A quarterback's best friend is a run game to fall back on and take the pressure off, but for Kansas City Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes, he has been the running game in the first two weeks of the season.
Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt both have only 47 yards rushing from a combined 28 attempts, with Mahomes and his 123 yards comfortably leading.
But with Pacheco and Hunt having nearly the same number of carries for the same return, it is clear that the usage of the pair doesn't deliver the sort of results Andy Reid wants.
So, could the Chiefs look to give one or the other significant carries against the New York Giants to try and get things rolling in the run game?
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy doesn't think so.
“The running back position, guys can get hot and they have certain carries and you can start to feel that," Nagy said. "Some games are different, but we don’t have anything in particular like we’ve got to get one or the other more carries.”
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It would be easy to say that, and we know that if the run game is producing, even a little bit, that can help open up things in the passing game.
Marquise Brown, Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, and Tyquan Thornton (maybe Xavier Worthy) will be tasked with helping Mahomes put points up, but we get the sense that more than 20 will be needed against New York, if its efforts against the Dallas Cowboys are anything to go by.
The good thing for the Chiefs is that the Giants leak rush yards; the Washington Commanders (220) and the Cowboys (135) were able to be productive on the ground, so there is hope that this could be the "get well" game for Reid's team.
If, and that's a big if, the Chiefs can establish the run with Hunt and Pacheco, it will make life a lot easier for Mahomes, and it might just be the tonic to get this troubled train back on the tracks.
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