Chiefs Corrections: Kansas City Offense Gets Back On Track

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In a pivotal contest, the Kansas City Chiefs bounced back, taking down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football. The 41-31 victory was full of many positives. Namely, Andy Reid and his offensive arsenal got into their bag of tricks. This allowed the Chiefs to start hitting on explosive plays. At the same time, Kansas City was able to protect Patrick Mahomes way more than they did last time they faced the Buccaneers.

That offensive turnaround is where we will focus our attention in our FPC Chiefs Week 4 reaction article. Of course, we will also have our Kansas City stock report piece come out tomorrow, looking at the top performers from Sunday night. Without further ado, let’s talk about the top moments from the Chiefs offensive attack.

Tricks Too Much For Tampa

The Chiefs offense did a good job of attacking quickly on Sunday night. But, it was the wrinkles that Reid had up his sleeve that got Kansas City into a groove. Overall, the Chiefs were able to take away some of Tampa Bay’s physical presence in the secondary. With clearout routes, double moves and man beaters, the passing attack was able to leave the Buccaneers guessing. On top of that, Tampa Bay’s defense was getting stretched vertically.

Mahomes was able to get in groove, as he found precision within his timing. The way in which he was getting the ball out, was too rapid for Tampa Bay to answer to. Elsewhere, the Chiefs quarterback was stellar with using his arm and frame to displace Buccaneers defenders off of landmarks in coverage. Their foot and eye discipline left much to be desired.

As a fan of the game, you just had to marvel at the way in which Coach Reid designed the offensive scheme for Sunday night. Mainly, the Chiefs were able to pick their spots and had the entire field to their disposal. Kansas City was able to pick up extra yards by displaying unique offensive looks, to boot. A Noah Gray tight end sneak led to a touchdown, as did the wildcat formation, with an option read attached, where Jerick McKinnon handed off to Clyde Edwards-Helaire. When Reid gets those rolling and the offense is dominating upfront, the Chiefs offense can quickly become a difficult train to stop.

Quick Passing Gets Mahomes In Rhythm

Outside of his precise timing and being able to pick his spots, Mahomes was stellar with his accuracy, decision making and touch. He displayed a wicked release and impressive velocity to fit balls into tight windows or in between defenders. On the flip side, Kansas City was able to benefit by his pocket awareness. This was the exact opposite of what we saw the week before.

With Mahomes operating with more urgency and pace, the Chiefs immediately began to wear down the Buccaneers defense. The quick to intermediate passing game was also exposing much of Tampa Bay’s positioning. They simply struggled to get into throwing lanes, off of blocks and into shallow areas. More importantly for Mahomes, his ability to spread the rock around to all areas at a rapid speed gave the Chiefs many options with which to work with. This allowed them to control the game from the outset, as a result. His connection with Travis Kelce is unlike most in the entire NFL.

Offensive Line Flexes Muscles

It was a putrid game for the Chiefs offensive line in Indianapolis. In Tampa Bay, the script was flipped. Despite an extremely daunting matchup against the Buccaneers massive defensive line, Kansas City created significant movement at the point of attack. The strength of interior offensive linemen Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith allowed the running game to get on a roll. Arguably, this may be the best rushing performance that Kansas City has had in over two or three years. That trio allowed the Chiefs to gain the tough, extra yards with Edwards-Helaire and Isiah Pacheco.

Offensive tackles Orlando Brown Jr. and Andrew Wylie responded better to speed rushers than they did the week prior. Whereas with their fundamentals, the duo played a lot cleaner and proved that they could hold their ground against the power of Tampa Bay. Beyond that, Brown Jr. and Wylie were making urgent decisions with their alignment and footwork.

Be on the lookout for more FPC Chiefs articles and analysis throughout this week. For more great sports and NFL content, stay tuned to Full Press Coverage.

– Braden Holecek is the Kansas City Chiefs managing editor for Full Press Coverage. He covers the NFL. Like and follow on Follow @ebearcat9//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js Follow @FPC_Chiefs//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js and Facebook.