Breaking Down the Causes of the KC Chiefs’ Struggles on Offense
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It is no secret that the Kansas City Chiefs' offense has struggled during the early portion of the season. Comparing it to the Kansas City offenses from 2018 to this year, it is the pacing to be the worst offense the Chiefs have fielded with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback.
On a base level, you can see that the points per game are the lowest by five points. The Chiefs currently sit at 23.4 points per game, 12th in the NFL. Kansas City never finished a season lower than sixth in the Mahomes era, so what’s wrong with the offense and who is to “blame” for the struggles?
If we broke it down as a pie chart, these are what the portions would look like.
Patrick Mahomes: 10%
Patrick Mahomes is the clear-cut, undisputed best quarterback in the world. However, he hasn’t played up to the level fans have become accustomed to. That may have to do with the surrounding factors that will be discussed later, but focusing on him, his turnovers are up. Mahomes’s interception percentage is at 2.6, the highest rate of his career and above his career average by an entire percentage point. While there are plenty of factors that may be contributing to a slow start for the best player in the world, cutting down the turnovers would help the offense’s rhythm.
Wide receivers: 40%
The biggest portion of the hypothetical pie belongs to the wide receivers. Underwhelming would be putting it lightly. Justin Watson and Rashee Rice are the only receivers that have met expectations. The others have struggled to adjust to the pressure of having a more prominent role in the offense. There are a lot of mental mistakes, like running the wrong route, running through zones and failing to come back to the ball.
Those elements have caused a lack of trust in them from Mahomes’ end. You can see him hesitating to throw the ball because he’s unsure if the receiver will be in the right spot. Then, when everything is finally right, they struggle to catch the football. The Chiefs lead the NFL in drops, which has hurt the offense in critical situations. The hope is that they can make strides during the season, but the early returns have been discouraging.
Front office: 25%
The personnel staff doesn't affect gameday per se, but its decisions have put Kansas City in its current position. The Chiefs have struggled to correctly identify difference-makers at the wide receiver position, which has led to a depletion of talent in the room. The front office has passed on notable names like D.K. Metcalf, Tee Higgins, Michael Pittman Jr., and George Pickens and instead took Mecole Hardman, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Skyy Moore.
If the Chiefs were to go back in time and switch those picks, they probably would. Though they can’t do that, they still have to own that the product on the field is partially due to their missteps in evaluating talent at the skill positions. Also, nearly all the receivers on the roster are at their best when working out of the slot. There is no way they could all play there throughout a game, which is a flawed process of building that group out.
Coaching staff: 20%
Andy Reid typically wears all the blame in his press conferences when the offense struggles. As the play-caller, it makes sense for him to do this. This year, in particular, the playcalling has been strange. It looks vanilla on tape, like basic concepts installed on the first day of OTAs. However, there are also too many gimmick plays that have led to some struggles in short yardage and in the red zone. Reid may be forced into these play calls because he knows he doesn’t have the horses to run the more complicated concepts, but he needs to find a flow in his calls and a better feel for when to use the gimmick looks.
Everyone knows that Reid is a great coach and will likely be better. The bigger question is the rest of the staff and how it will improve. The wide receiver position was a big focus coming into the season because of the youth and inexperience it possessed, so why do the Chiefs have a first-time wide receiver coach as the voice in the room? Those guys need to be able to turn to someone when they are struggling or need help. I’d imagine it’d be nice for them to have someone who has experience in that position or at least played the position at a high level.
Other factors: 5%
Offensive line miscues, injuries and the run game volatility have also played a part in the unusual look for the Chiefs' offense. While they are probably being looked at within the building because teams constantly seek perfection, these factors aren’t the biggest causes of a rocky eight weeks for the Kansas City offense.
