10 Biggest Questions: Can the Chiefs bring back explosive offensive plays?

For the third straight year, I’m considering the 10 biggest questions I have about the Kansas City Chiefs in 2025.

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In 2024, the Chiefs ran an efficient offense. They finished eighth in offensive success rate. Their success rate on dropbacks ranked 10th, while they ranked eighth in rushing. Despite having poor play at left tackle — and too many injuries among their wide receivers and running backs — these were strong offensive rankings.

Still, Kansas City lacked an important offensive element: explosive plays. The team recorded just 42 passes of 20 or more yards, which was 27th in the NFL. On the ground, the Chiefs generated only seven running plays of at least 20 yards, which also ranked 27th.

Eventually, this caught up with them. In Super Bowl LIX — when the Philadelphia Eagles were able to squeeze the airspace — the Chiefs had no way to take the top off the defense. The team had no one who could break a tackle and make a play. The Eagles’ defense was able to rally against the underneath routes and tackle slower ball carriers, forcing Kansas City out of its ground game.

This has been an issue for the last two seasons. The team must find more ways to generate explosive plays. Fortunately, the Chiefs’ offseason moves suggest they recognize the problem — and are taking steps to correct it.

Passing offense

While we covered this last week, it bears repeating: Kansas City has deliberately assembled a wide receiver corps with four players — Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Jalen Royals — who can be explosive downfield. When Rice and Brown went down early in 2024, the Chiefs had no way to fill that void. By itself, the return of Rice — who can take any underneath reception and turn it into a 30-yard gain — will be a tremendous boon for the offense.

Rice’s return will also help Worthy, who struggles to break tackles. That has been an issue during his time with both the Texas Longhorns and the Chiefs. But with Rice available underneath, Worthy will be able to concentrate more on downfield routes that he can run very well — especially when he gets a free release. Without Rice in 2024, Kansas City had to use Worthy underneath. This season, however, the Chiefs will be able to maximize the strengths of both players.

The presence of Josh Simmons at left tackle is likely to be another significant factor. If he is immediately able to play at a high level, quarterback Patrick Mahomes will be able to run deeper dropbacks and have more time to throw. That automatically improves the deep passing game.

So I’m very optimistic that the Chiefs will be able to get more explosive plays in the passing game.

Running offense

Unfortunately, that optimism doesn’t extend to Kansas City’s ground game.

This is, in fact, my primary offseason gripe: the Chiefs didn’t do enough at running back. In 2024, their elite interior run blocking unit couldn’t do anything with the team’s main running backs — and in 2025, they will once again be Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt.

We could hope that a healthier Pacheco will have more explosive potential — but he wasn’t explosive in 2023, either. He just hasn’t shown the vision (or creativity in his cuts) to generate big runs. The line has to block almost perfectly to get him into space.

And Hunt? He is still a useful player. But at this stage of his career, he doesn’t have the juice for long runs.

That leaves us with the offensive line.

In his limited 2024 film, Simmons showed he is a very good run blocker. He can truly do it all: he’s athletic in zone blocking and powerful when he blocks downhill. That is excellent news — because at left tackle, Kansas City’s run blocking has been atrocious since 2022. If he plays as expected, Simmons will be a big help.

The real question is at left guard — whether it’s Kingsley Suamataia or someone else.

If it’s Suamataia, there’s a wide range of possible outcomes. He has all the tools needed to be an excellent run-blocking guard. He’s not only massive, but also hyper-athletic in space. He can crush defensive tackles while playing in a phone booth — and can also move in space at crazy speeds for his size. If Suamataia pans out at his new position, Kansas City’s offensive line could be outstanding at run blocking.

But right now, there’s no real evidence that Suamataia can do it; he’s just going to have to prove it. So as things now stand, I’m still very skeptical the Chiefs are going to get much out of their left guard — where Joe Thuney was a rock.

The bottom line

I think this storyline is the biggest question of the season. If the Chiefs can get more explosive plays, their offense should be among the league’s top three. But they have to prove it, too.

Will the offensive line be good enough to protect Patrick Mahomes — and make the running game work? Can the Chiefs use the skillsets of their wide receivers to build an offense that is not only efficient, but explosive? Can a healthy Pacheco improve the running game?

The Chiefs will need more explosive plays to reach another Super Bowl — and win it, too.

10 Biggest Questions: Can the Chiefs bring back explosive offensive plays?

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