Mahomes time as the Chiefs starting quarterback. In both of those two games the Chiefs handed the ball off to a true running back just nine times. Nine. That’s not enough. Even for a team that should be more pass heavy like the Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs. When Reid decided to finally run the ball while down late in the game made it even more frustrating. It made absolutely no sense. None.

I haven’t even really touched on the time of possession aspect either. The combined time of possession difference over the past two games has been 77:03 for the Colts/Texans and 42:57 for the Chiefs. That means that K.C.’s defense that we already said is far too soft is almost on the field twice as much as the opposing defense. I don’t care if Mahomes is more efficient throwing the ball than the Chiefs are running it. You have to give your defense a little time to catch their breath.

Reid is arguably the best offensive mind in football. He has to find a way to take some pressure off of Mahomes, get the running game going (at least a little), and extend some drives. This offense is his baby and, over the past two weeks, they just simply haven’t been very good. If we’re being honest, if Tyreek Hill doesn’t make that ridiculous touchdown catch and Will Fuller catches a couple of deep balls that hit him in the hands, this game could have been a blow out for the Texans. The Chiefs simply have too much talent on offense for that to happen and that’s on Reid.

So there you have it Chiefs fans. Those are the areas where the Chiefs have to improve if they want to get back to being a team that people believe can win the Super Bowl. Yes, getting healthy will help, but this team also needs to get some things fixed on the field and that starts with Reid and his coaching staff. They’ll have to act quick, too, because the Chiefs have to hit the road early this week for a Thursday night game against the Denver Broncos. I’m hoping that the Chiefs are able to improve enough in some of these areas to pull that game off, but I’d love to hear what you think in the comments below.