I think it’s somewhat right. They’re being more conservative on offense and running the ball more because that’s what there.

I also think they tried to amp up the weapons so they wouldn’t have to be as conservative and injuries have just derailed it. Marquise Brown was going to be a big, big part of that and suffered a very random injury that has knocked him out. Rice going down just exacerbates the issue.

So they’re relying on the D and run game more as a result.

I’d still like to see if they could plug Diontae Johnson into the offense, as he would give the Chiefs what Brown offered, but the Panthers have to pick up the phone, too.

Nice to see a level-headed take.

This offense can improve by not turning the ball over and not running dumb plays in the red zone.

If you're going to win with defense, limiting your offensive mistakes and missed opportunities is key. This team leaves too many points on the board which cause games to be closer than necessary. It would also be nice if Jawaan Taylor stopped killing drives with his penalties.

Can we still hate Pete?

I heard a stat yesterday. Mahomes has the lowest yards per attempt in the league this year at just over 5 yards per attempt. The Chiefs also have the lowest number of explosive plays in the league. I didn't realize that it was that bad. How can that be and they be 5-0?

We have the lowest number of explosive runs in the league at 6...2 of them are QB scrambles and 1 is the Worthy opening night play.

The OP article explained this phenomenon... We are relying on our defense and avoiding wear, tear and emptying the playbook until late in the season and playoffs.

Yeah, I don't know if it's "not trying" but they're not foot on gas for sure. Some of the stuff is just Pat not taking chances.

The injuries just killed it.

Winning is a great deodorant. The offense needs to be better.

yes

That’s talking about average depth of target. His y/a is 7.7 right now, which is much higher than last year (7.0).

A big difference is he’s only throwing 32 times a game right now, vs a career average of about 38 attempts per game. That’s 30 yards a game difference.

This is an elite take. The real truth that a lot of people don’t want to acknowledge because they know scary it is given the Chiefs are 5-0.

Mahomes himself said in a pre-season interview that he tries not to run as much anymore until it’s do or die, or playoff games.

Andy has also been afforded the ability to be extremely patient and hold stuff back for the past five or so years. It’s not the prettiest formula for regular season games but it clearly leads to championships.

It's hard to evaluate as a fan, especially here on CP.

Because I think a lot of us (not me necessarily) are skeptical that the Chiefs, or any football team for that matter, can "flip the switch" and play amazing ball in the playoffs if you've looked mediocre to average all season up to that point. Fans and analysts want empirical evidence that you've been playing well to say you're the team to look out for. If you hold back all season, you're just a big floating question mark, no one knows if it's holding back or just actually being a bad team.

All of our football knowledge tells us that last year was a fluke and we can't just be bad all year and suddenly be good when it matters... but maybe you can? Who knows.

That could also be interpreted as a stat in our favor. We haven't needed to go downfield to win, yet.

We're saving our big plays for the playoffs!

The AFCW being anemic might play into their conservative regular season game-planning.

It's a battle of attrition...