How Chiefs are finding run-game success unlike any other NFL team: ‘It’s a mentality’

The Kansas City Chiefs are one of the NFL’s best rushing teams — and yet easily the worst in one specific area.

Both statements are true, and speak to a quirk for the Chiefs as they’ve opened this season with a 5-0 record.

The team’s offensive identity no doubt has shifted, though. KC has been relying more heavily on some of its best players whose efforts might often get overlooked.

But let’s start with the facts about the Chiefs’ offense through five games: They have been great running the football, ranking second in rushing-play success rate , according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

The stat is inherently a measure of efficiency, while basically answering this question: Are your odds of winning the football game better after your run play took place?

Some 51% of the time for the Chiefs this season, that answer has been “Yes.” Only the Los Angeles Rams (53%) have been better, while the Las Vegas Raiders are last in the league at 31%.

So who gets the credit here? Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy singled out his teams’ players for executing the scheme well, then highlighted the efforts of offensive line assistant coaches Andy Heck and Corey Matthaei, who brainstorm ideas and create the Chiefs’ run-game blueprint each week.

“It’s a mentality,” Nagy said of the run game. “You’ve got to be able to have that.”

This also brings us to the weird part of the Chiefs’ run offense, though: It has had no explosive ability at all.

Look through the stats, and the Chiefs have four rushes that have gone for 11 yards or more. Two of those were scrambles by quarterback Patrick Mahomes, while one was an end-around from receiver Xavier Worthy in the opener against Baltimore.

That means the Chiefs have one rush all season from a running back of 11 yards or more — and that carry was exactly 11 yards by Isiah Pacheco in Game 2 against Cincinnati.

The Chiefs then, as one of the NFL’s best rushing teams, are still looking for their first 12-plus-yard carry from a running back this season.

As one might expect, the Chiefs’ four 11-plus-yard rushes is the worst total in the NFL. Baltimore, to compare, has 30, while even 31st-place Dallas (with five) has four of its long runs coming from a running back in Rico Dowdle.

NFL Next Gen Stats also says the Chiefs’ 4% “explosive rate” on runs (gains covering 10 or more yards) is the lowest NFL mark of any offense since 2016.

It’s all part of the offensive narrative for the Chiefs this season, which has relied on down-to-down efficiency over home-run-type plays. Essentially, KC has become king of the 5- to 9-yard runs, staying ahead of the sticks while keeping itself in enviable spots for later downs.

And the greatest credit for that still working goes to the offensive line, which quietly has dominated in a way it hasn’t in previous seasons.

That specifically centers on the Chiefs’ best three linemen: left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith.

According to Pro Football Focus’ charting , each is having a career season both overall and in the run game. Humphrey ranks second among all NFL linemen in run-block grade, while Smith is 18th and Thuney is 52nd (among 711 qualified linemen).

Taking advantage of that interior strength also has pushed KC’s coaches in a different direction stylistically. For instance, Sports Info Solutions ’ data says the Chiefs have called inside zone — a scheme that leans most heavily on the middle three — for 39 plays already this year, compared to 59 for the entire 2023 regular season.

There’s been a similar uptick in “power,” a format that utilizes a pulling guard to get downhill in the run game. The Chiefs have gone to that 26 times this season compared to 40 all of last season, showing the team’s increasing trust in its big guys up front.

Nagy said Thursday that it wasn’t surprising to hear the Chiefs had increased their volume in those particular run methods.

“The fact that when you’re able to run the football like we’ve been able to do, it’s a stress-reliever for offensive linemen in pass pro. For the quarterback, it gives you a breather every now and then,” Nagy said. “We want to be able to keep that going, because you want to be balanced.”

And the Chiefs, this season, have been more so than any of Reid’s teams with Mahomes.

KC has run the ball on 47% of its plays, which ranks 13th in the NFL. Reid’s rank during his previous six seasons with Mahomes looked like this: 23rd, 23rd, 28th, 27th, 25th and 26th.

Reid and his staff often get credit for bringing the best out of their personnel, and this seems like it could be another example. Though KC had visions of deeper throws and more explosive plays in 2024, injuries to receivers Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice have sidetracked some of that, with the Chiefs instead succeeding with a “keep-moving-forward” type offense steadied by its ground game.

There have been some promising numbers in that area. The Chiefs have been “stuffed” (gaining 0 or negative yards) on just 8% of their run plays, which is the best mark in the NFL.

It’s just one way for the team to succeed — and thrive — with a rush offense lacking fireworks in the open field.