SI Article: Chiefs need to change from efficient to explosive on offense

[FloridaMan88]

Can’t they be both… efficiently explosive?

Link: https://www.si.com/nfl/chiefs-facing...e-travis-kelce

Whether Travis Kelce decides to play in 2025, the Kansas City Chiefs must come to the same conclusion: They have to move onto their next phase.

No, they don’t have to release Kelce, although doing so would save $17.2 million in cap space. Kelce, 35, is too valuable and too important in the locker room to make such a choice, even with those savings.

However, the Chiefs must understand that to move forward, to attempt to reach a fourth consecutive Super Bowl (and sixth in seven years), the offense has to change. It has to go through receivers Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice, with Kelce being nothing more than a component.

Over the past two seasons, Kansas City has enjoyed immense success. The Chiefs have reached both Super Bowls and won one, to say nothing about winning it all in 2022 as well. All of this came after the team traded All-Pro receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins, but the metamorphosis from explosive to egregiously slow didn’t happen right away.

In fact, the slowdown began in 2021. After ranking sixth, 10th and 13th, respectively, from ’18 to ’20 in average depth of target (ADOT), Patrick Mahomes checked in at 24th in Hill’s last campaign with the club as opponents began to play more shell coverages.

In 2022, the first year without Hill, Mahomes threw for 5,250 yards and earned MVP honors. However, his ADOT was still 23rd in the league. The following year, it took a nosedive to 30th as Kansas City relied heavily on poor wideouts, including Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore and Kadarius Toney.

This past season? Mahomes failed to throw for 4,000 yards for the first time in his career while ranking 41st in ADOT, only ahead of Gardner Minshew II and Tua Tagovailoa. Part of the reason was losing Rice and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown early on to injuries, but another problem was the overreliance on Kelce.

Over the past two years, Kelce has been targeted 254 times. Rice is second on the team over that span with 131 targets despite playing just four games this season. Nobody else cracked 100. Despite that, Kelce hasn’t made either All-Pro team or gained 1,000 receiving yards after seven straight seasons of doing both before 2023.

Of course, the dependence on Kelce is also due to a factor that should keep general manager Brett Veach awake at night … the issues at left and right tackle.

And for Veach, that’s where the offseason focus must be.

For Mahomes to get back to his fire-breathing ways, the Chiefs have to fix their issues at left tackle. While Jawaan Taylor is financially locked in for one more year (before Kansas City almost certainly releases him to save $20 million prior to 2026), the other side has options.

The Chiefs, who have approximately $11.5 million in cap space, can open up another $50 million to $60 million with an extension for All-Pro guard Joe Thuney, a restructure of Mahomes’s mega-deal and adding a void year to Kelce’s pact. With that money, Veach could re-sign Pro Bowl right guard Trey Smith and then shop for a left tackle in free agency as Alaric Jackson, Ronnie Stanley and Cam Robinson are all available.

Veach could also go another direction. He could use the third-round pick acquired from the Tennessee Titans in the L’Jarius Sneed trade last offseason (No. 66) to move up in the first round for an answer on the blindside. By saving tens of millions by drafting a left tackle instead of signing one, perhaps Veach could get in the receiver business.

With Worthy and Rice on cheaper rookie deals for a few more years, would Veach entertain trying to add another big name on the outside? There are a host of free-agent receivers worth discussing at One Arrowhead Drive, ranging from Tee Higgins and Chris Godwin to Stefon Diggs.

For Kansas City, the offensive ethos must change. For years, the Chiefs struck fear into defenses. Mahomes could go over the top at any moment. Most importantly, every throw was on the board. Now, the Chiefs are throwing shorter than any team in football, and the result was the 17th-ranked scoring offense and a unit that led the league in plays per drive.

Efficiency is good. Explosiveness is better.

And that doesn’t only go for the receivers. If the line is improved, the running backs should also be overhauled. While Isiah Pacheco is a quality player, he’s also missed 13 games over the past two years and is hitting free agency in 2026. Kareem Hunt and Samaje Perine are both free agents now.

For Veach, the draft class presents a cornucopia of options in the backfield, with running back being one of the strongest positions of this rookie crop. Kansas City would be wise to take someone on Day 2, giving the Chiefs speed in a way they haven’t enjoyed at tailback since the days of Jamaal Charles.

Ultimately, Kansas City needs to get faster across the board, and it needs to rediscover the ability to play aggressively. For years, the Chiefs and Mahomes have eschewed the intermediate and deep routes for smaller, surer gains. It’s hard to argue with most of the results, but Super Bowl LIX also showed that without a better line and some weapons to back defenses off, disaster is always looming against a quality opponent.

Kelce might play in 2025. His decision hasn’t been made. Fair enough.

But if the Chiefs want to taste glory once more and keep their dynasty rolling, Kelce’s choice pales in comparison to the other tasks at hand.

[Deberg_1990]

Nagy!

[ThrobProng]

The Chiefs should just average 50 points per game, and the defense should allow 3 points per game. Problem solved, it's simple math.

[MahomesMagic]

We spent a 1st round pick on an explosive playmaker but spent much of the season throwing him 2 yard passes.

[scho63]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

We spent a 1st round pick on an explosive playmaker but spent much of the season throwing him 2 yard passes.

Of which he is easily tackled. He is NOT a YAC receiver.

[KCJake]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

We spent a 1st round pick on an explosive playmaker but spent much of the season throwing him 2 yard passes.

And yet in the Super Bowl when we needed to throw him a 2 yard pass we didn't try

[Dunerdr]

Wholly agree. And I didn't at first. But if you think about it Patrick hasn't looked like he's having fun on the sidelines since Tyreek left. He's got that killer in him. He wants to hunt and run the dagger through his opponents. They've transformed him into Andys ideal QB. He runs the system 99% of the time and will pull a rabbit out of the hat once a game to save the day, but then lay back down. Dude wants to rip it imo. He wants to wow.

Edit: I'd like to say it doesn't have to be bombs away, but it seems to me he's tired of playing not to lose instead of just playing to win. Let him cook.

[Megatron96]

Been thinking this for a couple years now. The writing's been on the wall for at least that long.


Hopefully we draft at least one more quality WR in the first round, or two, and maybe a future replacement for Travis.

[Hammock Parties]

They literally just need a left tackle and a RB

Teams aren't gonna just let us be explosive. Still gonna see looks that stop it.

[Mecca]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

They literally just need a left tackle and a RB

Teams aren't gonna just let us be explosive. Still gonna see looks that stop it.

It really has nothing to do with "letting them be explosive" the top of the line offenses dictate what they do.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by Mecca

It really has nothing to do with "letting them be explosive" the top of the line offenses dictate what they do.

The Chiefs were #1 in offense in 2022 and weren't particularly explosive.

[FloridaMan88]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

The Chiefs were #1 in offense in 2022 and weren't particularly explosive.

They led the NFL in yards per play average in 2022… 6.4 yards per play.

Down to 5.5 yards per play in 2023 and 5.1 yards per play this season.

[KCBlitz]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

The Chiefs were #1 in offense in 2022 and weren't particularly explosive.

That’s why the article on referenced the last 2 years. It’s a shit narrative. We need better LT play. Improve the Oline and anything is possible. Sports media since the Super Bowl has acted like the Chiefs run is over because of 1 bad game. It’s stupid.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

They literally just need a left tackle and a RB

Teams aren't gonna just let us be explosive. Still gonna see looks that stop it.

Other teams get the same looks and still put up explosive plays (see Buffalo).

[MahomesMagic]

There were plays to be made with guys running wide open at 20 yards deep against the Eagles if we had an extra second or so in pass protection.