Pete Prisco's take on the Chiefs Offense

[Couch-Potato]

Saw this on Reddit:

“This is just like last year where everyone is talking about concerns with Mahomes & the offense well I can tell you exactly what’s going on. They have a fantastic elite defense that does not get the national love or headlines they deserve. That young defense their GM built by trading Tyreek Hill to Miami, since last regular season is allowing Mahomes & Reid to be conservative with their pass play calls, run the ball more in September, October & November & slowly build up their pass game with rookie WR’s & cheap veterans who are not highly valued around the league but fit the Reid system well. You gotta understand Mahomes is 29 in his 7th season & Kelce is 35 but if you factor in their deep playoff runs over the last six years they have played an entire extra season & every game they play their opponent treats them like it’s their Super Bowl & it’s hard for them to get up week after week and match that intensity.

So their elite young defense & run game is allowing Mahomes & the pass game to take the LeBron approach. LeBron got to a point especially in his second stint in Cleveland where in the regular season he not play defense and settled for 3 point shots but when the playoffs arrived you saw LeBron at his peak form playing elite defense & attacking the rim relentlessly. Because of their defense, Mahomes & Reid in September, October & November are comfortable handing the ball off and being conservative in the pass game. Mahomes is not being aggressive throwing the football downfield right now or using his legs to make many throws on the move right now because it’s by design!!

He no longer prioritizes September, October, November and no longer cares about winning MVP’s or regular season awards, he prioritizes his body & peak play for when it matters most in late December & playoffs in January thanks to an elite defense. They’re (5-0) and Mahomes has been pretty dormant thus far and I’m telling you Kansas City feels great about themselves because it’s by design.” - Pete Prisco

[O.city]

I just don't buy the "he's saving this or that"

There's only 17 games in a season. It's a full sprint.

[RunKC]

Verderame said this on his Patreon this morning. Nick Jacobs and Matt Derrick have said this. Nate Taylor has said this. Grunny has said it too.

The Chiefs season is basically 3-4 games a year in January with 2-3 games in season to get the 1 seed for those games.

The Chiefs have shown next to nothing new on offense. Basically the Leo Chenal red zone plays. Basically Ravens, Bengals, Bills and Texans. SF is a game they’ll play hard in but it ultimately means nothing in terms of AFC seeding.

This team is playing like it’s preseason. They’re working on shit on offense. This is what the Patriots did for so many years.

[O.city]

It's not really about "showing new stuff" though. It's more execution and basic play to play stuff that they're just not doing as well.

People scoff at it, but he's said it himself, the QB just isn't playing well right now. If it's the injuries, sure that makes sense. But if he just needs the weapons....do it. Let some defense walk, inflate the offense at the skill positions, the OL whatever.

Get him back playing at his best.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

That’s talking about average depth of target. His y/a is 7.7 right now, which is much higher than last year (7.0).

A big difference is he’s only throwing 32 times a game right now, vs a career average of about 38 attempts per game. That’s 30 yards a game difference.

That's the real secret. They're running the ball more. Each of the last two seasons they've run the ball 417 times and right now they're on pace to run the ball over 500 times. Obviously some of those runs are QB scrambles but I went back and looked and they've never come close to that 500 carries number with Mahomes even with his scrambling.

Given the WR issues and that defenses play the Chiefs so conservatively they may be trying to lean on the defense and beat teams out of playing deep safeties so much.

[kysirsoze]

Originally Posted by O.city

It's not really about "showing new stuff" though. It's more execution and basic play to play stuff that they're just not doing as well.

People scoff at it, but he's said it himself, the QB just isn't playing well right now. If it's the injuries, sure that makes sense. But if he just needs the weapons....do it. Let some defense walk, inflate the offense at the skill positions, the OL whatever.

Get him back playing at his best.

First of all he was great last game. Secondly, they absolutely keep their game plans simple and work on stuff during the season. Add in the fact that they can't possibly match their opponents intensity every week and it's easy to see why they don't look as impressive. They'll just keep disappointing you en route to the 1 seed (probably) and another electric playoff run (definitely).

[O.city]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

First of all he was great last game. Secondly, they absolutely keep their game plans simple and work on stuff during the season. Add in the fact that they can't possibly match their opponents intensity every week and it's easy to see why they don't look as impressive. They'll just keep disappointing you en route to the 1 seed (probably) and another electric playoff run (definitely).

I do agree with that part.

You can't be at your peak intensity every week, especially when they play into the postseason like they have.

If Pat plays like he did last weekend, we're golden.

[chiefzilla1501]

Translation: mahomes is a game manager right now. We make it work because Reid and mahomes are exceptional talents. It was not our intention to be this way given that we fortified our offense with 2 guys who are exceptional at stretching the offense. Injuries happened before we could fully make this work.

So reid and mahomes adapt. They will continue to make this season work well despite our circumstances. But ultimately our goal is to let mahomes be mahomes and we know that an offense that wants to take it out of his hands or revolve an offense around one of the lowest ADOTs in the league is limiting our most explosive piece

[-King-]

Originally Posted by O.city

I just don't buy the "he's saving this or that"

There's only 17 games in a season. It's a full sprint.

Yep. It's a cope. You don't magically start trying or start installing new plays in the playoffs. There are tweaks here and there but no, if they could score 30 points a game right now, they would.

[kysirsoze]

Originally Posted by -King-

Yep. It's a cope. You don't magically start trying or start installing new plays in the playoffs. There are tweaks here and there but no, if they could score 30 points a game right now, they would.

"cope" We're undefeated. I mean WTF?

And they flipped a switch in the playoffs LAST YEAR. IDGAF if they score 30 points a game. They don't need to because the defense is awesome and Mahomes will beat anyone when it matters. Sorry the games aren't more exciting.

[notorious]

Many of us understand that Reid holds back for the playoffs.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by kysirsoze

"cope" We're undefeated. I mean WTF?

And they flipped a switch in the playoffs LAST YEAR. IDGAF if they score 30 points a game. They don't need to because the defense is awesome and Mahomes will beat anyone when it matters. Sorry the games aren't more exciting.

I agree that they will. But do you think Mahomes is just not trying anymore? Like he could play how he did 2018-2022 but just doesn't feel like it? He got tired of having fun and playing loose and scoring a bunch of points a game? He's throwing a pick a game and has the lowest yards per target in the league because he's doing it on purpose to save plays/points for the playoffs?

The offense has been bad because of injuries and because the players we usually count on haven't been performing to the standards we expect of them. Any other reason is a cope.

[kysirsoze]

Originally Posted by -King-

I agree that they will. But do you think Mahomes is just not trying anymore? Like he could play how he did 2018-2022 but just doesn't feel like it? He got tired of having fun and playing loose and scoring a bunch of points a game? He's throwing a pick a game and has the lowest yards per target in the league because he's doing it on purpose to save plays/points for the playoffs?

The offense has been bad because of injuries and because the players we usually count on haven't been performing to the standards we expect of them. Any other reason is a cope.

Coping with what?! Winning 11 straight games including the Superbowl?? The offense was rebuilt in the offseason and then had the rug pulled out by injuries and uneven LT play. Mahomes had a couple down games trying to compensate and then looked awesome last game. Our running game looks better than ever and Patrick is figuring it out with his patchwork WR room. What in the holy **** do any of us have to cope with?

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by IowaHawkeyeChief

The OP article explained this phenomenon... We are relying on our defense and avoiding wear, tear and emptying the playbook until late in the season and playoffs.

Not sure I believe that. They can't empty the playbook because they have too many good players injured on offense. Not because they're deliberately hotdogging the offense.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by notorious

Many of us understand that Reid holds back for the playoffs.

Yup. Anyone who watched the playoffs, especially the SB, should know this

[Bl00dyBizkitz]

Originally Posted by -King-

I agree that they will. But do you think Mahomes is just not trying anymore? Like he could play how he did 2018-2022 but just doesn't feel like it? He got tired of having fun and playing loose and scoring a bunch of points a game? He's throwing a pick a game and has the lowest yards per target in the league because he's doing it on purpose to save plays/points for the playoffs?

The offense has been bad because of injuries and because the players we usually count on haven't been performing to the standards we expect of them. Any other reason is a cope.

Mahomes is definitely trying to get himself back into playing form, hes too much of a competitor. Theres no way he doesn't care hes having his worst season as a starter statistucally. He himself said he wanted to bring back the offense of years past. Then the injuries happened and he honestly wasn't very sharp even before the injuries.

I think Prisco's point is "the Chiefs have gotten to a point as an organization that they can be playing C ball offensively through the regular season and id still be terrified of them in the playoffs because of their proven track record of success" and honestly hes not wrong.

Because as much as Mahomes wants to be throwing for 50 TDs every season, he wants to win Super Bowls more.