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.

[Papachief]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Andy’s Achilles heal is being used against him as well. We tried to run the ball only 1 time in the first 12 plays before Patrick’s pick 6 to put the game out of reach.

Even with the problems we had, you can’t make your team one dimensional. The Eagles didn’t even care to defend the run and simply pinned their ears back which just exacerbate s the struggling QB and OL.

Exactly,
Nothing can help the passing game better than an ability to run the ball. You don’t even need huge run numbers, just be effective when you do it. Pat’s best years were with Hunt and Damian Williams in the back field. A two Dimensional offense creates just enough hesitation by the defensive front on most occasions to give the QB just a split second more time

[PHOG]

Originally Posted by TEX

Read something yesterday that Buffalo is interested in him.

That'd be just like Bart Vatch...drive up the price and make them overpay. (Sorry, didn't read the whole thread.)

[RunKC]

Hollywood is coming back. Seems like the Chiefs and Hollywood both want him to be here

Love this convo between Hollywood Brown & #Mahomes during #SuperBowlLIX. ����

via | @NFL pic.twitter.com/GzZjD38pfP

— Starcade Media (@StarcadeMediaKC) February 14, 2025

Hollywood Brown shared highlights while reflecting on his favorite year in the NFL. pic.twitter.com/lDzPwe4DJH

— Starcade Media (@StarcadeMediaKC) February 14, 2025

[YontsRBake]

Originally Posted by FloridaMan88

Longest run of the season was 34 yards… for the entire team.

He played 6 full games and 1 was him slowly being reintegrated coming back from injury.

[kccrow]

Gotta have a LT to be an explosive offense. Everything else is secondary at this point.

[htismaqe]

As I said a few days ago, it's a combination of things. The only thing that stood out to me more on the All 22 than Thuney getting dog walked was Hollywood Brown and co. not being open. Worthy is the only WR in this offense that got any separation at all.

[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Andy’s Achilles heal is being used against him as well. We tried to run the ball only 1 time in the first 12 plays before Patrick’s pick 6 to put the game out of reach.

Even with the problems we had, you can’t make your team one dimensional. The Eagles didn’t even care to defend the run and simply pinned their ears back which just exacerbate s the struggling QB and OL.

Their entire defensive game plan was to shut down the short and intermediate passing game. They saw the tape, they knew the Chiefs weren't going to be able to run the ball against them.

Like I said before, it's not about volume as much as it is about efficiency. Kareem Hunt led the league in rushing despite having several games where he barely touched the ball.

Our running game is ass, straight up.

[Megatron96]

Originally Posted by htismaqe

As I said a few days ago, it's a combination of things. The only thing that stood out to me more on the All 22 than Thuney getting dog walked was Hollywood Brown and co. not being open. Worthy is the only WR in this offense that got any separation at all.

Mostly agree. However, DHop did get open two-three times and I don’t mean NFL open (1.5-2yds), I mean wide open (3-4yds). But he also only had 21 snaps for whatever reason. And he wasn’t the only one who managed to get open a few times.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Gotta have a LT to be an explosive offense. Everything else is secondary at this point.

An OK LT, a fine one.

Like Orlando Brown was or even Donovan Smith in the playoff run last year.

But if you’ve got the requisite weapons, the LT does not have to be some top level guy.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by O.city

Karlaftis and our first to Dallas for Micah.

Karlaftis for miles.

Switch to a 34. And have

Leo, draftpick, fa,.dru
Miles, jones, rotation

Use speed of lbs and pressure of front 3.

[GordonGekko]

Originally Posted by kccrow

Gotta have a LT to be an explosive offense. Everything else is secondary at this point.

You'd think Veach would have learned this extremely painful lesson in the first Superbowl loss to the Bucs, but putting Kingsley out there to start the season thinking they were good concerns me quite a bit. Every stone should go unturned, no expense spared this point on to finding an above average LT AND a decent backup given our luck with OL injuries.

[GordonGekko]

Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19

An OK LT, a fine one.

Like Orlando Brown was or even Donovan Smith in the playoff run last year.

But if you’ve got the requisite weapons, the LT does not have to be some top level guy.

Pat also needs to get back to firing the ball quickly, he missed a lot of open guys this year not sure why, his vision went down or he is looking at the line too much? He turned into Captain Hold It for much of the season, much harder on the OL when you just hold it, and hold it. Something awful usually happens as well