3 headed rushing backfield
 

I am intrigued by our new 3 headed power rushing backfield with Pacheco, Perine and Steele. However, I worry that Andy just will not stick to a power rushing gameplan.

In 2023
CHIEFS 1784 TOTAL RUSHING YARDS
OPPONENTS 1925 TOTAL RUSHING YARDS
CHIEFS RUSHING ATTEMPTS 417 - 4.3 PER ATTEMPT
OPPONENTS RUSHING ATTEMPTS 432 - 4.5

What do you think our rushing yards, attempts and per attempt will be this year?

In 2024
CHIEFS ______ TOTAL RUSHING YARDS
OPPONENTS _______ TOTAL RUSHING YARDS
CHIEFS RUSHING ATTEMPTS ____ - _____ PER ATTEMPT
OPPONENTS RUSHING ATTEMPTS ______ - _______

Why in God's name would he stick to a power rushing gameplan? Have you seen our receiving corps? Our QB? C'mon man, wtf?


This is a pass first team in a pass first league.

1975 called, they want their power rushing gameplan back.

I don’t see Steele getting a lot of work. Realistically this is probably a 2 headed attack.

I doubt we average 20 rushes per game this year.

Andy has not, will not, and should not go with a power running game plan. He's got Patrick Mahomes. Also I want no part of a "3 headed rushing backfield". I want Pacheco to be the RB on most drives, Steele should get a couple of drives to give him a breather, and Perine can have a few 3rd down plays. Snap distribution should be like this

Pacheco gets 65%-75%
Steele gets 20%-25%
Perine gets 5%-10%

Pacheco needs the bulk, because he eventually breaks a long one and I think he does better when he gets a feel for things.

Pacheco is gonna have a monster year.....like CMC lite type guy.

Last year we had 417 rushes, but that is kind of artificially enhanced. Patrick Mahomes had 75 of those and I think 99% of those were passing plays that he had to bail on. We probably only called around 350 run plays.

We don't play Martyball anymore, because we don't have to.

We have a QB that can win us games now.

We have Mahomes… We pass the ball..

Yeah I think Pacheco gets between 1500-1700 total yards if he plays 16/17 games. Last year he had about 15 rushes and 3 receptions a game. Rushing he had 205 rushes, 935 yards, and 4.6 yards per carry and for receiving he had 50 targets, 44 receptions, 244 receiving yards, and only 5.5 yards per reception. He only played in 14 games, so if you take his numbers and average them over 17 games you get.

1173 rushing yards + 290 receiving yards = 1463 total yards

Bump up his yards per catch to 7 and that puts him at 1542 total yards.

I think he has a damn good year this year.

This is the first and only reply needed.

Pacheco worked out in the offseason with his trainer as a WR, according to Schrager.

He and Perine are going to murder on screens this year.

Carson Steele is likely just going to get mop up carries.

I'm ready for a game with zero rushing attempts.

Marty Ball Baby!!!

Hard to be a power running team when you almost always operate outta shotgun. I do NOT hope we run very much but I hope we run MORE on short yardage and do NOT run out of shotgun as much in these downs. With Steele and Perine now we have a better opportunity to do that.

Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust Schottenheimer agrees ROFLROFLROFL

Chiefs in 2024 rushing:

CHIEFS 1784 TOTAL RUSHING YARDS
OPPONENTS 1925 TOTAL RUSHING YARDS
CHIEFS RUSHING ATTEMPTS 417 - 4.3 PER ATTEMPT
OPPONENTS RUSHING ATTEMPTS 432 - 4.5

I just hope we run effectively. We can't be getting stuffed on 3rd and 1 and we have to get 4+ on first downs.

I would like to lighten the pacheco workload to keep him healthy for the playoffs. 55-60%.

Steele will play when the game is out of reach or we’re just moving the ball effortlessly on offense. I don’t see him getting much reps.

I'm assuming what is meant by power rushing gameplan, that when it is 2nd/3rd and 1, everyone would be confident that the run game could just drive straight forward and pick up the first down without the need for a bunch of strange formations, movements, or gimmicks. I'm all for it.

Let him have it on 3rd and short. We've sucked hard on 2nd and 3rd and short. Steele might be the answer.

Oh, well yeah...I cringe in those short yardage situations when I start seeing a ton of shifts and movement, then it gets blown up in the backfield (or a false start). I know it's blasphemy after what happened that game against Green Bay, but I'd like to see the sneak put back in the playbook *runs and takes cover*

We should almost never, ever run on 1st down unless we are winning by 2+ TDs

There’s going to be a lot of opportunities on 1st/2nd down where it’s cover 2/3 and the safeties are lining up deep bc of Hollywood/Worthy.

Andy should absolutely run the ball on some of those downs bc the boxes will be super light.

He did that pretty well in 2022 and I expect it to happen again

This team will be unbeatable if we can run the ball effectively. Helps the passing game, helps the defense. I didn’t think we would ever keep a fullback again but I was wrong. I didn’t think they could find a better third down back than McKinnon but I was wrong. This team with an ability to consistently run the ball opens up so many passing yards it’s crazy. Plus it keeps mahomes healthy and Kelce young.

Nope. Because that takes away from a play we could pass.

Not a fan of RRPP?

Was that when Marv Levy was coach and they ran the wing T???

I definitely see our stats on 3rd and one improving this year.

True, but how much more effective that pass game if the D has to at least consider that we may run it once in a while?

Pre-2022, the Chiefs ran the ball about 35% of the time, or about 25 times/game, give or take a couple reps. Towards the latter half of the 2022 season Andy started running the ball more, edging up towards and eventually past the 40% mark around the latter-half of 2023. Iirc, in the 2023 playoffs we were running around 45% of the time.


If Worthy and Rice work out as planned, and Travis has a normal season, I could see Andy returning to something like pre-2022 percentages, which would mean around 25-28 carries per game (or about 35-37%).

1st down is the best time to throw in football. Defense automatically gives you a slight cushion and you have space to call many different route trees. Your expected yards at such time when you pass is the highest of any other down. Even if you run the ball 5% of the time on 1st down. That is enough.

Love the optimism but Pacheco doesn't have the vision for that.

Not me because that would mean we are losing. I would love to see a 40 run and 20 pass because that means we are slaughtering the enemy.

I think when people talk about a 'power rushing game' they mean that WHEN we run the ball, we will be running with power backs. Which is fine, and perhaps will solve the years' long problem of 3rd and 4th and short that The Chiefs have had.

I don't think anybody is saying we should be running the ball 30 plus times a game (unless it's because we've got like a 4 TD lead in the 2nd quarter).

But yes, we really do need to run the ball SOME, to make the defense play honest. You don't want them just teeing off on Mahomes.

I wouldn't bet on that at all, he made clearly evident strides in that regard from 22 to 23... there is just no good reason to suspect he can't take it up another notch in year 3

Dude may not be a true natural at everything, but he's obviously a learner and a worker

More of a fan of PPPTD

You're talking to the guy who might never run the ball if he was calling the plays.

Agreed!!! I hope they fire that fat **** Andy Reed if they pass the ball ONCE tomorrow!!!

I hope that our offense and defense are good enough that we can give Kelce and Pacheco a break this year.

If they’re fresh for the postseason, look out.

Not sure I can speak to OP's original question, but I'd say our guys finish with...

Pachecco = ~1,100 yrds + ~300 rec yrds & ~11 TDs
Perine = ~400 yrds + ~550 rec yrds & ~4 TDs
Steele = ~400 yrds + ~175 rec yrds & ~4 TDs

I'm hoping Perine is the new McKinnon, took a late flyer on him in my FF draft today!

The speed factor is gonna scare teams to death and we should fully expect defenses to play deep 95% of the time. This is why Miami's run game has had success because they've been facing light boxes like crazy since Tyreek and Waddle came to town.

Andy ran the ball on average 20 times per game in the playoffs. That was with Clyde and an injured Jet backing up Pacheco. And defenses were more closer to the box than ever.

Now we have Steele and Perine in the mix and I think they could do damage tbh. People are downplaying Steele but the kid had three runs of 20 yards or more in his limited snaps. Not since Kareem have we had those kind of splash plays between the tackles so regularly. So I think he may surprise some folks.

And Perine can punish teams on the ground too when Pac and Steele need a rest so I'm looking forward to seeing this trio in action.

We need Thomas Jones

I sure hope so because given that we run zone, the "power" aspect sure goes out the window. If they aren't talking about the bigger running backs, I don't rightly know what they expect.

I hope there’s a lot of them.

Curious what your predictions are for the above CP?

Steele for the win.

I'm guessing the ideal game plan is going to be take the lead early then turn on the 3 headed monster.