I think we can all agree that, in spite of Sunday’s win, something just doesn’t feel right about this year’s Kansas City Chiefs. This just doesn’t feel like the team that’s been to every conference championship game since Mahomes has been the quarterback.

Sure, we can point to injuries that have certainly hit the offense, but these are still professionals. This is the NFL. It’s the highest level of football, and players are paid to step up and perform when their number is called.

Understand that for this team to have the level of success it’s enjoyed in years past, the offense has to perform. What’s interesting about team sports is that if a couple of people aren’t doing their job, it can have a trickle-down effect on the entire unit. Let’s examine some players who still need to improve for the Chiefs to reach an eighth consecutive conference championship game. There are several candidates, but a few stand out.

Isiah Pacheco

A quarterback’s best friend is an effective running game. The Chiefs just haven’t been effective in this regard, and it’s put a lot of pressure on Mahomes. Pacheco, the seventh-round pick who earned a starting role and won fans over with his tough, relentless running style, seems to have taken a step back—and the timing couldn’t be worse. As a rookie, he accounted for 960 yards from scrimmage while averaging 4.9 yards per carry. In 2023, he played a prominent role in helping Kansas City secure a second straight Super Bowl title.

Now the lead back in the final year of his rookie contract, Pacheco just doesn’t appear to run with the same juice. Last season, he was sidelined for 10 games with a broken fibula, and since then, he hasn’t been hitting the edge with the same frequency. Maybe he hasn’t fully recovered. Sometimes, for lower-body injuries, it takes two years post-injury to return to normal. Ultimately, he might be better suited to a complementary, change-of-pace role alongside a more dynamic, home-run threat in the backfield.

Jawaan Taylor

As the offense goes, so goes this team. And as the offensive line goes, so goes the offense. The Chiefs’ offense has been stagnant, to say the least, and while there are multiple factors, Taylor’s untimely penalties have been drive-killers. Coming into yesterday’s game, he led the NFL with six penalties, and his latest one wiped out a critical third-down conversion, something this offense can’t afford when points are hard to come by.

The issue is that Taylor doesn’t seem to trust he can get enough depth in his kick step. As a result, he either lines up too deep in the backfield or comes out of his stance prematurely, leading to false starts. This typically happens when he’s facing dynamic edge rushers or defenders aligned in a wide-9. Interestingly, when he avoids penalties, his overall play grades out reasonably well. If he can eliminate the mental mistakes, he’s still a solid option at right tackle. But so far, he hasn’t played to the level the Chiefs need and as consistently as the position requires.

The Interior Offensive Line

Like Jawaan Taylor, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith are well compensated for their position. However, they haven’t lived up to that billing this season. While their overall grades aren’t disastrous, they’ve all struggled at times against quicker interior defenders. Meanwhile, Kingsley Suamataia, who failed at tackle last year, has looked out of place at guard. His run blocking is seemingly ahead of his ability in pass protection. He’s a bit of a “waist bender,” and his lack of lateral agility has been exposed by quicker interior defenders, leading to a collapse of pocket depth.

The leakage is part of why Patrick Mahomes doesn’t fully trust his protection. He’s escaping the pocket more often, and as a result, he’s missing more open throws than usual. To be fair, the Chiefs have recently faced two of the NFL’s top defensive lines in the Eagles and Giants, but interior pressure is the most damaging kind for any quarterback. When imminent pressure is in Mahomes’ face, he can’t set his feet, step up in the pocket, and deliver the ball downfield with accuracy and consistency.

At the end of the day, this team will only go as far as No. 15 can take them. Success on offense starts with protecting Mahomes. If he’s constantly on the move, struggling to get comfortable in the pocket, the Chiefs will have a hard time consistently generating points. So far, pass protection has been shaky at best, and the offense seems to be the biggest obstacle between Kansas City and another deep playoff run.

Harrison Butker

Someone needs to remind Harrison that while everyone has interests off the field, his primary occupation is using his foot to place the ball through the uprights. So far in three games, he’s missed four kicks and narrowly made a couple of others, including hitting the crossbar on one kick on Sunday. We know that kickers have a fragile mentality and have gotten in a funk and never recovered. Ask Justin Tucker, who is likely to be a Hall of Famer. Could he still be recovering from a knee injury that plagued him in 2024? Only time will tell. However, taking advantage of every scoring opportunity will be critical for this team’s success.