The KC Chiefs Have an Ongoing Offensive Philosophical Battle

The Chiefs’ offense hasn't been what many expected it to be. A lot can be attributed to personnel issues, but some of the struggles go beyond the surface.

The Kansas City Chiefs have lost two games in a row, and the offense has failed to score 20 points in each game. Typically, when the Chiefs have lost games in the Patrick Mahomes era, it has been due to the defense being unable to slow down the opposing team's offense. Right now, Kansas City's offense is holding them back and it's a philosophical dilemma lying in the weeds contributing to the issues.

In 2021, defenses adjusted to the Chiefs' explosive offense by playing more two-high shell coverages. It forced Kansas City to take a more methodical approach on offense, efficiently matriculating the ball down the field. The organization doubled down on that approach in the offseason leading up to the 2022 season by trading away superstar wide receiver Tyreek Hill. That bet worked, as Kansas City went on to have the league's highest-scoring offense on their way to winning Super Bowl LVII. However, that is not the story this year. The offense is struggling, so why is that?

The personnel, especially at the wide receiver position, definitely contributes to Kansas City's offensive struggles. However, the issues go even further than that. When you play with a methodical, efficient offensive approach, there can't be mistakes that hurt drives and put the offense behind the sticks. It's harder to make up that yardage when you are a death-by-a-thousand paper-cuts offense.

The Chiefs have constantly put themselves behind the sticks due to penalties this year, whether it's a false start, holding, pass interference or the like. They have been unable to overcome that as they have in years past. Those penalties and other errors like drops, mental mistakes and turnovers have stifled many of the Chiefs' drives when they looked like they had something cooking. It's typical for those miscues to stifle drives, but the Chiefs can't overcome it like other offenses around the league because of a missing component.

That missing component is explosive plays. Offenses can make up for miscues by creating explosive plays. Kansas City isn't hitting those right now, especially during their stretch of losing four of six games. Not only are they not converting on explosives, but they have scaled back on calling them. When you turn on the Chiefs' film, they call short or intermediate routes partly due to simplifying the offense for the struggling wide receivers.

Adding the simplification to an offense that is already methodical and quick-hitting by design makes it even more critical that they reduce mistakes. If the offense continues to struggle, the Chiefs might have to lean into taking more explosive shots and hoping they work or draw a defensive penalty. It's hard to keep shooting yourself in the foot and have no big-hitting answer to get out of it.

Currently, there is a philosophical battle going on with the Chiefs’ offense. It would be nice to see Kansas City cut out the constant mistakes but at this point, we are 13 weeks into the year and they haven't been able to figure it out. The coaching staff may have to adjust to what the offense has proven to be week in and week out. If they want to have a tangible improvement before the end of the season, they should lean into the explosives more often to offset the mistakes that are hurting this offense every week.

Insider Discusses Sense of Urgency and ‘Fear’ for Chiefs Offense