KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs offense in September was somewhat new to every opponent it faced in the first month of the NFL season. Those opponents did their best to prepare for the Chiefs, still led by superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes, by asking questions through their strategic tactics.
Could Mahomes still throw the ball deep at an effective rate despite receiver Tyreek Hill, the league’s fastest player, being traded in the offseason to the Dolphins? Could the Chiefs’ new receivers — such as JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson — make enough plays when Mahomes was blitzed? And would tight end Travis Kelce maintain his exceptional production from the previous five seasons without Hill’s presence?
Before Thanksgiving, the Chiefs had produced the same answer for each question: an emphatic yes.
Ahead of New Year’s Day, the Chiefs offense, heading toward the postseason, has already evolved again. The constant component is Mahomes, one of the leading candidates to win the league’s MVP award, as he has thrown for a league-leading 37 touchdowns and 4,720 passing yards. The new pieces alongside Mahomes, who have helped the offense become even more balanced, are the team’s youngest running back and oldest one: rookie Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon.
Pacheco, who was selected in the seventh round of the draft, leads the team with 735 rushing yards and is averaging 4.8 yards per attempt. McKinnon, a nine-year veteran, has become Mahomes’ third-most-reliable pass catcher, behind Kelce and Smith-Schuster. In fact, McKinnon leads all running backs this season with a career-high six touchdown receptions, as he has recorded a touchdown reception in each of the past four games.
“Jerick is doing a great job,” Greg Lewis, the running backs assistant, said Thursday ahead of the team’s practice. “The opportunity that he’s been presented with, he’s taken advantage of those opportunities. I’m excited for him moving forward.
“(Pacheco) has done a tremendous job of leaning on Jerick, just getting that professionalism and what it’s going to take to be successful. They’ve got a good rhythm going right now.”
This sounds familiar… @JetMckinnon1 finds the end zone‼️
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 18, 2022
Two quality running backs have enabled the Chiefs to gain yards consistently when Mahomes doesn’t throw the ball.
Listed at 5-foot-10 and 216 pounds, Pacheco has added a dimension of tough running between the tackles to punish opposing defenses, whether they elect to put seven or eight defenders in the box. With Pacheco becoming the Chiefs’ fastball in their running game, McKinnon has excelled as the team’s slider, a shifty ball carrier who can make a defender miss in the open field, gain yards after the catch and protect Mahomes against a blitzer, even though he is listed at 5-foot-9 and 206 pounds.
“We’re seeing a little bit of a different approach from the Chiefs offense,” Chris Simms, a former NFL quarterback and an analyst for NBC, said earlier this week. “They’re getting underneath the center and running downhill, they’re running play-action passes, and I think it’s going to suit them in the playoffs. It’s going to give them more versatility and a few different avenues to attack defenses.”
Pacheco and McKinnon were large reasons why the Chiefs beat the Broncos, Sunday’s opponent, earlier this season. Pacheco gained 70 rushing yards on 13 attempts in the first meeting earlier this month. His biggest highlight was late in the fourth quarter when the Chiefs needed to run the ball to gain a first down to secure the victory. Following the two-minute warning, with the Broncos defense expecting a run, Pacheco generated his longest gain of the game, a rugged 10-yard run bouncing off two defenders.
The play also began with Mahomes receiving the snap under center Creed Humphrey, a tactic the Chiefs have increased in the second half of the season. Since Pacheco became a starter in late October, he has gained 17 first downs on 51 rushing attempts when Mahomes is not in the shotgun, according to TruMedia.
“It gives (the running back) an opportunity to run downhill, gives them more of a running start,” offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said earlier this month. “Ideally, it allows the O-line to come off and present different angles in the run-blocking schemes. (On) that particular run that Pacheco made (against the Broncos), obviously it was well-blocked but the thing that stood out about it was the two missed tackles that those guys ended up having because of his physical nature of attacking those guys in the back end.”
Some of Mahomes’ best passes against the Broncos were short completions to McKinnon on screens. McKinnon finished with a game-high 112 receiving yards and two touchdowns. And yes, McKinnon also was the recipient of Mahomes’ greatest completion that day, a highlight where he flipped a no-look shovel pass across his body. After lunging to catch the ball, McKinnon finished Mahomes’ schoolyard play by sprinting untouched for a 56-yard touchdown.
Mahomes magic! 🪄
McKinnon scored a 26-yard walk-off touchdown the following week to give the Chiefs an overtime victory over the Texans. The play also began with Mahomes not in shotgun.
“I prepared myself for this,” McKinnon said Sunday of his touchdown streak. “It’s play calling. Pat is finding me. It’s a collection of everything. The offensive line is blocking super well and everyone is just doing their job. The opportunities just landed in my hands, and I’m just trying to make the most out of it.”
The Chiefs’ starting running back at the start of the season was Clyde Edwards-Helaire, the three-year veteran and 2020 first-round pick. Edwards-Helaire appeared to be in the midst of a breakout season when he produced five touchdowns and 325 all-purpose yards in the season’s first month. But in the Chiefs’ November comeback win over the Chargers, Edwards-Helaire sustained a high ankle sprain and left the locker room with his right ankle in a walking boot. He has since been on injured reserve. Coach Andy Reid said Wednesday it’s unclear whether Edwards-Helaire will return to the active roster next week for the team’s regular-season finale against the Raiders.
“High ankle sprains are tough deals on running backs, so he’s working through everything and busting his tail,” Reid said. “He’s not quite right.”
Without Edwards-Helaire, Reid chose to increase the workload and on-field responsibilities for McKinnon, who is in his second season with the Chiefs. The decision has allowed Reid and Bieniemy to develop Pacheco at a traditional pace. Pacheco has recorded 16 or more rushing attempts in just two games.
“I’m slowly trusting my patience and understanding the scheme, most importantly,” Pacheco said Sunday. “Being a younger guy, listening to (McKinnon) and taking advice in film when it comes to ball, that’s what it’s all about — picking the guys’ brains who have been here before you so you’re able to play a lot faster.”
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 4, 2022
One of McKinnon’s most valuable traits, Reid said, is his ability to relate to Pacheco in becoming a mentor for the rookie.
“He’s phenomenal, his study habits and taking care of his body,” Reid said of McKinnon. “He is meticulous about how he goes about that, and it’s a great example to these young guys. He’s willing to share. He’s not threatened by the other guys. They see him in the meetings. If he needs to use a foam roller, he’s going to get down and work on his hamstring or whatever he needs to work on. He likes to talk.”
McKinnon has feasted in the red zone on one-on-one matchups in the past month as the receiver out of the backfield. The Chiefs’ victory over the Seahawks last week featured McKinnon catching a short pass near the sideline and then spinning away from cornerback Michael Jackson to score a 9-yard touchdown. Immediately after the snap, Mahomes noticed that many of the Seahawks’ defenders, in zone coverage, gravitated toward Kelce and Smith-Schuster, which left McKinnon open.
“They kind of put themselves in a bad situation,” McKinnon said of the Seahawks. “The linebacker was tapped inside, so I was like, ‘Well, I already have him out-leveraged.’ Pat hit me on the quick flat for an easy touchdown.”
Mr. December, a.k.a. @JetMckinnon1 🎅
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 24, 2022
The newest layer Reid and Bieniemy have added in the past five games — in hopes of making the Chiefs offense even more unpredictable — is showcasing Pacheco’s receiving skills. Pacheco has eight receptions for 99 yards during the stretch, all of which have come with Mahomes in the shotgun. Pacheco has become almost as productive as McKinnon on screen passes. Each of the past four games has included a snap where Pacheco has gained at least 15 yards after catching the ball; his season-long 32-yard reception occurred last week on a screen when he showed proper patience in front of Humphrey before accelerating on the perimeter.
As a former NFL receiver for eight seasons, Lewis has been pleased with Pacheco’s progress, which could prove to be a significant benefit for the Chiefs in the postseason.
“As running backs here, we have to be multifaceted,” Lewis said. “We’ve got to be able to do everything, whether it’s pass protection, catching passes or running. That’s what I try to pride myself on getting across to those guys, and they’ve absorbed all of it.”
Injury update
Backup tackle Prince Tega Wanogho (illness) was the lone player on the active roster who didn’t participate in Thursday’s practice.
(Photo of Isiah Pacheco: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)