Have you ever been being attentive to the Kansas City Chiefs?
Like … actually paying consideration?
Over the previous couple of significant weeks of the common season, they weren’t the cardiac youngsters. Sure, they’d an ulcer-inducing run of one-score wins. They’d a status for letting it go all the way down to the wire. However Kansas Metropolis did not need to stress fairly a lot of their latest victories. In Week 15, they’d a two-touchdown lead over the Browns. They managed an eight-point victory over the Houston Texans in Week 16, nevertheless it by no means felt shut. And in Week 17, the Chiefs completely whooped the Pittsburgh Steelers, 29-10.
The distinction is Kansas Metropolis’s offense, which is progressively getting more healthy and extra positive of itself.
In Week 17 — the ultimate week that each one the starters performed — Patrick Mahomes accomplished 76.3% of his passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns. It was his most full efficiency of the yr, partially due to the diploma of issue (towards the Steelers) but in addition due to the breadth of expertise (and scheme) that he maximized. He had completions to eight completely different pass-catchers. Nobody eclipsed 100 yards however seven of them had two or extra catches. It was a clean operation.
“That is what you need to do,” Mahomes mentioned postgame when requested if the Chiefs have been peaking on the proper second. “Clearly, we really feel like we are able to proceed to get higher and higher. However clearly we’re taking part in, particularly offensively, our greatest soccer on the finish of the yr. … This is not the top. That is only the start.”
However let’s be clear: It has been a grind for Mahomes this yr.
Kansas Metropolis’s preseason plan fell aside early.
Once I watched the Chiefs at coaching camp, they’d a four-pronged assault on offense.
1) Hand the ball to working again Isiah Pacheco.
2) Let Travis Kelce rip up the center of the sphere.
3) Ask Rashee Rice to function a possession receiver.
4) Create openings for Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy to assault exterior the numbers, ideally (however not completely) deep.
You can argue they by no means obtained previous the first step.
Rice suffered a season-ending knee damage in September.
Brown returned in Week 17 from a shoulder joint damage he sustained in preseason.
Worthy initially appeared overwhelmed by the offense.
Pacheco missed 9 video games with a damaged leg.
Even Kelce, who had 97 catches for 823 yards and three touchdowns this yr, admitted he is not operational in his regular methods.
“The place I take loads of satisfaction is as soon as we get in that crimson zone, man,” Kelce mentioned on Dec. 4 on the “New Heights” podcast. “I get slightly hungrier. Proper now, for no matter purpose this yr, I simply can’t discover my manner ultimately zone. I am simply not on the identical web page as Pat. It could possibly get irritating. It could possibly get f—ing irritating. That is for rattling positive.”
Total, the Chiefs needed to formulate a brand new plan for his or her offense this season. And it remodeled — many occasions.
Amid the absences and struggles of their key gamers, Mahomes has labored in tight finish Noah Gray, working again Kareem Hunt and wideout Justin Watson. The Chiefs additionally traded for veteran wideout DeAndre Hopkins, whose positive palms have been a transparent aid to the offense.
That mixture did not fairly lay a brand new basis. It was truly a task adjustment for Kelce that has helped considerably, with the tight finish settling in as a checkdown possibility. He is catching loads of balls — however he is nearly an extension of the run sport (or, at the least, the display sport), given his targets’ proximity to the road of scrimmage. Hopkins took on a few of Rice’s possession position. It was one thing. However the Chiefs weren’t there but.
If there was one sign that the tides have been altering round Mahomes & Co., it was Worthy. Within the second half of the season, the rookie wideout appeared to search out some readability.
Is Kansas Metropolis’s offense again in type?
He by no means eclipsed 100 yards, however he had 5 or extra catches in his final 5 video games. And he had receiving touchdowns in Week 16 and Week 17 and a dashing landing in Week 15.
“You’ll be able to sense it from watching tape. Now impulsively, you naturally see extra targets, you see extra touches, you see extra manufacturing,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy mentioned in December. “It is precisely what occurred with Rashee, and I am telling you, it is loopy how comparable it’s. And it is thrilling since you see what Rashee did early on [this season], and I believe that is the trail for this child.”
Rice was one of many crew’s most dependable offensive gamers on Kansas Metropolis’s Tremendous Bowl run final yr, with 26 catches, 262 yards and a landing over 4 postseason video games. So if Worthy is in retailer for that type of position, the Chiefs will likely be thrilled.
The return of Brown has been simply as encouraging.
“It is like holding a horse again,” Reid mentioned December when requested about holding Brown off the sphere throughout his damage restoration. “Man, he desires to get again in each time we take him out, which is a constructive factor. He is obtained an incredible perspective.”
Brown impressed the Chiefs in camp when he stunned Mahomes with effectiveness on a various set of routes. Hollywood was a deep risk — however there was extra nuance to his sport past his burning velocity. We noticed that in Week 17, when he attacked the perimeter with out springing an enormous play. However there is not any coincidence that Watson’s 49-yard catch, the third-longest reception for the Chiefs’ this season, came with both Worthy and Brown on the field.
The plan is not that completely different from the place they began. It simply took them the entire common season to get there. And there are some alterations.
1) Hand the ball to Pacheco and Hunt. (And remember Samaje Perine within the display sport.)
2) Let Kelce rip up the quick center.
3) Ask Hopkins to maneuver the chains.
4) Scheme up performs to get Worthy horizontal.
5) Get Hollywood vertical.
Now, we have not but gotten into the offensive line, which has been its personal subject. Most notably, the Chiefs’ plans at left deal with fell aside, too. They drafted deal with Kingsley Suamataia in spherical 2 to begin. He misplaced the job after a couple of poor performances, and his substitute, Wanya Morris, was as unhealthy — if not worse. Kansas Metropolis moved guard Joe Thuney to left deal with, and he was advantageous — however his substitute was additionally advantageous, which meant that the Chiefs have been weakening two positions (and the entire left facet) somewhat than one.
However, getting again to how issues are on the upswing, the Chiefs signed deal with D.J. Humphries to take over that position. And although he is recovering from a hamstring damage, he returned to the lineup in Week 18.
The Chiefs need to three-peat. And it was exhausting to doubt Mahomes, regardless of the offensive inefficiencies. However with the best way the crew was constructed at midseason, it could have been all on Mahomes to get his offense one other Lombardi Trophy. Now, there is a competence in each unit (together with particular groups) that appears like an hermetic championship crew.
Kansas Metropolis was by no means out of it. The Chiefs went 15-2 for a purpose. However they did appear weaker than their file confirmed. You can see it of their Week 11 loss to the Buffalo Bills. You can see it of their slim season-opening victory over the Baltimore Ravens — and the slim wins over principally each playoff crew. We questioned: Can the Chiefs actually do that for 3 straight postseason video games?
Now, it seems to be like they will not need to.
Previous to becoming a member of FOX Sports activities as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years overlaying the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports activities Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Observe him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.
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