The Kansas City Chiefs dropped yet another game in Week 14 to the Houston Texans, pushing their playoff hopes to the brink. There were plenty of issues on the field. Kansas City failed to cover well down the field. The Chiefs were left with missed opportunities on offensive money downs because of dropped passes. There were also some odd decisions made throughout the night.
Player usage is an interesting barometer of importance and emphasis from game to game, and Isiah Pacheco's role in the Chiefs backfield is worth mentioning. Pacheco finished the game with just 21 offensive snaps, good enough for only 33 percent of the Chiefs’ offensive plays. Kansas City leaned more on Kareem Hunt, who tallied 38 snaps and played 59 percent of the offensive plays.
Trends for Pacheco becoming more apparent
Pacheco's usage is becoming more of a talking point as the season winds down, raising questions about his importance to the team. Kansas City has given him 52 percent of the offensive snaps this season. Overall, it has been much lower since he returned from a knee injury. Coming off that ailment, Pacheco has just 12 carries and two receptions in his last 2 games.
Pacheco is averaging right around 3.8 yards per carry in those last two contests. But with Hunt being leaned on more, it has limited Pacheco to spot chances. That becomes even more true as K.C. has been chasing games recently.
Interestingly, Pacheco has only received double-digit carries in five of his 10 games played this year. His season-best rushing output in a single game is 58 yards. If you look at the situations in which the Chiefs are relying on him during the course of this season, the role just has not been clear. Hunt has carried the rushing attack as well as he can, despite not having much juice left in the tank.
Does lack of consistent reps point to KC moving on?
Currently in the last year of his rookie contract, Pacheco will be set for unrestricted free agency this upcoming offseason. The lack of consistent touches raises questions about whether the Chiefs are already phasing him out.
In reality, Pacheco’s struggle to stack consistent production goes back beyond this season. He clearly wasn’t back to full strength after returning late last year from a leg injury. He’s never been the fastest player on the offense, but after coming back in 2024, he had almost no burst. It’s possible his comfort level never recovered after being bent backward on the play that caused the injury.
With the output from his regular-season return, Kareem Hunt was the primary contributor at running back in last year’s playoffs. Meanwhile, the Chiefs gave Pacheco just 13 total carries across 3 postseason games last year. With diminished results and limited chances over his last 18 games, the writing may be on the wall for his Kansas City tenure.