The Kansas City Chiefs' run game was a big sour part of the offense early in the season, with Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt struggling to get consistency in their game.
But over the past month, the Chiefs have continued to go back to that well, and Pacheco, Hunt, and rookie Brashard Smith have been the driving forces behind the uptick in performance for an offense that is now scoring at least 28 points per game.
And against the Washington Commanders, Pacheco (58 yards, season high), Hunt (40 yards, one touchdown) had success on the ground, while Smith continues to get his feet wet in Reid's system.
Both Pacheco and Hunt averaged over 4.4 yards per carry in the 28-7 win over the Commanders, and head coach Andy Reid was pleased with how the run game operated.
“Well, it starts up front and then Pop is getting into a groove and then Kareem, when he has an opportunity to get in there and go, he's a jump starter, so he doesn't need a whole lot of carries before he gets going,” Reid said.
“We've added 24 [Brashard Smith] into the mix and tried to get him just a few plays a game, and he's responded to that. Nice job. He had one taken away from him. That was a pretty good run there.”
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Chiefs' run game becoming key weapon
Over the past month, the Chiefs' run game has picked up steam, rushing for over 148 yards in three of their last four games.
No, it isn't one of the top run games in football. Still, the group does just enough to keep the defense honest, which then allows Patrick Mahomes to have good passing lanes for his weapons. We saw that against the Commanders, with Travis Kelce (99 yards), Rashee Rice (93 yards), and Xavier Worthy (53 yards) all having their way with Washington's secondary.
The Chiefs' run game was poor to start the year, but they've found their groove of late. While they aren't the sort of run game the Detroit Lions or Baltimore Ravens have, they do a good job of churning out yards and playing complementary football with the passing game.
And who knows, having a good run game might be key in the Chiefs once again, getting back to the AFC Championship game.
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