Chiefs Stock Watch, Week 13: Isiah Pacheco shines on disappointing night

Stock Up: Isiah Pacheco

The lone bright spot on the Chiefs' offense was Isiah Pacheco, and Chiefs Kingdom collectively breathed a sigh of relief that he did not get injured on the first drive of the second half. It appeared as if he competed with Green Bay's running back AJ Dillon for the title of Quadzilla, and the numbers suggest that Pacheco now holds the belt. Pacheco toted the rock 18 times for 110 yards and a touchdown from a yard out.

It is incredibly refreshing to see the Chiefs finally turn to him in short-yardage situations, as they had done several times against the Packers. It turns out that executing a simple halfback dive to the angriest ball carrier in the league is more effective than some incredibly complicated play that takes forever to develop. Who knew?

Despite Pacheco's success in the first three quarters, the Chiefs inexplicably turned away from him when it mattered most. If the Chiefs decided to give him the ball more than once in the fourth quarter instead of trying to force-feed MVS and Moore, the game might have turned out differently. As great as Andy Reid's offensive mind is, he has a tendency dating back to his Philadelphia days to get away from the run in crunch time.

As of this writing, there has yet to be an explanation for why Pacheco was not part of the fourth-quarter game plan. Perhaps it had something to do with his knee, which twisted up in the third. Maybe they thought they had softened the Packers' defense enough to start throwing. Or maybe they just forgot that their most effective offensive weapon on the day was still available, and running the ball when you are down less than a touchdown in the fourth quarter is still a thing you can do. It was incredibly frustrating to watch, but unfortunately, given the play calling all year, it was not altogether unexpected.

I do not mind that Pacheco got booted out of the game, and here is why. Pacheco is the only player on the offensive side of the ball showing any juice. Kelce is looking older before our very eyes and is not the same player he used to be. Mahomes looks like a father to 10 unruly children at any given time and is doing his best to keep it all together without going completely crazy. No one else plays with the fire that Pacheco plays with, and it is glaringly apparent on a week-to-week basis.

To be clear, I am not advocating for thrown haymakers to become a regular occurrence. Someone needs to light a fire under this offense because there is no juice on that side of the ball. I will be hoping that his attitude will spread among his teammates, but seeing as we are in December with nothing changed, hope is all I have.