The Chiefs spent a miserable 2025 season trying to patch together answers, and the biggest fix might have been the one that didn’t grab the loudest headlines. Bringing Eric Bieniemy back as offensive coordinator looks like the kind of move that can steady everything Kansas City was missing.
That matters because the problems were everywhere. Patrick Mahomes suffered his worst injury with the season hanging in the balance, and the Chiefs missed the playoffs for the first time with him under center.
The football around him never settled in, either. The defense didn’t create enough pressure, the receivers put too many balls on the ground, and the offense never found a reliable rhythm.
The run game was especially rough to watch. Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco were asked to carry the load, but they never gave the Chiefs the kind of production this offense usually leans on. Together, they produced just one explosive run of 20 yards or more and did most of their work in short-yardage situations.
That lack of balance showed up in the numbers. Kansas City finished with the eighth-fewest rushing yards per game at 106.6 and had the third-shortest longest run in the league at 35 yards.
When a defense doesn’t have to respect the run, everything else gets harder. The passing game has to be nearly flawless to make up for it.
Now the Chiefs have a different look in the backfield. Hunt is no longer set to be the starting three-down back after Kansas City signed Kenneth Walker III to a three-year deal to open free agency.
Walker brings a much bigger playmaking threat after a strong season in a split role with Zach Charbonnet, finishing with 221 carries for 1,027 yards and five touchdowns. He also chipped in as a receiver, catching 31 passes for 282 yards, and his long run went for 55 yards.
The other piece of the turnaround is Bieniemy, and the track record speaks loudly. As NFL.com’s Bobby Kownack wrote Thursday, “During Eric Bieniemy’s five years as the team’s OC from 2018 through 2022, the Chiefs never finished worse than sixth in the league in points or yards, twice tallied the most points and three times amassed the most yards,”
He also noted, “In the last three years without Bieniemy, the Chiefs have ranked, at average, 17th in scoring and 15th in yardage.”
That kind of contrast is hard to ignore, especially when the praise from players around Bieniemy keeps coming. Kansas City clearly believes the return of a familiar offensive mind, paired with a more dangerous lead back, can help push the team back toward the standard it set for years.
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Brittany Mahomes later shared photos from the celebration on Instagram, and those images quickly picked up steam on social media. For a team that is used to having even its social moments scrutinized, a high-profile wedding full of familiar faces was always going to travel fast, especially with the Chiefs star quarterback and his wife at the center of it. [Read more 🡒]
Chiefs May Finally Have The Year 3 Weapon They Needed
Xavier Worthy has been one of the most encouraging names in the Chiefs offseason work, the kind of young player who can change the feel of a passing game if the growth keeps coming. The early signs have been especially notable because Worthy has looked increasingly in sync with Patrick Mahomes, a connection Kansas City has been eager to sharpen as it builds toward the 2026 season opener against the Broncos on Sept. 14.
For a team that has spent plenty of time searching for another reliable downfield threat, Worthys progress matters beyond the summer buzz. The Chiefs have reason to believe his role can expand if he stays on the field and keeps stacking those reps with Mahomes, and that makes his development one of the more important storylines in camp even before the games start to count. [Read more 🡒]