The Kansas City Chiefs' loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars was no doubt a shot at the confidence of the AFC champs, but while the 31-28 defeat wasn't great, it doesn't mean there weren't positives to come out of it.
One positive aspect was the run game; although the overall numbers weren't good, the Chiefs had success when examining them individually.
Isiah Pacheco (seven carries, 36 yards, 5.1 yards per clip) and Kareem Hunt (seven carries, 49 yards, two touchdowns, 7.0 yards per clip), while limited in touches, both found a lot of success on the ground.
Overall, the Chiefs totaled 158 rushing yards, and 60 of those were from Patrick Mahomes, but there can be no denying that things are beginning to trend upward for Kansas City's run game.
And Patrick knows it too.
“When we're able to run the ball like that and then being able to play action and do bootlegs and stuff like that off of the run game, it really just opens up the entire offense,” Mahomes said. “I thought both those guys, ran really hard when they got the ball in their hands.
“You can tell that stuff's building with time and with more and more reps. I think it'll continue to get better and better as the season goes on, and that those guys will continue to have more and more success.”
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Chiefs need more from run game
Whether it be game script or game planning, both Pacheco and Hunt need to be featured more in the coming weeks. Against the Jaguars, both did as they pleased on the ground, but with only 14 combined rushing attempts, while Mahomes had 41 passing attempts, it needs to be a little more balanced.
Yeah, taking the ball out of Patrick's hand isn't ideal, but there is more meat on the bone in the run game, and when both are rolling as they were in Jacksonville, the offense as a whole, functions better, and even Mahomes stated that.
Now, we aren't saying 30 combined attempts, Baltimore Ravens style, but when both Pacheco and Hunt are cooking as they were against the Jaguars, lean on it a little more, and it will open up the passing game.
Either way, the run game had been poor in the opening month, but now it might be showing signs of life.
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