Can the Chiefs' new offense transform the season?
Connor Rogers and Chris Simms speed run through all the new offensive changes on the Kansas City Chiefs this year, including OC Eric Bieniemy and RB Kenneth Walker III, and what impact they may have on the season.
Video Transcript
I think the Chiefs is, they're the perfect place to start.
Yeah.
Because it's the old, can you recapture an old glory?
And the way I've heard you talk about Bieniemy, specifically how the guys on the Chiefs view Bieniemy- Exactly there's a real belief that they can, and they've also made pretty consistent efforts with their personnel this off-season to maybe try to match their new identity.
I, I think so.
A- and that's where I'm excited about the Kansas City Chiefs.
We haven't talked about 'em a ton here.
I do worry about their weapons.
I do, you know, as far as the receiver position.
I, you know, Travis Kelce, as we know, it's gonna get a little less each year as far as what we can expect from him in dominating football games.
Rashee Rice is awesome, but we've talked, like, who's gonna be that other guy they can depend on?
Right.
So you look at it and you go, you break down their offense, and you start to go, "Damn."
No, it's the offensive line's kind of the strength of the offense, and now you got Kenneth Walker on top of that, and that to me is one of the biggest questions.
I'm gonna tell you right now, I'm sitting here right now on the fence of going, "I don't think I'm going to pick the Chiefs to go to the playoffs."
Wow.
That's how I feel about them.
It's gonna be close.
You know I've already put myself out there, that I'm picking 'em third to go in the AFC West, but yeah, there's just too many things as far as young people on the defensive side of the ball, some of the changes on the offense, the weapons, Mahomes' injury, and then, yes, is Bieniemy going to change?
Now, Bieniemy ran the offense they ran, you know, with Matt Nagy and all that.
It wasn't too different.
It was a concoction in the lab between him and Andy Reid and Matt Nagy, and kind of fitted around Mahomes.
And, as we've talked about so much, it caught the league of, you know, by surprise and, and, and took the league by storm there for a while with what they were doing.
But then the league started to copy it, and then the league started to figure out how to defend it, and now we've seen a few years of going, "Yeah, the Chiefs offense is okay, but it's kind of underwhelming."
And it seems like it kind of works because oh, that's right, they got one of the greatest quarterbacks in the- Right history of football making it work.
So are they gonna s- continue to do the same old thing, where, yeah, it's deep crossers and people, post routes and all that, and then we just kind of run the ball sometimes?
Or is Eric Bieniemy gonna go, "No, no, no, we're gonna get underneath the center.
We're gonna pull two g- we're gonna pull two linemen here.
We're gonna play smash mouth.
I'm gonna bring some of my run game design that I learned from Ben Johnson.
We're gonna get into underneath the center play action pass more."
That's the thing I'm excited to see.
And I don't know if that's what they're gonna do, and that's what's so hard about pre-season now is just teams show nothing.
But the one thing that he did bring before when he was the OC, as the point you mentioned, is he makes them tougher.
He holds them accountable.
You know, they ran the ball, I think, at a tougher clip when he was the OC because, hey, he was an ex-running back.
You know, I think he sees the game through that lens a little bit.
And I am ex- expecting a little change to their offense philosophically.
Here's a little trivia for you- Yeah that you, you might get.
Yeah.
Who was the last 'Cause signing Kenneth Walker to me is, and paying him big money- Mm-hmm is like, this is gonna be maybe the identity of our offense.
I, I, I, I know.
And we need to kind of change what's been- Right I don't want to say an issue, but maybe it is an issue.
Yeah.
Who was the last 1,000-yard rusher for Kansas City?
Oh.
I think you'll get the name.
I don't know if you'll get the year.
I know.
So- 'Cause their turnover at running back hasn't been, that crazy.
I, I, I mean, I wanna say it's, it is, like, Kareem Hunt.
It is Kareem Hunt.
And Alex Smith's last year.
2017.
2017, right?
The, the, that was his- That was the year Mahomes sat, right?
Or- I think so.
Yeah, that was his sa- sitting year.
Or no, no, no, that might've been the year before he even got there I believe, right?
Because Mahomes was a rookie in '18, '19 was his first year playing.
Oh, no, you're right, '17.
You're right.
I was wrong.
He sat in '17.
He sat in '17.
Yep.
Yep.
So- It is kind of funny that Mahomes has not had- Well- a thou- 1,000-yard rusher- Well, it, it- essentially it, it is funny.
You know, we were having a little discussion last night on our text chain because I thought one of the interesting things we've seen on social media lately, and especially pertaining to a team that's been a dynasty, the fact that Mahomes has been to three Super Bowls, won two of them without 1,000-yard receiver, without a thou- 1,000-yard runner.
I know Travis Kelce was there- Right to be that kind of receiver guy.
But still that's a really odd formula for a team that's been this successful.
I don't think you're gonna find dynasties with that kind of formula to go, "Man, they were in five Super Bowls.
They won three of 'em."
Yeah, three time Super Bowl champ.
A- three time Super Bowl champ.
Yeah, yep.
So there you go.
Without 1,000-yard receiver or a 1,000-yard rusher, that's pretty crazy.
That is.
And I think, again, that speaks to Mahomes' greatness.
I think it also speaks to something we talk about all the time.
You gotta find places on your roster where you can kind of trim the fat and go, "You know, you know, to, to make our team best in totality, we might have to cheat in these areas 'cause we got a guy that's so great here, he can make that area look better."
Right?
Right.
I always use this example with, like, Shanahan on the offensive line.
I always feel like the 49ers, they've taken the approach of, "Hey, we're spending money everywhere.
Kyle always knows how to block people and design the game run.
Maybe we won't have all these high, big price offensive lineman.
We'll make up for it there and save some money."
And you have to make those type of decisions, and I think that's what they did in transitioning from Tyreek Hill to a defensive team, and then going, "Mahomes will make the offense happen when he has to- Right in the big moments," right?
It also feels like they did that in a way around Chris Jones.
Like they gave Chris Jones an enormous amount of money, but they don't They've missed on some picks or had some underwhelming picks.
Yes.
They like Karl Lofton of course.
Yes, right.
But they haven't exactly gone out and been like, "Here's a $30 million edge rusher, and another $20 million defensive tackle."
That's an area where they kind of cheated the roster.
I- You have to, it's the end, it's the constraints of the salary cap era.
They drafted really wi- well there for a while.
Right.
You know, m- they drafted McDuffie, they drafted L'Jarius Sneed, they drafted Brian Cook, they drafted Nick Bolton, right?
So you look at it and go, they were killing it there for a while.
Yep.
But yeah, they made the transition to go, "Hey, you know, we can't pay everybody, so we'll cheat in that way."
But yeah, this is definitely one of the big questions going into the season for me is the new look Kansas City Chiefs, or is it not gonna be a new look, and it's really gonna be the same old thing except Bieniemy's just gonna make them a little edgier and tougher by being on everybody's ass all the time.
Yeah.
S- Bi- Bieniemy's last two seasons in Kansas City as their OC, yards per carry, they were seventh and eighth.
They fell to 13th, 29th, and 20th in yards per carry in the three seasons under Matt Nagy.
That's the kind of context- It's a pretty jarring number that's the kind of context I was looking for.
Like rush efficiency.
You know me, I don't look at stats, but I even said to Pete before this, it felt like they were a better offense and ran the ball better with better efficiency when Bieniemy was there as compared to what we've seen here the last few years
