The Kansas City Chiefs Will Be Better Than People Think In 2026

The Chiefs had a running back problem. They averaged just 106.6 yards per game on the ground. That was good for 25th in the league.

The teams below Kansas City were fighting for the top spot in the NFL draft. Teams like the Las Vegas Raiders and Tennessee Titans were some of the only ones worse than them. The offense became one-dimensional.

The poor run game put extra pressure on Mahomes. He had to, as a result, make some plays with his legs to get the offense going at times. He ended up with 422 yards on 64 carries. That was by far the most yards of his career in a season, and it was done in just 14 games.

The Chiefs’ leaderboard for rushing in 2025 was shockingly bad. The top spot was Kareem Hunt with 611 yards, followed by second-place Isiah Pacheco, who had 462 yards. Mahomes was third with his 422 yards, and had he not gotten hurt, it’s possible he would’ve finished second.

The running game, as shown above, was a major issue. What better way to address that issue than to acquire the Super Bowl MVP of that year? Kansas City signed Kenneth Walker to a three-year deal worth up to $45 million, with $28.7 million guaranteed.

The Chiefs will gladly take a repeat of Walker’s 2025 season. He finished that year with 221 carries for 1,027 yards and five touchdowns. That would outperform any Kansas City running back by a wide margin.

In fact, Walker’s numbers could be even better in the red and gold. He doesn’t have to split carries as he did back in Seattle with Zach Charbonnet. His presence will allow Mahomes to ease his way back from the ACL injury.

Return Of Eric Bieniemy

This signing has gotten lost amid all the Walker chaos. The return of former Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy is a huge deal for the offense and especially Mahomes. The quarterback’s numbers with Matt Nagy are much different from those with Bieniemy.

From 2018 to 2022, the OC was Bieniemy. Mahomes in that span averaged 4,791 yards, 38.4 touchdowns, 9.6% intercpetion percenetage with a 66.3% completion percentage per season. He also had two league MVPs in that span.

From 2023 to 2025, the OC was Matt Nagy. In that span, Mahomes averaged 3,899 yards, 25.0 touchdowns, 12.0% interception percentage, and 65.8% completion. He had no MVPs in that span.

By no means was Mahomes a bad quarterback. The numbers with Nagy would still outperform 2/3 of the league, and the Chiefs still won a Super Bowl in that time. The magic that took the storm by league, though, was slowly deteriorating.

With the return of Bieniemy, Mahomes might return to his early career form, and the Chiefs will certainly be a high-flying offense. Coupled with the fact that the defense is now good, they could be a dangerous team.

End Of Chiefs Rant

All of this, of course, depends on whether Mahomes will be back by week one. If he is, then all of the optimism above will apply, and the Chiefs can be a powerhouse in 2026-2027.

If the timetable to return is around late October or early November, then it will be difficult to properly evaluate this team. Fortunately for Chiefs fans, Mahomes looks to be attacking rehab well and is already posting videos of himself throwing the ball.

The dynasty may not be dead yet.