With their season officially down the drain, the Kansas City Chiefs don’t have much to play for in Sunday’s season finale against the Las Vegas Raiders. The bigger focus will be what the Chiefs do in response to missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014, and one of the first questions that will be asked is how they will upgrade the backfield.
Some Chiefs fans believe that Dameon Pierce could be an answer to that problem. Picked up after his release from the Houston Texans, many thought Pierce could get an opportunity in an underwhelming backfield headlined by Isiah Pacheco, Kareem Hunt and Brashard Smith. But he has yet to appear in a game for Kansas City.
Just as it appeared that Pierce would spend the rest of the 2025 season buried on the Chiefs practice squad, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told reporters that “there’s a chance that Pierce will get to go this week” but it will determine how he performs in practice according to Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports.
While that sounds optimistic, Reid’s words should come with a warning as they can’t be trusted.
Chiefs’ Dameon Pierce Situation Set Up to Be Fool’s Gold in Week 18
The Chiefs have been down this road before with seldom used running backs. Before Pierce arrived in Kansas City, Elijah Mitchell was the team’s favorite “mystery box” running back.
While he sat on the team’s practice squad, Reid frequently pumped the veteran's tires before sticking with what he had even, as Pacheco suffered a knee injury and the rest of the backfield spun its wheels. Kansas City even went as far to elevate Clyde Edwards-Helaire from the practice squad over Mitchell at one point before the Chiefs finally moved on and released him on Dec. 20.
After signing Pierce to the practice squad on Nov. 24, the Chiefs didn’t elevate him to the active roster until Dec. 20. Even then, they decided to make him inactive before the game, teasing Pierce and Chiefs fans of a showcase before pulling it away at the last minute.
Even if Pierce sees the field and performs well, it can’t be counted on as a long-term solution. Pierce was in a similar showcase one year ago when the Texans took on the Tennessee Titans. After falling behind Joe Mixon and Dare Ogunbowale on the depth chart, Pierce exploded with 176 yards including a 92-yard touchdown run. His reward was 10 carries for 26 scoreless yards before his release this season and what seems to be an eternal spot on the Chiefs’ bench.
Maybe things will change and both sides will turn over a new leaf in the season finale. But at this point neither the Chiefs or Pierce can be trusted in this relationship, which leaves Kansas City to look for someone else to fix the problem this offseason.