KC Chiefs Have an Obvious Offensive Formula for Playoff Success

The Chiefs’ offense had a rocky season, but their opening playoff game may have given us a glimpse into their formula for the rest of the postseason.

Saturday night was the start of the playoff run for the Kansas City Chiefs. They took care of business against the Miami Dolphins, winning 26-7 in the fourth-coldest game in NFL history. Kansas City’s defense played exceptionally well, as it has throughout the entire season. However, the story of the game is how the offense looked.

While it didn’t look like the high-flying offenses of the past, the Chiefs showed a consistent formula for success that should help them throughout this postseason.

On the game’s opening drive, the Chiefs’ offense marched down the field on a nine-play, 69-yard drive ending in a touchdown. Only three offensive weapons were targeted or carried the football on that drive: Travis Kelce, Isiah Pacheco and Rashee Rice. This continued throughout the rest of the night. Those three players were targeted or given the ball 47 plays; every other Kansas City skill player combined for 19 opportunities.

If you add Patrick Mahomes’s two scrambles to the equation, the Chiefs’ four best offensive skill players were given 49 opportunities and created 330 yards of offense on those plays, an average of 6.73 yards per play. The rest of the offensive playmakers had 79 yards of offense on 19 plays, which is 4.16 yards per play. That 6.73 mark would have ranked first in the NFL this year and is more than a yard higher than what the Chiefs averaged during the regular season. The 4.16 figure would rank 31st in the NFL and only ahead of the Carolina Panthers, who had the worst record in the league this season.

During the season, the Chiefs would go stretches without being able to generate yards on offense. That was different from the first look of focusing on their best players. While the Chiefs struggled in the red zone (they only scored two touchdowns on the night), they easily moved the ball up and down the field. Kansas City also did an excellent job of calling plays to make it easier for the primary weapons.

On Saturday, Rice running across the field wide open was a common theme. Instead of making him, someone who is still developing as a route runner, break down defenders in man coverage to get open, the Chiefs simplified it and had him use his elite acceleration to run away from guys into open space under clear-out routes. Similarly, in the run game, the Chiefs had a lot of success using Pacheco’s forceful running style by calling under-center runs. They powered the ball behind their interior three linemen and Pacheco was gashing the Dolphins, especially early in the game.

There was an apparent effort from the Chiefs’ offensive coaching staff to get Kelce, Pacheco and Rice the ball for most of the game. After weeks of trying to get all the skill position players involved on offense, it finally boiled down to the approach of funneling the ball to their best pieces. The formula of feeding these three guys is probably not a long-term approach, but it’s what Kansas City needs to do to maximize its chance of winning another Super Bowl this postseason.