Kansas City Chiefs fans hoped that a perfectly-placed bye week would help head coach Andy Reid & Co. hit the ground running against the rival Denver Broncos on Sunday. Instead, the Chiefs' already-uphill battle became steeper, falling 22-19 to the Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High as Denver kicker Will Lutz hit a 35-yard field goal as time expired.
The disappointing defeat highlighted a handful of issues the Chiefs must fix moving forward, including a bleak backfield. As Isiah Pacheco missed another game with a knee injury, Kansas City only generated 62 rushing yards and a touchdown on 14 carries. While 4.4 yards per attempt isn't the end of the world on paper, how the Chiefs used their RBs and what the shared workload looked like is concerning, to say the least.
Chiefs' RB Room Is a Mess After Week 11
Of Sunday's 14 carries, 13 went to Kareem Hunt while one went to quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Despite both being active for the contest, the Chiefs had no interest in using RBs Brashard Smith and Elijah Mitchell, potentially only dressing them as break-in-case-of-emergency options. And, according to Pro Football Focus, here's what Kansas City's RB trio's offensive snap share looked like:
- Kareem Hunt: 56 (80.0%)
- Brashard Smith: 12 (17.1%)
- Elijah Mitchell: 7 (10.0%)
The Chiefs' questionable RB plans are magnified by the fact that the offense was anything but balanced. Mahomes threw the ball over three times more (45) than Kansas City ran it, which isn't an effective way to keep the Broncos — who have one of the NFL's top defenses — on their toes. It doesn't help that those passes were sparingly used on the team's runners, with three targets going to Smith (2 catches for 9 yards), two to Hunt (1 catch for 3 yards), and one to Mitchell (0 catches).
If the Chiefs can't trust Smith and Mitchell out of the backfield, it's hard to like the run game's odds of being okay if Hunt were to get hurt during Pacheco's absence. Even if the latter comes back soon, there's no guarantee that Pacheco will be 100% or even close to his old self. Now that the trade deadline is long in the rearview, Kansas City's options would be to either promote Clyde Edwards-Helaire or Carson Steele from the practice squad or sign a free-agent RB. Neither side of the equation is glamorous or even encouraging, to say the least.
The Chiefs' next game is against the AFC South-leading Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, and another loss would be devastating for their postseason outlook. That's why Reid's coaching staff needs to figure out their backfield as soon as possible, whether that means getting Pacheco back in the lineup or figuring out a better way to divvy up the carries.
Time is ticking for the Chiefs to get their season back on track, and failing to figure out their growing RB problem could push them past the point of no return.