The Chiefs’ bye week arrived with a problem that’s hard to ignore: when the offense gets close to the sticks, it’s not finishing the job nearly often enough.
Kansas City spent the break looking hard at its roster and its tactics with the NFL trade deadline in early November looming. That kind of pause gives a front office a chance to study where help might be needed, while the coaching staff gets a quieter window to sort out what’s working and what isn’t. Right now, the short-yardage run game sits near the top of that list.
Through four games, the Chiefs have run into repeated trouble in the exact spots where they’re supposed to be at their most reliable. On 3rd-and-2, 4th-and-1, and goal-line snaps, the offense has too often come away empty. Even when Kansas City has gone heavy with defensive tackle Khyiris Tonga and extra offensive linemen, opponents have still found ways to hold firm.
The cleanest snapshot of the issue comes from the numbers. Kansas City owns a 55.6 percent power success rate, having converted 10 of 18 in those situations.
That ranks 23rd in the NFL, below the 64.4 percent league average. The stuffed-run rate is even uglier: 39 percent, which puts the Chiefs at No.
- In other words, too many of these plays are getting blown up before they ever have a chance.
The recent trend only sharpens the concern. Fans probably still remember Kenneth Walker getting stuffed on three straight goal-line tries in Week 2.
Over the last two weeks, the Chiefs have converted just 3 of 8 short-yardage chances. That stretch included a turnover on downs early against the Raiders in Week 4, when Kansas City failed on both 3rd-and-2 and 4th-and-2.
That’s where Kareem Hunt comes back into the conversation.
If the Chiefs decide they need a more reliable answer, Hunt is the obvious familiar name. He was Kansas City’s leading rusher in each of the last two seasons, and his short-yardage production was exactly the kind of thing this offense is missing now.
Last season, the Chiefs led the league with an 81.5 percent power success rate, far ahead of the 67 percent league average. Their 16.7 percent stuff rate was second-best.
Hunt handled 37 of 45 attempts in those spots. The year before, he went 18 of 25, or 72 percent.
There’s still a catch, of course. Hunt has not drawn meaningful work heading into Week 6, and at 31, he’s not the same all-purpose piece he once was.
But if the goal is simply to keep drives alive and squeeze out tough yards when the offense needs them most, he still offers value in a narrow but important role. Aside from a preseason visit to Detroit, he hasn’t had much attention on the open market.
Kansas City could also try to solve the problem with what it already has. New fullback Ben VanSumeren is one possible option.
The Chiefs hadn’t carried an official fullback the previous three seasons, with Michael Burton last filling that role in 2022. VanSumeren was signed to the practice squad in early September, promoted for Week 1, and then kept on the active roster after an injury-related move later that week.
Still, the rest of the options are limited. The tight ends aren’t built to bulldoze people in these situations.
Brashard Smith doesn’t fit the role. Rookie Emmett Johnson would at least make more sense if Walker were fully removed from those packages.
But even then, adding a fourth back with a true goal-line specialty would make the picture clearer.
For now, the Chiefs have time to sort it out after the bye. The sample is still small, and the easiest answer may be to trust the current personnel a little longer. But if the same short-yardage failures keep showing up, the path back to a familiar solution is pretty easy to see.
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