It hasn’t been a typical season for the Kansas City Chiefs in the Patrick Mahomes era through six weeks.

The Chiefs are 3-3, which isn’t bad, but for the Chiefs, that’s far below the standard and expectation. Kansas City lost their first two games of the season to the Los Angeles Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles, marking the first 0-2 start in Mahomes’ career (since 2014).

While Mahomes has notably been a prolific scrambler, creating something out of nothing with his legs and extending drives, the Chiefs have relied too much on his rushing ability in the early going.

His career-high in rushing yards is 389 yards through 16 games in 2023, and he already has 222 through six games this season. Mahomes is on pace to shatter his previous best by several hundred yards at this rate.

Mahomes has played like the Most Valuable Player thus far, completing 64.8 percent of passes for 1,514 yards and 11 touchdowns to just two interceptions. Along with his 222 rushing yards, Mahomes has already tied his career-high in rushing touchdowns (four) in the first third of the season.

As much as this is praise for the extremely talented quarterback, it’s a knock on the rushing game as a whole.

Running backs Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt just haven’t produced enough yet. They have combined for 100 carries for just 401 yards and three touchdowns.

Pacheco is the lead back but hasn’t performed like an RB1 this year. The Chiefs are hopeful their RB tandem will consistently impact games, but its been the Mahomes show out of the backfield.

Pacheco did record his highest rushing yard total of the season in Week 6 against the Detroit Lions, so he may be turning a corner. ESPN’s Eric Karabell wouldn’t be surprised if Pacheco gets more touches this week against the Las Vegas Raiders.

“Kansas City Chiefs RB Isiah Pacheco has looked better in recent weeks, culminating in his 51 rushing yards in the win over the Detroit Lions,” Karabell wrote Friday. “He needs more volume because there is no way the Chiefs want QB Patrick Mahomes to lead the team in rushing yards, which he still is. It's dangerous for Mahomes and it says too much about the running backs. Watch Pacheco get more volume this week against the Las Vegas Raiders. Perhaps he can become an occasional flex play.”

Expect a huge performance overall from the Chiefs’ offense against a weak Raiders defense.