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.

[DCTwister]

One thing that Veatch has proven is that from year to year, they will fill the gaps and next year we will be back.

I can't wait for next year when the Chiefs make the Super Bowl, 6/7 years, and the whole world is saying "Son of a bitch! I knew this was the Bills/Ravens/Bengals year!" Looking forward to the hate and conspiracy theories. I also think Eagles have a good chance to make it back. Revenge game for Chiefs. Can't wait.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by DCTwister

One thing that Veatch has proven is that from year to year, they will fill the gaps and next year we will be back.

I can't wait for next year when the Chiefs make the Super Bowl, 6/7 years, and the whole world is saying "Son of a bitch! I knew this was the Bills/Ravens/Bengals year!" Looking forward to the hate and conspiracy theories. I also think Eagles have a good chance to make it back. Revenge game for Chiefs. Can't wait.

True. My only concern is they're over coaching Mahomes. They're coaching the Gunslinger mentality out of him, and that's the very thing that made him great. Im hoping its because they know the line is limited and he doesn't have the same weapons that he had, He still clutch when you have to have it, but you know those passes to Worthy at garbage time where was that all year? I don't know he's looking more like Alex Smith and I think that's a product of overcoaching. Just my opinion. Hopefully I'm wrong, and we'll get him protection so he can sling it again. LFG!

[O.city]

I’m not a fan of his injury history but….id like to bring Hollywood back just to keep some continuity on offense for Pat and company

[BWillie]

You always want to be explosive. This idea that you don't want to score points is ridiculous.

We had a Top 2 defense each of the last two years.

This rarely will be the case. It's pretty easy quite frankly to make SBs if you have a great QB and great defense.

[FloridaMan88]

Originally Posted by O.city

I’m not a fan of his injury history but….id like to bring Hollywood back just to keep some continuity on offense for Pat and company

Not sure why they wouldn’t want to resign Hollywood, unless he gets a ridiculous offer from another team.

Need to fill out the WR depth chart and also Rice will likely miss time with a suspension.

[TEX]

Originally Posted by FloridaMan88

Not sure why they wouldn’t want to resign Hollywood, unless he gets a ridiculous offer from another team.

Need to fill out the WR depth chart and also Rice will likely miss time with a suspension.

Read something yesterday that Buffalo is interested in him.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

I agree completely with the thesis of the article. Ultimately we've gotten the job done with plodding weapons and minimizing mistakes, but we're underutilizing our most valuable (and expensive) asset in so doing.

We have turned Mahomes into acting like he's a Alex Smith like game manager. We cant keep wasting his top shelf talent. He's in his prime. His QB coach is telling him to be scared for crissakes.

Other teams need to be scared on him. Drop the stupid game manager strategy and release the Kracken.

[Discuss Thrower]

Andy's been coaching for 25 years straight. He's not a problem but there's something to said for distance from something allows the neural pathways to unplasticize.

Obviously that's not happening and I'm not saying it should.

So then it's up to the rest of the organization to work around Reid's deficiencies. Veach has to idiotproof the scouting process / jump up and down on the table for prospects which force Reid out of his tendencies at the roster level in de-prioritizing certain WR skillsets and (seemingly) devalue RB in general.

Boxing out Reid from the players' side presents an entirely different problem in any professional sports context and now that I recall the Clyde pick, it doesn't seem like Mahomes is the type of player you want to defer to on the macro level. Micro level, though, if it's truly the case the whole gameplan for LIX was run every play with the assumption they had the 2019 Chiefs on the OL and at WR/TE when they clearly didn't then I'd like to know why Mahomes would not or could not speak up and say "Hey this is a situation begging for us to get our dicks kicked in here."

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

We have turned Mahomes into acting like he's a Alex Smith like game manager. We cant keep wasting his top shelf talent. He's in his prime. His QB coach is telling him to be scared for crissakes.

Other teams need to be scared on him. Drop the stupid game manager strategy and release the Kracken.

I don't think they planned on turning the offense into mediocre shit.


But winning the SB last year with Mahomes pulling a bunch of scrubs across the finish line might have built in some complacency.

Mahomes just magically fixes the glaring holes and we can keep winning with defense.


I think what he been asked to do the last few years has worn him out mentally.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by -King-

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

There's a ton to perfectly reasonable things to discuss without being ridiculous.

[Chris Meck]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

I don't think they planned on turning the offense into mediocre shit.


But winning the SB last year with Mahomes pulling a bunch of scrubs across the finish line might have built in some complacency.

Mahomes just magically fixes the glaring holes and we can keep winning with defense.


I think what he been asked to do the last few years has worn him out mentally.

That's not what the plan for this season was. But shit happens.

[MahomesMagic]

Originally Posted by Chris Meck

That's not what the plan for this season was. But shit happens.

Yes, and that wasn't the plan for 2023 when the front office plan was hope that Kadarius Toney or Sky Moore was a #1 WR.


This year it was hope Wanya or a raw as shit rookie in Kingsley would provide adequate LT play for the franchise QB.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by MahomesMagic

Yes, and that wasn't the plan for 2023 when the front office plan was hope that Kadarius Toney or Sky Moore was a #1 WR.


This year it was hope Wanya or a raw as shit rookie in Kingsley would provide adequate LT play for the franchise QB.

No it was the trio of Rice / Hollywood / Kelce would force match-up problems and move the chains before a raw or mediocre LT would be exposed.

[DRM08]

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.

Easier said than done. They need some better luck compared to how it has gone for them ever since the Eric Fisher injury. It would be nice if Kingsley can turn into a solid LT for them.

[seamonster]

Originally Posted by DRM08

Easier said than done. They need some better luck compared to how it has gone for them ever since the Eric Fisher injury. It would be nice if Kingsley can turn into a solid LT for them.

Has nothing to do with luck. They had the position solved with Brown but got chintzy. Wouldn't give him enough guaranteed money. Thought they could go discount best-price with band aid's and projects. Fools.