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.

[Iconic]

think damien williams and mckinnon

reids offenses even going back to the eagles have generally had the most success with a shifty receiving back. i think it's what we missed the most since mckinnons departure.

[ChiefsCountry]

Rice back and a more explosive running back changes everything. That would force a move out of the two high look.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by O.city

That asset needs to have guys he can "trust" or whatever that means.

It’s pretty clear a lot of the yips is a lack of trust.

He went through two years of WRs making horrible route and catch adjustments. And particularly this year he’s seeing ghosts in the pocket.

He’s not going to get better if he keeps having PTSD. Give him some quality and consistency to work through his problems. When he’s starting to find his way again you won’t need that kind of overcorrection. But the idea that we should play fear factor and keep throwing him into a pit of snakes he’s scared of isn’t it. And blaming him for fearing snakes after they’ve bit you repeatedly is understandable. We need to give him the tools to be successful, enough with the concept that he needs to keep powering through adversity

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Iconic

think damien williams and mckinnon

reids offenses even going back to the eagles have generally had the most success with a shifty receiving back. i think it's what we missed the most since mckinnons departure.

Yeah we’ve got to stop using our WRs as a substitute for speed out of the backfield. We need at least one speed option. I’m good with perine in the McKinnon role even if he’s not as fast

[MahomesMagic]

They use Rice as a possession receiver.

[Gary Cooper]

What would the narrative be if we lost a close game?

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Gary Cooper

What would the narrative be if we lost a close game?

Probably just run it back.


But for those claiming this is new, it's not.

This offense has been steadily declining the last 2 years.


We focused on building the defense but the offense has fallen way off.

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

Probably just run it back.


But for those claiming this is new, it's not.

This offense has been steadily declining the last 2 years.


We focused on building the defense but the offense has fallen way off.

The offense has been declining because Mahomes isn't playing as well in 2023 and 2024 as he did in 2022 and before. Maybe it's because he doesn't take the regular season as seriously anymore. When your best player plays well, it makes others around him better. He had JAGs for WR in 2022 and a shaky LT in Orlando Brown, Jr., plus a rookie RB. Yet he won the MVP because he was focused throughout the season and playing at a high level from week 1.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Gary Cooper

The offense has been declining because Mahomes isn't playing as well in 2023 and 2024 as he did in 2022 and before. Maybe it's because he doesn't take the regular season as seriously anymore. When your best player plays well, it makes others around him better. He had JAGs for WR in 2022 and a shaky LT in Orlando Brown, Jr., plus a rookie RB. Yet he won the MVP because he was focused throughout the season and playing at a high level from week 1.

That is true. But to say Mahomes is just not playing as well without noting the changes and drop in personnel, weapons, protection, and coaching is silly.


Orlando Brown Jr didn't get run over by the Eagles in his SB. Thuney was getting demolished.


Far worse.

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

That is true. But to say Mahomes is just not playing as well without noting the changes and drop in personnel, weapons, protection, and coaching is silly.


Orlando Brown Jr didn't get run over by the Eagles in his SB. Thuney was getting demolished.


Far worse.

He's playing well the last two regular seasons. But in 2022 he was at a higher level. That was right after the Tyreek trade and new WRs were brought in. Rookie RB.

Obviously, Kelce was better back then also. He still had YAC which completely disappeared this season. Insert the 2022 Kelce into the 2024 offense, and they'd be better.

[SHOWTIME]

Without a LT and RT that allows Mahomes to have time to throw deep, we won't be an explosive offense. We have to be dink and dunk until those positions are solidified.

[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).

[Gary Cooper]

Originally Posted by SHOWTIME

Without a LT and RT that allows Mahomes to have time to throw deep, we won't be an explosive offense. We have to be dink and dunk until those positions are solidified.

How many offenses nowadays throw it deep frequently with success?

Teams would revert to the two deep safety anytime someone shows a consistent deep threat.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Gary Cooper

He's playing well the last two regular seasons. But in 2022 he was at a higher level. That was right after the Tyreek trade and new WRs were brought in. Rookie RB.

Obviously, Kelce was better back then also. He still had YAC which completely disappeared this season. Insert the 2022 Kelce into the 2024 offense, and they'd be better.

2022 he had better OL, better Kelce. We also had schematic advantage.


Teams had screwed with Mahomes/Reid by taking away our vertical game we relied on in 2021.


Reid came back in 2022 with a vengeance. Problem was there was no counter-punch after teams realized we were happy to dink and dunk.

[pugsnotdrugs19]

It's well documented that Mahomes missed a lot of open opportunities to Worthy this year, it was always because he was going into that Alex Smith mode where the eyes were dropping and he was running into sacks many times.

That has to stop, and upgrading personnel is the quickest easiest path. LT, RB, WR, whatever comes to them they've gotta take.