Don’t Believe Narrative Chiefs Owe Mahomes Offensive Weapon

Mahomes was in his second week of rehab on Christmas night when Denver survived the Chiefs in a 20-13 victory that went down to Kansas City’s last pass. Chris Oladokun sailed it over the head of Hollywood Brown in the end zone, and Denver ran out the clock.

Denver wound up in the AFC title game and Kansas City wound up wondering what happened to its pass rush. In that Christmas night loss, the Chiefs failed miserably in a category on which they’ve long prided themselves. Lack of pass rush was the root cause.

Preventing points after Chiefs scoring drives

The Chiefs place emphasis on stopping teams on drives immediately after Kansas City’s offense scores. In that Denver loss, the Broncos scored on each of their three possessions following Chiefs’ scoring drives.

A week later in the season finale at Las Vegas, the Chiefs took a one-point lead with just over a minute remaining. Kansas City’s defense immediately gave up that lead when Daniel Carlson nailed a 60-yard field goal with 13 seconds on the clock.

In fact, had the Chiefs found a way to stop the lowly Raiders on Kansas City’s final defensive series of the season, another team would be drafting ninth in the first round this year. That’s why the Chiefs need to capitalize on this opportunity to improve their pass rush.

In 11 losses, Chiefs opponents in 2025 scored on 20 of 35 possessions following Kansas City scoring drives (54.1 percent). In Kansas City’s six wins, opponents scored on just six of 29 possessions after Chiefs scoring drives (20.7 percent).

Overall, the Chiefs’ defense was just 26 of 66 (40.4 percent) in preventing points immediately after Kansas City scoring drives. And lack of pass rush was clearly the most blatant contributor.

Affecting quarterbacks is critical

Improving Kansas City’s ability to affect opponent quarterbacks, even if the Chiefs don’t significantly improve their sacks total, is paramount in this draft.

Affecting opponent quarterbacks means pressures – hurries, hits and sacks – and winning one-on-one matchups, especially when Jones gets double-teamed.

The best way to help Mahomes on offense is to significantly improve the defense’s ability to affect the quarterback. That means pressure from all sides, and a weapon on the defensive front.

Whether George Karlaftis is playing one-handed with a cast like last year, Omarr Norman-Lott sustains a season-ending knee injury, or Ashton Gillotte struggles to win his one-on-one battles in a specific game – the Chiefs need a difference-maker on defense. They win when they get stops, not when they outscore the other team.

Defense wins championships, and the Chiefs don't need their offense to sell more tickets.