The Kansas City Chiefs put Patrick Mahomes under center far more than usual, and things worked out well.
The Kansas City Chiefs pounded the Denver Broncos with their running game on Monday night, and according to Bill Barnwell of ESPN they’re leading a trend that features more teams going under center with their quarterbacks.
The Chiefs were under center for 43.3 percent of their snaps, per Barnwell, but they’re leading this trend in a slightly different way. Some teams doing this want to feature a zone running scheme, but this was more about using brute force with RB Kenneth Walker III running between the tackles.
Walker wound up with more rushing yards under center than any Chiefs back has had in a game in the last decade, per Barnwell and Ben Solak. The Chiefs often used a second blocker on defensive tackle Zach Allen, which allowed Walker to expose the relative lack of size in the rest of the Denver defense.
There are issues to fix, however. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is used to being able to read the field from the shotgun, as the Chiefs have averaged being under center just 21 percent of the time before this season, per Barnwell.
One play where his under center read failed was during the interception on deep throw to Xavier Worthy, who was definitely on a differen page with whatever route he was running. This could be Mahomes just shaking off the rust after a long layoff, but it is something to watch going forward.
According to coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs’ biggest reason for going back under center was about linebackers and safeties not buying Kansas City’s play action game. It’s been years since the Chiefs had a viable running game, and dropping quickly into coverage made it tougher for Mahomes to complete the shorter throws that have been his bread and butter ever since the Tyreek Hill trade.
Opponents will adjust, and that’s where things will get interesting. The Chiefs can expect to see a loaded box on plenty of plays when the Indianapolis Colts come to town on Sunday, especially since the Colts just gave up 202 yards rushing in their Week 1 loss to the Baltimore Ravens.
The cat-and-mouse game now will be about the Chiefs throwing off play action, assuming Mahomes continues to improve. It’s hard to imagine that not happening given how spry he looked on Monday night, especially during that 15-yard scramble that produced the Chiefs first touchdown.
It’s going to be a fascinating test for both teams, and it’s hard not to see the Chiefs prevailing against a squirrelly, unpredictable Colts team that became a week-to-week mystery last year before quarterback Daniel Jones got hurt.
