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.

[DRM08]

Originally Posted by O.city

"They've gotta do this or they must do that".

I'm just.....**** man. It's hard in today's environment of sports with everything being so 30 second clippy and shit so I get it.

But they came 1 game short of winning 3 straight super bowls.

3. In a row.

40 regular season wins in 3 years, 2 SB's.

As a lifelong Chief fan I'm gonna say guys....it's really hard to me to be that upset right now.

Good perspective. They've had amazing success through the years.

I look at the Left Tackle situation and just gotta laugh about how many Playoff games they have won with a major vulnerability on their most important OL spot. There are a shitload of teams in this sport that cannot win ONE Playoff game with a crappy LT situation, never mind winning 5 conference titles in 6 years with 5 different dudes playing Left Tackle for them in the Super Bowl games. That is a crazy stat. You would think it's 5 Left Tackles in 5 Super Bowls across 20 years, not 6 years!

[TEX]

Originally Posted by DRM08

Good perspective. They've had amazing success through the years.

I look at the Left Tackle situation and just gotta laugh about how many Playoff games they have won with a major vulnerability on their most important OL spot. There are a shitload of teams in this sport that cannot win ONE Playoff game with a crappy LT situation, never mind winning 5 conference titles in 6 years with 5 different dudes playing Left Tackle for them in the Super Bowl games. That is a crazy stat. You would think it's 5 Left Tackles in 5 Super Bowls across 20 years, not 6 years!

You're right. Pretty amazing...Cant believe the Chiefs have not solified the 2nd most important position on the field during that time span. Especially when they're competing for championships every year and have to protect their future HOF QB. Hope they finally do so this off season. Its way overdue.

[Chris Meck]

Like they just decided to not be explosive.

Lose one Super Bowl in three tries, everybody loses their minds.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Like they just decided to not be explosive.

Lose one Super Bowl in three tries, everybody loses their minds.

Doesn't matter if they decided to be less explosive or if it's just something that happened by happenstance. The point is that it happened regardless and needs to be fixed asap.

[SHOWTIME]

Originally Posted by DRM08

Good perspective. They've had amazing success through the years.

I look at the Left Tackle situation and just gotta laugh about how many Playoff games they have won with a major vulnerability on their most important OL spot. There are a shitload of teams in this sport that cannot win ONE Playoff game with a crappy LT situation, never mind winning 5 conference titles in 6 years with 5 different dudes playing Left Tackle for them in the Super Bowl games. That is a crazy stat. You would think it's 5 Left Tackles in 5 Super Bowls across 20 years, not 6 years!

They got away with it over the past few years but the revolving door at LT finally caught up with them last week. It's a wakeup call and I'm sure they'll address it in the next several weeks.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by -King-

Doesn't matter if they decided to be less explosive or if it's just something that happened by happenstance. The point is that it happened regardless and needs to be fixed asap.

Do you hear yourself?

Do you really think they don't want to? Do you think they're stupid?

[Deberg_1990]

Originally Posted by O.city

"They've gotta do this or they must do that".

I'm just.....**** man. It's hard in today's environment of sports with everything being so 30 second clippy and shit so I get it.

But they came 1 game short of winning 3 straight super bowls.

3. In a row.

40 regular season wins in 3 years, 2 SB's.

As a lifelong Chief fan I'm gonna say guys....it's really hard to me to be that upset right now.

Yep. Exactly my thoughts. The Eagles were just the better team on Sunday. Impossible to win them all. No shame in losing to them. Let them enjoy their day.

[-King-]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Do you hear yourself?

Do you really think they don't want to? Do you think they're stupid?

I'm just talking chiefs football on a chiefs forum. Sorry that offends you.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by SHOWTIME

They got away with it over the past few years but the revolving door at LT finally caught up with them last week. It's a wakeup call and I'm sure they'll address it in the next several weeks.

Its not rocket science. That's exactly what happened. The Super Bowl was the perfect storm of the Eagles strength against our weakness. JJ Watt called it. It was an overwhelming mismatch outside and inside especially on the left side. Learn from it, fix it, and LFG!

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by -King-

I'm just talking chiefs football on a chiefs forum. Sorry that offends you.

Not just you, but all of this just sounds like childish temper tantrums.

Of course they need a left tackle solution, it's not like they're clueless.

Of course they'd like to be more explosive. Do you think signing Hollywood to go with Rice and drafting Worthy weren't the plan?

And people get hurt, and shit happens, and we still almost won it all. Almost everything that could go wrong DID, and they still got all the way to the Super Bowl.

Yes, there are issues, and new ones will pop up next year. This shit is really hard. Veach, Reid, and Spags are the best in the business. We'll be right back in it

[-King-]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Not just you, but all of this just sounds like childish temper tantrums.

Of course they need a left tackle solution, it's not like they're clueless.

Of course they'd like to be more explosive. Do you think signing Hollywood to go with Rice and drafting Worthy weren't the plan?

And people get hurt, and shit happens, and we still almost won it all. Almost everything that could go wrong DID, and they still got all the way to the Super Bowl.

Yes, there are issues, and new ones will pop up next year. This shit is really hard. Veach, Reid, and Spags are the best in the business. We'll be right back in it

Welp, shut down the forum then. Nothing more to talk about.

[zbeaster]

I don't think they have to be mutually exclusive. Especially with Reid and Mahomes.

[chiefzilla1501]

I’ve been hitting the table for WRs but it isn’t the priority right now. I’d love to get Hollywood back only because I feel like we can get real good value out of him. But we have enough weapons now and needs everywhere else.

We need more speed at RB and based on how defenses will evolve, I’m guessing we need not just better play but more beef on the OL.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

Like they just decided to not be explosive.

Lose one Super Bowl in three tries, everybody loses their minds.

It's another one of those instances where Reid is a victim of his own success.

The team essentially rebuild an identity and a plan on the fly during the regular season and wills itself to the Super Bowl despite injuries just SLAMMING them all season.

And it's suggested the plan was to gut the offense and the SB loss is in some way an indictment on a guy who got the team FAR further than it had any reasonable expectation to go.

Reid just constantly gets beaten up for turning chicken shit into chicken salad but not QUITE being able to turn it into filet mignon.

It's pretty odd.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

It's another one of those instances where Reid is a victim of his own success.

The team essentially rebuild an identity and a plan on the fly during the regular season and wills itself to the Super Bowl despite injuries just SLAMMING them all season.

And it's suggested the plan was to gut the offense and the SB loss is in some way an indictment on a guy who got the team FAR further than it had any reasonable expectation to go.

Reid just constantly gets beaten up for turning chicken shit into chicken salad but not QUITE being able to turn it into filet mignon.

It's pretty odd.

I don’t know that it’s a slam on Reid. It is more to the point that for the past 2 years running we know we’ve had to work around some clear self-inflicted wounds on offense. We get it if the defense has some shortcomings, but a team led by Mahomes and Reid are playing well below expectation.

It kind of reminds me of spags a few years ago. We just haven’t had all cylinders click. One year it’s the pass rush, the next it’s the secondary. But when we figure out both, we dominate. Scheme plays some part of it as we lost the chess match against cincy and Philly. But in both instances we were beat by the team that was best able to expose a fatal flaw. In cincy it was having too much speed at wr, in Philly it was the disadvantage in the trenches.9 times out of 10 we’re right but it can get really ugly when we get caught.

We know veach and Reid always respond to these issues in a big way. So I think a lot of the reaction is less about outrage and more speculating on what he will do. I think there’s general agreement that we will probably lose a few guys and that we have a few big additions we need to (and will) make.