Kansas City Chiefs

Did the real Kansas City Chiefs just show up?

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Kansas City Chiefs haven’t been themselves in 2016. They have appeared to be a team struggling to find their identity. Were they going to be able to rely on their defense again this year or not? Were they going to continue to rely heavily on the run game or were they going to put more of the offense on the arm of Alex Smith? Was this going to be the same team that came storming back from a bad start to finally win a playoff game last year or were they going to reinvent themselves into something else? The most frustrating thing about the start of the Chiefs 2016 season was that they themselves didn’t seem to know the answers to these questions. We now must all hope that the answer to the question “Who are the 2016 Kansas City Chiefs?” is the team that went into Oakland and beat the Raiders 26-10 on Sunday.

The Chiefs weren’t perfect on Sunday. They go off to another poor start which is frustrating and frankly inexcusable coming off their bye week, Cairo Santos missed a field goal and an extra point, they gave up a field goal before the half when they shouldn’t have, and Andy Reid was still too cute with his play calling down near the goal line. That all having been said, the Chiefs had far and away their best game plan of the season and executed it well. While the game plan will always vary some week to week based on the opponent, overall this should be the team that KC should strive to be for the rest of the season.

So what did they do different?

The clear cut top answer was that they shifted their offensive philosophy from that of being a passing offense that occasionally runs the ball for a change of pace to being a team that establishes the running game first to set up the pass. I pointed out last week that Alex Smith was on pace to challenge the all time record for passing attempts in a season through four games. That’s absurd. I don’t need to explain why that’s absurd, in fact I feel confident that there isn’t a person alive that thinks Smith setting a NFL record for passing attempts in a season is a smart thing for KC to do. Despite all those passing attempts, Smith’s productivity (completion percentage and yards per attempt) was still down from previous seasons.

Alex Smith is not a bad NFL quarterback. He is also not an elite quarterback that can carry an offense. That has been apparent in the first four weeks of the 2016 season. Smith is at his most productive when he has a solid running game and can pick and choose when to take shots in the passing game. Under these circumstances he is incredibly efficient. Through the first four games of 2016 the Chiefs had yet to really establish their running game. They were averaging a pedestrian 20.8 carries per game for 90.2 yards. On Sunday against the Raiders they rushed the ball 40 times for 183 yards. They literally doubled their production in the running game from what they were averaging in the first quarter of the season.

And how did Alex Smith respond?

With his best game of the season by a landslide. Smith was 19 of 22 for 224 yards. That’s a whopping 86% completion percentage and 10.2 yards per completion. You can’t tell me that its a coincidence that Smith looked that much more efficient throwing the ball on the same day that the running game got going. This HAS to be the KC game plan for the rest of the season. I understand that you can’t be predictable. I understand that KC may face some defensive fronts that make running the ball (especially with our offensive line) difficult, but Andy Reid HAS to stay committed to running the football. While Reid has certainly been guilty of getting too creative with the play calling throughout his career, he has actually done a good job of establishing the run during his tenure in KC. He just has to stick with it. I find it encouraging that coming off the bye week Reid came to the conclusion that they needed to run the ball more. Now we just have to hope that he doesn’t over think things moving forward.

The Chiefs have three NFL caliber runners in Jamaal Charles, Spencer Ware, and Charcandrick West. Utilizing them should be at the center of every game plan that Andy Reid puts together for the rest of the season. Yes, they want to utilize Jeremy Maclin, Travis Kelce, and Chris Conley too, but in order to open things up for them they first need to run the ball.

Running the football sets this entire team up for success. When they run the football they take pressure off Smith and allow him to be more efficient. When they are running the football they are more of a ball control offense which keeps the defense rested and fresh. When they run the football it often helps with field position which then sets up their return game to make a big plays. When KC is doing those things they often are playing with a lead which then sets up Bob Sutton’s defensive schemes for more success. It really all comes back to establishing the run. I believe it is the very core of who this team is.

The Kansas City Chiefs are a running football team.

I believe that 100%. That is the identity of the team I saw on Sunday in Oakland. That is the identity of the team that turned around their season last year and eventually won a playoff game. That MUST be their identity going forward in 2016. Let’s just hope that Andy Reid thinks so too.

As always, thanks for reading and GO CHIEFS!!!!!!!!

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