Heading into the 2026 season, the Kansas City Chiefs may be facing the most offensive question marks in the Patrick Mahomes era. Positive changes have been made in the running back room with the bold signing of Kenneth Walker III and the additions of Emari Demercado and Emmett Johnson. Hopefully a solid run game brings balance to the offense.
Add in the return of Eric Bieniemy and the hiring of new running backs coach DeMarco Murray, as well as new wideouts coach Chad O'Shea, and there is a level of excitement again around what this offense could become.
However, the obvious counter to this is pointing out the fact that Patrick Mahomes is coming off an ACL tear. It's fair to question whether Andy Reid is going to make the needed scheme changes to take pressure off his quarterback, who has carried far too much on his shoulders over the last three seasons.
Evidence of this is the fact that the Chiefs have hovered around 21 points per game over the last three years, with 21.3 in the 2025 season being the lowest of Mahomes' career. Turn back the clock to the 2022 season, and the Chiefs averaged 29.2 points per game and were among the league's most lethal offensive units.
Andy Reid's once-revolutionary offense is due for a reset
Andy Reid's offensive ingenuity and creativity have been sorely lacking as of late, and it's okay to admit that, even if he's a future Hall of Fame head coach. Catching teams off guard and being able to manipulate the opposing defense was once a defining trait of Reid's offenses and has been notably absent over the last three seasons.
Fans could be quick to point to a regressing cast that forced Mahomes and Reid to be a bit more methodical. Still, there is no debating that this version of the offense has to be a thing of the past, as Mahomes doesn't need to be asked to shoulder this load coming off the first truly serious injury of his career.
Chiefs truthers are banking on the offseason additions and the wake-up call that was the 2025 season to serve as the needed changes to give themselves a great chance to turn the corner.
With that said, seeing is believing, and no matter what additions or changes were made, much of the offensive failures in recent years are on the shoulders of Reid. Fans need to see meaningful and consistent change to believe that the year ahead isn't going to be filled with similar frustration.
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