Two weeks ago, the Kansas City Chiefs chose to stand pat at the trade deadline, even though primary running back Isiah Pacheco was expected to miss multiple games with an MCL sprain. The fan base was understandably unhappy about this, especially given the availability of New York Jets running back Breece Hall, who was widely viewed as a perfect fit for the Chiefs wide-open offense given his capabilities as a pass catcher.
Two games later, that move looks like a big mistake. The Chiefs are currently on the ropes at 5-5, and they can’t win close games. Several reports around the deadline had the Chiefs and Jets quibbling about a third-round pick for Hall, and you can make a strong argument that a back like Hall would have made a big difference in Kansas City’s recent losses to the Buffalo Bills and Denver Broncos.
Before those losses this would have been an outrageous hot take, but now it’s not. The Chiefs elected to use receiver Rashee Rice in the short passing game against Denver to do the same kinds of things Hall would have done, but Rice came up small, and Kansas City still doesn’t have much of a running game.
Now the Chiefs are likely looking at a shootout game against the Indianapolis Colts, and Hall would be a nice weapon to have in that kind of contest. He’d give quarterback Patrick Mahomes an option he currently doesn’t have, i.e., a running game threat who could be used to keep pass rushers from teeing off on Mahomes.
This could easily be another close game, and winning nail-biters has been one of the Chiefs’ biggest weaknesses so far this year. One of these teams will be exposed as a potential playoff fraud, and right now it looks like this game could go either way. There’s a chance the Chiefs could exploit Colts quarterback Daniel Jones, who’s shown signs of turning back into a pumpkin after a strong early-season showing in Indianapolis.
But this one is basically last call for the Chiefs when it comes to turning their season around. They’ve been talking about it for weeks, and coach Andy Reid still thinks it’s a matter of cleaning up the little things.
Hall would have provided a lot of those little things, and he also would have given Kansas City the big-play capability the Chiefs just don’t have at running back right now. The price of passing on Hall looks costly right now, and that price will go up accordingly if Kansas City drops under .500 this week.