Kansas City Chiefs: Lack of run game not a big deal for this team
The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t been great at running the ball this season and that’s not likely going to change as they close out the 2019 campaign. The Chiefs don’t need their run game to be great to win ball games.
We all saw the stat a few weeks ago where it said the top four passing teams didn’t make the playoffs while the top four rushing teams did make the playoffs. While that’s all fine and dandy, the Kansas City Chiefs are the outliers in that statistic.
The Chiefs finished the 2019 regular season ranked 23rd in yards per carry and they had the tenth fewest yards per game. They rushed for over 100 yards just seven times in the regular season and never won the game because of their running game.
At this point, Chiefs fans shouldn’t expect that to change. The run game is what it is at this point and that’s a unit that can punch the football in for six when needed and maybe break off a decent run or two a few times a game, but they’re not going to be a team that consistently runs the ball down their opponent’s throat. They’re just not that team.
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The Kansas City Chiefs are a pass-heavy offense and that’ll be who they are in their final games of the season. Damien Williams has been decent since his return from injury, but don’t count on the Chiefs to continually hand the ball off to him.
No, Williams’ stat lines will usually consist of him getting 13 or 14 carries and finishing the day with 40-60 yards rushing. He’s capable of breaking off big runs and also is a threat to catch the ball and make a play, which is critical for the offense.
As for the other running backs, obviously LeSean McCoy isn’t being rested for the playoffs because he played one snap in the Chiefs’ first playoff game this year. He isn’t all of a sudden going to get double digit carries. Darwin Thompson in all likelihood isn’t going to impact the game from the ground either (but he did impact the game on special teams last week, so way to go there!).
It says a lot about the Chiefs rushing attack that Patrick Mahomes was their leading rusher a week ago, totaling 53 yards off of seven carries. Whenever Mahomes saw an opportunity to gain some easy yards with his legs, he took off, but he didn’t go overboard with it and that’s the perfect amount of quarterback rushes for this team.
The Titans are a running team and that’s their game; That’s how they’ve gotten this far in the playoffs. The Kansas City Chiefs are not a running team though, and that’s okay. They don’t need to all of a sudden become a team that tries to run the ball a lot because that’s not the style they’re used to.
Next. Winners and losers from Divisional Round vs Texans. dark
When you have Mahomes taking the snaps, being a passing heavy offense is just fine and it’ll be why the Kansas City Chiefs reign victorious over the Titans on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game.