{"id":766290,"date":"2026-02-21T07:25:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:25:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/766290\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T07:25:24","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T07:25:24","slug":"patrick-mahomes-tyreek-hill-inadvertently-created-a-problem-for-chiefs-offense-that-jeremiyah-love-could-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/766290\/","title":{"rendered":"Patrick Mahomes & Tyreek Hill Inadvertently Created a Problem for Chiefs Offense That Jeremiyah Love Could Fix"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three runs of 20+ yards\u2014that\u2019s what quarterback Patrick Mahomes<\/a>\u2019 offense produced on the ground across all of 2025. Out of those three, only one came from a running back. For the team that once redefined NFL offense, it\u2019s a damning stat. But the real blow is that the dynasty built this trap itself.<\/p>\n

When the Kansas City Chiefs<\/a> sent star receiver Tyreek Hill<\/a> to Miami in 2022, they triggered more than a roster move. NFL coordinators recognized the vertical void Hill left and began flooring defenses with two-high safety shells, conceding yards underneath and daring Mahomes to beat them deep.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think [Tyreek Hill] was a really key player in that offense, was a really key contributor to changing the game,\u201d NFL Network\u2019s Daniel Jeremiah noted recently. \u201cI really think because of how explosive and dynamic that Chiefs team was, you saw this shell coverage kind of take over the league. Two-high looks, willing to concede some yards underneath in the passing game and even in the running game, and just we\u2019re not going to let you throw the ball over our heads, we\u2019re not going to give up explosive plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

Without a counterweight, Kansas City defaulted to quick, predictable throws, and the damage shows in the stats. Isiah Pacheco averaged just 3.9 yards per carry in 2025. Just 118 attempts, 462 yards, and one touchdown, with a longest run of a mere 16 yards. The Chiefs couldn\u2019t punish anyone for playing soft.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I always thought that, with the looks that they see, if you had a dynamic back who not only can run the ball and make you pay for those looks, but someone with the safeties and everybody so deep, if you had one-on-one routes, like the best matchup in football would be Jeremiyah Love against a linebacker,\u201d Jeremiah added. \u201cYou get a chance to get explosive without having to throw the ball down the field.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Jeremiah\u2019s fix for KC comes in the form of Notre Dame\u2019s Jeremiyah Love. Love is slotted to Kansas City at No. 9 overall in Jeremiah\u2019s 2026 NFL Mock Draft 2.0. If geared up properly, Love could become the elite dual-threat back that pulls safeties down, cracks those shells, and reclaims the explosive dimension KC lost when Hill left.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat offense in Kansas City has been everything quick underneath because of the looks they\u2019re getting, but they haven\u2019t been able to make people pay for those looks,\u201d concludes Jeremiah. \u201cAnd I think this is an opportunity as a runner and as a receiver to really, really make some teams pay for how they play Kansas City.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Love has the hardware to back up this promised upside as well. In 2025 alone, Love rushed for 1,372 yards and hauled in 18 touchdowns. Add 280 yards on the air to that with 3 more scores, and the dual-threat terror for NFL defenses writes itself in Kansas City.<\/p>\n

Jeremiyah Love could remake KC\u2019s offense from the ground up if the front office can afford it. But there\u2019s one more problem KC has to battle that it has created for itself. This particular headache showed up on a spreadsheet, and Mahomes has already helped win it.<\/p>\n

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Patrick Mahomes picks up the tab again<\/p>\n

For the fourth straight time, Mahomes restructured his deal, converting $54.45 million of his 2026 salary<\/a> into a signing bonus. With this latest move, his cap hit falls from a staggering $78.2 million to a much more manageable $34.65 million. What\u2019s more, this unlocks $43.56 million in relief. For a team that was almost $55 million over the base cap (dead last in the NFL), that\u2019s big.<\/p>\n

Last March, combined restructures from Patrick Mahomes and defensive tackle Chris Jones freed up $49.4 million. This, in turn, gave GM Brett Veach room to sign Jaylon Moore and Kristian Fulton. But the math is now getting rather complicated for Kansas City down the line.<\/p>\n

\"KANSAS<\/p>\n

KANSAS CITY, MO \u2013 DECEMBER 07: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes 15 has a serious look before an NFL, American Football Herren, USA game between the Houston Texans and Kansas City Chiefs on December 7, 2025 at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO. Photo by Scott Winters\/Icon Sportswire NFL: DEC 07 Texans at Chiefs EDITORIAL USE ONLY Icon2512070048<\/p>\n

\u201cMahomes\u2019 salary cap number in each of the next four seasons will now rise by $10.89 million per year,\u201d explained Jason Fitzgerald, founder of Over the Cap. \u201cHis cap number for 2027 will now be over $85 million.\u201d<\/p>\n

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But that\u2019s a problem for next year. For now, even post-restructure, the Chiefs sit roughly $11 million over the cap. Hollywood Brown and Isiah Pacheco are among the expected casualties of the cap management<\/a> KC undoubtedly still has to do.<\/p>\n

The plan, however, seems clear now. Draft Jeremiyah Love in the first round, move the underperformers on. Follow these steps, and Kansas City suddenly has a credible blueprint to build around in 2026. But the cap hits will keep climbing. And the championship window that three Lombardi trophies helped build won\u2019t stay open forever on promises.<\/p>\n

For the dynasty to keep pushing, Veach must nail both the draft board and the balance sheet simultaneously. The Chiefs had already built something rare. Now comes the harder part: keeping it whole.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three runs of 20+ yards\u2014that\u2019s what quarterback Patrick Mahomes\u2019 offense produced on the ground across all of 2025.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":766291,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2063],"tags":[346,2025,2856,7,6670,253,3188,3503,7805,118,110,2438,2437,1854,5408,216,6,499,1089],"class_list":{"0":"post-766290","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kansas-city-chiefs","8":"tag-chiefs","9":"tag-chris-jones","10":"tag-daniel-jeremiah","11":"tag-football","12":"tag-hollywood-brown","13":"tag-houston-texans","14":"tag-isiah-pacheco","15":"tag-jaylon-moore","16":"tag-jeremiyah-love","17":"tag-kansas-city","18":"tag-kansas-city-chiefs","19":"tag-kansascity","20":"tag-kansascitychiefs","21":"tag-kc","22":"tag-kristian-fulton","23":"tag-miami","24":"tag-nfl","25":"tag-patrick-mahomes","26":"tag-tyreek-hill"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116107433844457751","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766290","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=766290"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/766290\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/766291"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766290"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766290"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766290"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}