The 2021 NFL season may barely be in the books, but Dave Richard is already getting a jump on his 2022 preparation by highlighting at least one key statistic to know for each NFL team that had a major bearing on their 2021 performance and could mean a great deal for their 2022 outlook. In this space, Dave dives into the Kansas City Chiefs.
More Early Prep (AFC): BAL | BUF | CIN | CLE | DEN | DET | GB | LAR | MIN | SEA
More Early Prep (NFC): ARI | ATL | CAR | CHI | DAL | HOU | IND | JAC | KC | LAC
Kansas City Chiefs stats to know
I really wanted to highlight what went wrong with Patrick Mahomes in the middle of the season (TLDR: He struggled when he left the pocket, and his offensive line wasn't great either), but something else was pretty jarring.
- Chiefs RBs with 15-plus PPR in 2021: Clyde Edwards-Helaire (four), Darrel Williams (four), Derrick Gore (one)
- Chiefs RBs with 15-plus PPR in 2020: Clyde Edwards-Helaire (four), Darwin Thompson (one)
- Chiefs RBs with 15-plus PPR in 2019: Damien Williams (four), LeSean McCoy (two), Darrel Williams (two)
So ever since Mahomes took over the Chiefs offense, no running back had more than four games with 15-plus PPR points in a season, and last year was technically the first time any Chiefs running back had 15-plus PPR in half of their games (9 of 17).
To further drive the point home on who's in charge of this Kansas City offense, here's the touch breakdown for the team when they're inside the 10-yard line.
- 2021: 96 plays, 50 pass attempts, 31 rush attempts by a running back (12 touchdowns)
- 2020: 89 plays, 52 pass attempts, 24 rush attempts by a running back (three touchdowns)
- 2019: 69 plays, 32 pass attempts, 31 rush attempts by a running back (11 touchdowns)
And here are the number of 100-total-yard games Chiefs running backs have had:
- 2021: Dar. Williams (three), Edwards-Helaire (two), Gore (one)
- 2020: Edwards-Helaire (three), Thompson (one)
- 2019: Dam. Williams (three), Dar. Williams (one)
This offense revolves around Mahomes. Be reluctant to take Edwards-Helaire or any other Chiefs runner in 2022.
