BY SPORTS WRITER JOSE FAUS
What can an excellent running back and a consistent running game do for a team with lackluster passing options? It looks like a heck of a lot. But first there had to be a check on the assumption. The Kansa City Chiefs do not lack a competent passing game. One could say they possessed pizzaz in the passing game. They have one of the premier quarterbacks in league history in Patrick Mahomes. But a team without a good running game is a team running a con game as last year’s season proved and this year’s team is amplifying.
Mahomes’ specialness sparkled as he notched the 100th win of his career matching inarguably the best one to play the position in Tom Brady. Sunday against the fading and surprisingly futile Los Angeles Chargers, Mahomes reached 100 victories matching Tom Brady for the fastest players to reach the century mark. Both players have identical 100 wins vs 31 losses in their first 131 games played.
One must admit this season would not have had the promise it is living up to if not for the addition of Kenneth Walker III to the lineup. Last year proved the futility of an offense ignited by a spark plug of a player at quarterback when the other plugs kept misfiring. Walker’s impact on the offense is seismic, like a meteor blowing up the earth.
Walker finished the game with two touchdowns and 141 all-purpose yards. Last year, those numbers by a running back would’ve been front page news across the league and cause for premature celebrations of post season success. Alas, the offense fell apart, the quarterback took a gruesome injury, and Chiefs’ nation hit the pity trail. Oh, how the mighty have fallen, was the refrain around the league to the joy of many fans who as much as they love greatness can’t stand it when it is consistently
on display.
Through five games the running game has surpassed all the yards gained by one running back from last year’s team. The success of the running game is opening the whole field to the team. While Mahomes did not throw a touchdown he managed to have another efficient day, except for a little interception in the end zone. But who cares as long as it is not a trend, and the team keeps incorporating the running game.
The biggest revelation and it should not be one, is head coach And Reid consistently relying on the running game. And why would he not? Reid has never really struck me as a coach obsessed with one aspect of the game that he could not recognize the strengths of all the players at his disposal. The man is conjuring up offensive wickedness with the sly grin of a benevolent genius. It would be tempting to rely on the cliché evil genius but it’s hard to attach that to such a genial man.
Top two wide receivers out of action? No problem. Mix a little potion of Walker and Xavier Worthy’s speed, blend in key plays to thorn-in-the-side-of-any-defense Travis Kelce and bring in backup players to run routes and you have the perfect blend for an offense that keeps opponents on their toes or awake long onto the morning. It would be unfair to chalk up the team’s success to Walker’s production and Reid’s willingness to keep calling plays for him and ignore the defense, which continues
to shine.
In all the hoopla that is celebrating the running game, the defense must be credited with keeping the faith. Though it has put pressure on opposing QB’s, the team has struggled to make the vaunted sacks that make it elite. They took care of business Sunday with four. Makes you feel a little nervous, like when a baseball team (not any team we know) that has trouble scoring points suddenly in one game scored bucketfuls. Your first thought is please save some for the
next games.
George Karlaftis is running on high octane fuel that is combustible to a dangerous degree. His persistence and explosiveness on the line was rewarded with a sack, three QB hits, ouch, two tackles for loss and two batted passes, and a partridge in a pear tree. Karlaftis’ sack left me with all sorts of giddiness. I mean I was feeling for the guy who has come so close but absent that sack continues to be questioned. Forget all that. The man is hitting his stride and the defense is humming and getting better as they usually do under Steve Spagnuolo.
This balance that was lacking last year contributes to the team being one of three unbeaten teams left. While it is easy to pump up the bandwagon, which again is getting to be a tight squeeze, there are things that still give you engine knocks. The way the offense tends to hit the doldrums just when they could stomp the opposition into submission is a bugger. And the kicking game is leaving points wide left or
wide right.
Yet, there is every reason to believe this team is playoff contender. But there are other teams that are not going to rollover. They face a weakened but desperate Seattle Seahawks this Sunday night. While the Seahawks offense has struggled, they are still a dangerous team. I’m putting an extra air in the wagon’s tires and hoping for a smoother ride. The road does have a fair share of speed bumps coming up.
