Andy Reid won’t run the damn ball and it’s costing the Chiefs

Andy Reid is universally viewed as a first-ballot Hall of Fame coach. In fact, he has a strong argument for being one of the top five coaches in NFL history with his combination of regular-season wins and Super Bowl titles. He's one of the most influential offensive minds of the modern era and has been the heart and soul of a Kansas City Chiefs organization that has been to five Super Bowls with three wins in the past six seasons.

Even the greatest coaches of all time have weaknesses. No coach is perfect, and Reid would be the first to admit that and take responsibility for his failures, even when his successes outnumber those failures ten to one. For many years, people used Reid's lack of postseason success against him, but those days are long gone. He's also been criticized for his time management at the end of games, but that has improved in recent years.

While Reid is an offensive genius, one fair criticism of him is that sometimes he is too smart for his own good when calling plays. While offenses are incredibly complex and there is a time and a place to confuse a defense, sometimes the best solution is the easiest one. The Chiefs have a powerful interior offensive line and a shortage of available wide receivers. While some creative pass plays are certainly welcome and useful, Andy Reid also just needs to run the damn football more often.

The Chiefs need a heavier ground game to ease the burden on Patrick Mahomes and unlock the full playbook.

Last Friday night, as Patrick Mahomes tried to carry the weight of the offense on his back, Andy Reid "helped him out" by calling up ten total runs to running backs the entire game. Ten. That's ridiculous. It would be one thing if they were down multiple scores most of the game, but it was 13-6 at halftime. They lost by six points. Your best wide receiver is suspended and you lost the next best one early in the game. You're breaking in a rookie left tackle on one side, and your right tackle desperately needs to "clean things up." So run the damn ball.

You may have the best quarterback on the planet. You certainly don't want to go too run-heavy, but you're making his job harder by having the defense not have to account for the run at all. Are you tired of that star quarterback having to try to pull off some superhuman play to convert third and long? Guess what leads to more third-and-short opportunities? Running the damn ball.

The Chiefs don't have a great lead back, but Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt are worthy of more than just ten total carries. Patrick Mahomes had 39 pass attempts and six scrambles. That's 45 called pass plays to ten called runs (eleven if you add the early run play to Worthy). The Chiefs don't need to be an even 50/50 pass-to-run ratio, but it sure would be nice if they could get closer to 60/40. Versus the Chargers, it was almost 80/20.

Many fans wanted the Chiefs to try and upgrade the running back position last offseason, but even with their current running back room they can run the ball enough to force defenses to factor in the run. The interior offensive line consists of two of the top interior offensive linemen in the league, and the third member of the interior, Kingsley Suamataia, is a lot more effective as a powerful run blocker than a pass protector. You mix in a hard-running back like Pacheco or a savvy back like Hunt and you should be able to find some success if you just run the damn ball.

Against the Chargers, Pacheco and Hunt combined for 10 carries for 41 yards. 4.1 yards per carry isn't fantastic, but it's more about keeping the defense honest and making shorter third-down conversions for Mahomes and the passing game. Plus, if you run the ball more consistently, you can actually utilize play action to help freeze linebackers and safeties, but that only works if you run the damn ball.

The Chiefs may be without Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy for a while longer, but you can make life easier for KC's remaining pass catchers if you force the defense to split their attention. Want to complete more deep shots to Tyquan Thornton? Then force the safeties to creep down to stop the run. Want to help get Travis Kelce more separation underneath? Then freeze the linebackers for an extra second while they wait to see if it's a run or a pass, but that only works if you... (all together now) RUN. THE. DAMN. BALL.

Reid is the greatest Chiefs coach of all time. Fans will forever be thankful for what he did for and brought to this team. He's forgotten more about offensive football and play-calling than fans will ever know. He's an offensive genius, but he's overthinking things here. Patrick Mahomes and the passing game can be the focal point of the offense, and you can call more than ten traditional run plays. In fact, I'd argue that you're setting up the passing attack to be more successful if you do call more run plays.

Andy Reid has shaken the reputation of not being able to win in the postseason. Andy Reid has improved his clock management and use of timeouts. His ability to adapt and grow over the years is why he is still at the top of his game at age 67. Here's to hoping that now he'll fix this last major shortcoming and run the damn ball.