The Invisible Ground Game: Film Study Exposes Chiefs’ Self-Inflicted Wounds and a Fatal Flaw Against the Bills

The final whistle blew on the Kansas City Chiefs’ latest regular-season loss to the Buffalo Bills, leaving a bitter taste familiar to Chiefs Kingdom. Yet, for once, the primary post-game narrative shouldn’t fixate solely on Patrick Mahomes’ uncharacteristic inaccuracy or the penalties that have plagued the team all year. A deeper, more troubling flaw, one that metastasizes throughout the entire offense, has been exposed by film analysts: the Chiefs’ catastrophic refusal to commit to the run game, even when their ground attack was demonstrably efficient.

The loss, according to in-depth film review, was not a result of being unable to run, but of being unwilling to run, leading to a chain reaction that resulted in Mahomes getting hit far too often and the entire offense seizing up under pressure. The Bills, in a masterclass of defensive strategy, effectively “dared the Chiefs to run the football,” a challenge the Kansas City offense inexplicably declined to accept.

The Paradox of Efficiency: Ignoring the Four-Yard Gain

One of the most revealing statistics from the film review highlights the true nature of the offensive malpractice against Buffalo. Despite the low volume of carries, the Chiefs’ running backs were surprisingly effective, with only two runs in the entire first half going for less than four yards. For football purists, a four-yard gain is the gold standard for efficiency, a positive play that keeps the offense ahead of the chains and dictates terms to the defense.

“Every time you get a four-yard gain, it is a positive play. It’s totally okay to continue to do that to be efficient,” notes the analysis. The fact that the Bills were deliberately asking the Chiefs to run the ball only compounds the confusion. Buffalo understood that if the Chiefs became one-dimensional, Mahomes, despite his superhuman abilities, would be forced to hold the ball longer, allowing their talented defensive front to pin their ears back and hunt.

By running away from their efficiency, the Chiefs committed a cardinal sin of offensive football. They allowed the Bills to neutralize an effective part of their playbook, conceding the tactical advantage and creating the very pressure that shattered the rhythm of the passing game.

The Breakdown in Technique: The Outside Zone Execution Error

While the volume of the run game was a macro issue, the execution on specific concepts reveals a fundamental technical flaw. The film study brought to light a crucial observation from former NFL player Mitchell Schwartz, detailing how the running backs’ execution of the outside zone scheme has been subpar.

The outside zone is a cornerstone of modern running—it demands a running back attack the outside edge with “aggressiveness, with acceleration, with speed.” The goal is to stretch the defense laterally before finding a cut-back lane. However, the film shows that when the Chiefs’ backs, specifically Kareem Hunt, see a flash of opposing color or a defender coming downhill, they “are immediately… bringing it right inside,” failing to commit to the outside arc.

On one particular outside zone concept down inside the 20-yard line, the offensive line, particularly Trey Smith and Creed Humphrey, executed a “nice job” on the double team, clearing a path. Yet, Hunt, upon seeing a defender flash underneath the block, put his feet in the dirt and cut upfield too early. This decision prevented a potential explosive play to the outside, a breakdown that the analysis attributes to a possible “coaching change needed.”

The veteran running back, Kareem Hunt, remains an “elite short yardage guy” and possesses excellent vision to read blocks inside, making him effective on inside zone concepts where he can find a crease between the guard and center. However, he is no longer the “stop and start athlete in space anymore that he used to be.” Isaiah Pacheco, the primary back, is a tough runner who carries defenders but “doesn’t make guys miss at all.”

The Urgent Call for Brashard Smith

The solution to the outside zone problem is now glaringly obvious and must be implemented immediately: the Chiefs need to feature Brashard Smith.

Smith, a converted wide receiver, is the one player on the roster who possesses the kind of pure “burst” required for the outside zone and space game. While the coaching staff has been reluctant to trust him as a traditional back, the film confirms he has the ability to “make guys miss” in space. He is the missing ingredient—the true dual-threat weapon needed to finally put pressure on the edge of the defense.

The analyst suggests a coaching-level deficiency, noting the Chiefs’ running backs coach is a former wide receiver, which may be contributing to the lack of “level of detail from the outside zone game.” If the Chiefs cannot secure a personnel upgrade via trade, the necessary adjustment must be a schematic shift: increasing Smith’s workload dramatically in outside zone and allowing him to operate in space.

The Domino Effect on Patrick Mahomes

The reluctance to run and the technical breakdowns in the run game created a devastating domino effect that compromised the heart of the Chiefs’ offense: Patrick Mahomes’ pocket presence and decision-making.

By forcing Mahomes to throw against a defense that was sitting back, playing man coverage, and being “grabby,” the Chiefs ensured that his first read was frequently taken away. Receivers, including Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice, were either held or failed to “defeat hands in man coverage” quickly enough, forcing Mahomes to hold the ball the extra second needed for the pressure to arrive.

This pressure manifested most brutally on the offensive tackles, Jawaan Taylor and Jaylen Moore, who struggled against the Bills’ relentless edge rush, especially Gregory Rousseau, who amassed a staggering nine pressures in the game. Yet, the offensive line was not uniformly bad. Kingsley Suamataia was spotlighted as “playing really good football,” showing his ability to execute double teams, get to the second level, and even deliver a “perfect snatch trap.” This highlights that the protection issue was a factor of time—Mahomes holding the ball too long due to scheme—as much as it was about talent.

Uncharacteristic Mistakes and Predictability

Under this self-imposed duress, Mahomes made several uncharacteristic errors that directly cost the team scoring opportunities:

Bailing a Clean Pocket: On a key third-down play in the second half, the pocket was described as “perfect.” However, Mahomes, anticipating pressure that wasn’t yet there, elected to scramble out to his right. In doing so, he missed a spectacular, wide-open stop-and-out route from Xavier Worthy that would have been a massive gain or touchdown. The analyst lamented, “Patrick, you can’t be leaving pockets like this.”
Missing the Check-Down: On a deep corner route to Noah Gray, Mahomes was looking for the big play down the field but failed to connect due to early pressure caused by a tackle being beaten “like a drum.” The correct, efficient, and clutch play would have been a check-down to a wide-open Kareem Hunt in the flat, which would have likely resulted in a first down, keeping the drive alive.
The Predictable 4th-Down: The game’s decisive fourth-down failure was a symptom of the offense’s predictability. The short-area route combination to Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce, designed to find space, is what the Chiefs “do a ton of” in short-yardage. The Bills, knowing exactly what was coming, triggered immediately on the throw, resulting in the pass being incomplete. The analyst suggests the team needs to stop running “the same thing over and over again” in these high-leverage situations.

The path forward for the Chiefs is clear, albeit difficult. They do not need a miracle trade to save the season; they need a schematic and philosophical shift. The offensive woes are not rooted in an unfixable talent gap, but in an avoidable coaching and execution flaw. To unleash the full potential of Patrick Mahomes and the passing game, the Chiefs must first silence the fatal flaw by committing to and correctly executing the run game, transforming their efficiency into a sustained, dynamic threat. If they can make these necessary internal adjustments during the upcoming bye week, this team, which the analyst still believes has a “great chance to be one of the best teams that they’ve ever had,” can still mount a legitimate title defense.