Chiefs’ run game got burst from Isiah Pacheco. Now it needs a boost vs. Chargers
First, the good news about the Chiefs’ running game last week against the Las Vegas Raiders.
Isiah Pacheco returned to action after missing nine games with a fractured fibula, and he ripped off a 34-yard run in the third quarter. That’s the longest rush by a Chiefs player this season.
Now, the bad. Nearly everything else about the Chiefs’ rushing offense was substandard in Week 13. Pacheco’s long run represented more than half of the Chiefs’ 63 rushing yards in the game, which came on a season-low 16 attempts.
Next up for the Chiefs, Sunday night in the NFL’s Week 14, come the Los Angeles Chargers — who lead the league in scoring defense.
Against the Raiders, the Chiefs set a tone on the game’s first snap when Kareem Hunt was tackled for a 1-yard loss. Later, Pacheco was downed for a 5-yard loss.
“We haven’t done that a whole lot,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said of the minus-yardage play.
The Chiefs had posted effective running games this season while adjusting to Pacheco’s absence. They brought back Hunt, who spent most of his first seasons with the Chiefs, to be their primary ball carrier.
Last week’s game figured to set up nicely. Pacheco had returned, Hunt would be used — but not overworked — and the Raiders owned one of the NFL’s lowest-rated defenses.
So much for that as the Chiefs escaped with a 19-17 victory.
But Pacheco’s return was a welcome development, and his long run flashed a quality the Chiefs had been missing. Hunt’s longest carry this season is 19 yards.
“It felt awesome,” Pacheco said of his return. “Just getting that contact again, I’ve been missing it.”
Pacheco said he knew his running back instincts would return. He focused on other, often underappreciated duties of the position, like chip-blocks.
“It was important for me to pinpoint the details, the little things that could make my game a little bit better,” he said.
His 34-yard run became an important moment, taking the Chiefs to the Raiders’ 14-yard line in the third quarter. The drive stalled with a sack of KC quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a penalty, resulting in a field goal that gave the Chiefs a 10-point lead.
But overall, the running game wasn’t there and Mahomes wound up throwing a season-high 46 passes.
“You get into a mode where the run game’s not working, let’s pass,” Nagy said. “You’ve got a pretty good quarterback back there. But you also have to understand that when you’re dropping back 45 times a game it can be advantageous to the defense. They can pin their ears back.”
Which helps explain the fact that Mahomes was sacked five times for the second straight week. Until these past two games, he’d been sacked five times in a game only once in his career.
Pacheco and Hunt each logged seven rushing attempts and split the snaps last Friday against the Raiders. And a two-headed running back approach over the final five games could be the Chiefs’ plan.
But the production has to improve.
“We can do better in that area,” head coach Andy Reid said. “I’ve got to make sure that I give the guys the right things to run, and then the guys have to do their job on top of that.
“So it’s a package deal there, but I didn’t feel like I was necessarily putting them in the best position against that.”
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 3:13 PM.