Why this version of the Chiefs is ‘just not good’
Yahoo Sports’ Nate Tice and Matt Harmon examine Kansas City’s first 0-2 start since 2014 and debate whether a midseason rebound is still possible. Hear the full conversation on “Football 301” - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
I am without a doubt selling this version of the Kansas City Chiefs.
And what I mean by that is I am selling the fact that we are seriously lining up Marquis Brown, Jenkins, and Tyquan Thornton, and Kareem Hunt like with a straight face in 2025 on offense.
We're doing that.
Obviously, Rashee Rice will be back at some point, Xavier Worthy will be back at some point.
I think there's still a November version of Kansas City that I'm willing to buy into.
But like, I'm selling this because the run game continues to be absolutely atrocious.
Patrick Mahomes leads all quarterbacks in scramble yards, 123 yards on scrambles.
Like, that's the best rushing play they have right now: Mahomes pulling the rip cord like he's in the AFC Championship game, and it's week 2.
I just think the personnel on this team is really atrophied.
Like I think they've let it atrophy at this point, especially on the offense.
And that's not even to say that I think there are issues on defense too.
So I can definitely just sit here and appeal to authority and be like, listen, it's Reid, it's Mahomes, they're the guys and they'll probably be right back in the Super Bowl again, but like, I think that would be dishonest to what you actually see on the field right now.
Which like that product, if that continues to roll out there, that is a pretty easy sell to me.
They're the slowest fast team I've ever seen.
They have all these guys around 4-3s and 4-4s, and they feel slow and tiny and not good.
I'm selling them.
I like how you phrased it.
Right now, after two weeks, definitely selling them.
But this is the Chiefs, and that's why they always get a caveat.
Week after week, they'll improve.
That's what this team does.
After the bye week, they'll have a bump and they'll boost up.
Spags will figure out his personnel and get some new funky looks to highlight what he has.
The offense though, they have what I've always called the Texas problem under Mack Brown.
They just have a lot of guys that are just like of the same staff, like where are the new ideas coming from?
I look at, okay, so Mahomes right now on DropX, he's 21st in success rate, on just throws, he's 31st right now in success rate.
40 percent.
that's what you want the run game to be at, 40% success rate.
You don't want just throws to be at 40%.
The league average is 47%, and that's including, you know, a lot of bad quarterbacks relatively compared to Patrick Mahomes and what should be the Chiefs offense.