Clyde Edwards-Helaire Wrote His Own Story in KC Chiefs’ Win Over Patriots

Kansas City's former first-round pick had his best game of the season on Sunday, seeing his patience pay off in a big way.

Coming into the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 15 game against the New England Patriots, there was a storyline that didn't seem to get enough attention. Surprisingly, it didn't have anything to do with Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce or Steve Spagnuolo's defense.

Of all people, it tied back to fourth-year running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire. 

With starter Isiah Pacheco out for the second week in a row due to a shoulder injury, Edwards-Helaire once again shared backfield reps with Jerick McKinnon. Due to McKinnon having an extensive injury history and battling a nagging ailment of his own, though, the former first-round pick was primarily relied on to produce. He managed to deliver in a big way, amassing 101 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown on 17 total touches.

According to his head coach, Edwards-Helaire has always kept a high level of energy and made the most of his reps. The only difference between Sunday and any other game was volume.

"He's been an energy-giver, which you need," Reid said. "Smile on the face and he comes to work every day trying to get better. He doesn't ever complain. If you give him two snaps, he'll take the two and make it the best he can. If you give him 30 [or] 40 snaps, he's going to do great there too." 

After Edwards-Helaire didn't play in Week 9, it's been a nice ramp-up in workload for him coming out of the bye. His Week 11 snap count was just four, but that figure rose from 12 to 17 to 32 in the ensuing weeks. Pacheco's injury and subsequent surgery contributed to Week 14's total, then the veteran halfback had to fill in once again when the second-year man missed his second consecutive outing. 

A quick look at the box score from a rushing perspective doesn't reveal anything too crazy. Edwards-Helaire led Kansas City in run attempts on Sunday with 13, although he got just 37 yards out of those efforts. That included a 20-yard breakout in the third quarter, speaking to just how minimal his production was there outside of that specific play. In the receiving game, however, Edwards-Helaire was fantastic. Converting on all four of his targets for 64 yards and a touchdown, he was one of the Chiefs' most important players on offense. He credits his willingness to "realize what's business" during a down stretch this season and his readiness to "conquer that opportunity" as things that helped him.

He also didn't pay attention to or have interest in outside noise. Edwards-Helaire wrote his story and did it in his unique way in Week 15. 

"It's the NFL," Edwards-Helaire said. "Everybody kind of will have their own story or have their own say-so about it, but I'm Clyde Edwards-Helaire. I write my own narrative, I write my own story. I let everybody else handle whatever they want to write and use whatever they want to use, and then I just kind of showcase it myself and write my story about my body and my play." 

To say this game has been a long time coming for Edwards-Helaire would be spot-on. Since being drafted by the Chiefs 32nd overall back in 2020, a combination of injuries and poor performance have limited him and led many to use the dreaded "bust" label when analyzing him. A handful of weeks into last season, Pacheco took his job and Edwards-Helaire also suffered an injury that saw him not play again that year. He practiced at wide receiver leading up to Super Bowl LVII — a testament to him being a good teammate — but was inactive for one of the biggest games of his life. He then started his fourth campaign in the NFL as the backup's backup at running back.

Despite all of that, including some low-involvement outings this season, Edwards-Helaire just kept showing up. He maintained a positive attitude, worked to ensure that the rest of the running backs were ready to go and merely waited for an opportunity to make a more profound impact. When he perhaps needed it the most, he delivered. Mahomes, referring to Edwards-Helaire as "one of the best dudes" he's ever met, praised his teammate and looked ahead to a world with all of the team's halfbacks healthy and rolling. That's surely a story that Edwards-Helaire wouldn't mind being a part of writing. 

"When you get a lot of people piling on you and you aren't having the success you want, you could be down," Mahomes said. "But like I said, he has a smile on his face [and] he comes to work every single day. I think that's special about him. That's why we want him to succeed as much as everybody else and himself. It's because he has that workman ethic of just coming in and putting in whatever he can to help the team. Today was a great day for him. Hopefully, we'll get Pop (Pacheco) back and we're able to utilize everybody and go out there and be a better team for it."

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