The Chiefs are trying to execute the 2024 offensive plan... in 2025
Injuries and a disaster at LT ruined Andy Reid's 2024 plan. From all appearances they're going to give it another go.
I’m old enough to remember when the conversation surrounding the 2024 Chiefs was how they were going to bring back the deep ball.
Of course, I would only have to be about 10 months old to remember that. Last offseason, one of the primary conversations surrounding Kansas City’s offense was how they were going to become more vertical again. I wrote about it in-depth here, looking at the ways the Chiefs had struggled in 2023 to stretch the field. And if you’ll recall, much of the discussion in training camp centered around then-rookie Xavier Worthy and how the Chiefs wanted to get back to threatening every blade of grass on the field.
Of course, there was a lot more to the Chiefs’ 2024 offensive plan than Worthy. They also brought in Hollywood Brown to help threaten the intermediate portion of the field (as well as deep) and to bolster a WR group that was one of the worst in the league in 2023. And Rashee Rice, who had become such a crucial part of the offense down the stretch in their Super Bowl run, looked poised for a big year. We’ll circle back to him in a moment.
The short story is that the Chiefs had a plan heading into the season last year. They were going to get back to throwing the ball all over the yard. The 2023 offensive struggles (remember, the offense was legitimately average the entire season before becoming a little above average for the playoffs) would be a thing of the past as Kansas City chased history. The offense was going to get explosive again.
Of course, that’s not how things worked out. Before the season could even begin, the plans of Reid (and I’d assume Brett Veach) were derailed. The offense once again struggled to find consistency throughout the season, though it was admittedly more efficient than it was in 2023. The Chiefs consistently looked… slow on offense as the year progressed, despite adding one of the fastest three players in the league. And ultimately, offensive struggles sabotaged Kansas City’s efforts to threepeat in a Super Bowl in which… well, you remember.
Why am I taking about all this right now, as we start looking ahead to the 2025 season? What does the plan for 2024 have to do with 2025?
Well… I think sort of everything. Because I believe Reid and Veach are attempting to implement the 2024 plan in 2025, hoping that this year luck (with a little development) will be more on their side than it was last season in terms of how the offense is supposed to look on the field. When you examine the moves they’ve made so far, there isn’t (from what I can see) an effort to pivot from last year… but rather to make last year’s plan work.
Because of that, I think it’s important to delve into what the plan really WAS last year, what made it go wrong, and why the Chiefs might believe that “running back” that same plan is the way to go despite last year’s struggles. Let’s talk about it.