NFL Rumors: Burrow replacements, Chiefs offense changes, Cowboys sign first-rounder
- Matt Nagy explains lack of deep throws from Chiefs' offense
- Cowboys sign LB Rashaan Evans from practice squad
- Potential high-profile Joe Burrow replacements for Bengals
NFL Rumors: Matt Nagy explains decrease in Chiefs' deep passes
The Kansas City Chiefs are 7-2 with a comfortable lead over the second-place Las Vegas Raiders (5-5) in the AFC West. Patrick Mahomes has been in standard MVP form, while Travis Kelce is once again the best tight end in football. Factor in a dominant top-five defense, and the Chiefs very much look the part of a title contender... most of the time.
A bad loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 8 left even the diehard Chiefs fans a bit queasy. The offense ranks eighth in total yards per game, which is solid, but certainly not on par with expectations for a Patrick Mahomes-Andy Reid offense.
One common complaint has been Kansas City's move away from the deep ball. Mahomes has arguably the strongest arm in football, but he's averaging 7.3 yards per pass attempt — his lowest mark since he was a rookie backup in 2017.
Matt Nagy, who assumed the offensive coordinator role following Eric Bieniemy's move to the Washington Commanders, recently opened up on the reason behind Kansas City's shift in approach.
"You want to be able to take shots, you want to be able to run the football, there’s a lot of things you want to do. But you also have to adjust to what defenses are giving you and what they’re not giving you. So I think when you look at, right now, with our downfield numbers, we’re still we’re still taking shots, right. Probably the biggest thing is we want to, however, that is, we want to be able to be a little bit more efficient... . But we’re certainly taking the shots; I think efficient-wise, we can be better."
That's a fairly elliptical non-answer from Nagy, but he does hint at a driving theme behind the Chiefs' more conservative offense: efficiency. In a way, it has been successful. Mahomes is averaging the best accuracy numbers of his career and the Chiefs are still winning football games.
But, when projecting toward the postseason, the Chiefs' noticeable step back in overall offensive production and big-play explosiveness is definite cause for concern. There are several potential factors — Kansas City's lack of reliable WR talent stands out — but the simple truth is that Nagy's offense doesn't have the same juice that Bieniemy's did. Andy Reid is the mastermind pulling the strings, but Kansas City can probably afford to let Mahomes take a few extra shots downfield without tanking their efficiency.