Bringing Back Bienemy - Was It Wise?

Changes came quickly after the Kansas City Chiefs finished their season with a 6-11 record and a noticeable decline in productivity by the offense. Former offensive coordinator Matt Nagy parted ways with the team, and KC reunited with other former offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. I already looked at Nagy and Bieniemy's relative effects on the Chiefs' offenses throughout the years just weeks ago. Now, Bieniemy is back, but where has he been, and what does it mean for the Chiefs' future?

Chiefs Kingdom wasn't alone in noticing Eric Bieniemy's success as the OC under Andy Reid from 2018-2022. It led to Eric taking a job as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders. While there, he and head coach Ron Rivera were unable to get a Sam Howell-led offense over the hump despite marginal statistical improvement. Washington let both coaches go after a single season, and Bieniemy took a job - again as the assistant head coach and offensive coordinator - with the UCLA Bruins. This was his first return of sorts, as his success with UCLA as their running backs coach from '01-'05 preceded his first NFL coaching job.

Bieniemy's brief stint in UCLA went poorly, and in '25 he joined the Chicago Bears as the running backs coach. Here, he found his stride again and helped Chicago become the third-most-productive rushing attack in football. Bieniemy excelled this season at helping first-year head coach Ben Johnson maximize productivity from Bears running backs D'Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai. As told by Ron Kopp Jr. over at Arrowhead Pride, 7th-round pick Monangai's 783 rushing yards would've led KC in rushing over either of the last two seasons despite the rookie being second on his own team this year. Recreating this success in Kansas City could be key to getting this Chiefs dynasty back on track.

Both of KC's leading rushers from last season are unrestricted free agents. Bieniemy just led the Bears' latest 7th-round draft pick to be more productive than any Chiefs running back since 2023. KC will also be drafting ninth overall - their earliest draft pick since picking first overall in 2013. Mel Kiper Jr. likes KC drafting Notre Dame's stud running back Jeremiyah Love with that pick. Many mock drafts have him landing right around that #9 spot. With or without spending that huge draft pick on a running back, I'm predicting that Bieniemy's return makes a big, positive difference for the Chiefs' future.

It's possible that Monangai and Ben Johnson are just a great combo that helped Bieniemy look good in his role in Chicago. However, Chiefs Kingdom lived through the jarring and obvious influence Eric makes. To finish in the top six in the NFL in points and yards per game in each of his five seasons as the offensive coordinator is no accident. I'd be scared about drafting virtually any running back in the top ten, so I'd prefer to see Bieniemy find his next Monangai later in the draft. He's clearly proven that as a trustworthy strategy. Either way, Chiefs Kingdom will remember Eric's return as a big step in the right direction.

Chiefs-Chargers Rivalry Renewed While KC Tries to Keep Hope Alive

Last week's miserable defeat at the hands of the Houston Texans resulted in yet another ugly stat line for the most important player in Kansas City Chiefs history. Patrick Mahomes finished that sad day with a 19.8 Passer Rating. He's gone two weeks now without a Rating reaching 30. This sent me searching through his career Ratings and QBR's for each season, and just a quick look feels revealing.

The first thing I noticed was just how little Passer Rating and QBR seem to agree. If you only trust Passer Rating, Mahomes has been a mediocre QB more years than not. That clearly means you should absolutely not do that. His current Rating for this season is 91.2, which ranks 16th in the NFL. That's below the standard he sets, but it's remarkably similar to last season's Rating of 93.5, which ranked 17th. He also ranked 14th in Rating in 2023 with a 92.6. 

That data alone would indicate the presence of a consistently mediocre signal-caller, but ESPN's QBR algorithm disagrees. Patrick's QBR ranks 4th in the league right now. He finished at 8th over the last two seasons. That brings us to 2022, when a new, disturbing pattern emerges.

Mahomes was awesome in 2022 and 2020, and every measurable agrees with that. 2021 showed yet more disparity between Rating and QBR, when Mahomes was 15th in Rating and 5th in QBR. That season, however, is the only time in this amazing stretch from 2018 to 2022 that Mahomes did not finish a season ranked top-seven in both categories. Most of this production came with freakishly athletic receiver Tyreek Hill on the team and Eric Bieniemy coordinating the offense. Mahomes' incredible 2022 campaign happened without Tyreek.

Bienemy is currently the running backs coach for the Chicago Bears. The Bears average 152.6 rushing yards a game this season. They have the most potent running game in their conference and perhaps in the league. What a perfect compliment to Patrick that would be. For now, though, the questions about next season stay on the back-burner as long as KC has hope for a playoff berth in 2025. That all depends on KC's ability to overcome one of the league's strongest defenses when they face the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead today.

The Chargers defense ranks fourth in total yards allowed per game and 10th in points allowed. They've tallied up more interceptions than any team aside from the Chicago Bears. The offense has been mostly average this season, thanks in part to numerous injuries to key parts of their offensive line, but they still rank 9th in rushing yards per game. Surprisingly, the highly talented Justin Herbert has the potential every week to be the team's biggest problem. He's even the reason I'm picking the Chiefs this week.

Despite having similar overall turnover differentials, with the Chargers at +1 and KC at -1, Herbert is the biggest liability L.A will have on the field today. Only Tua Tagovailoa and Geno Smith have thrown more than Herbert's 11 interceptions this season. The Chargers have a few impressive pelts on the wall after beating the Chiefs in Week 1 in Brazil, Denver in Week 3 and Philly in overtime last week, but they also suffered some embarrassing losses. Defeats at the hands of the Giants and Commanders, and double-digit defeats when facing Jacksonville and Indy all included at least one Justin Herbert interception. I'm predicting at least one more pick from Herbert as KC keeps the embers of hope warm by beating the Chargers 22-19.

How Hard Will Fields Fail Facing Dominant D in KC?

     Last week's game did not go according to plan for the Kansas City Chiefs. However, a gritty win for KC has changed the public's perception of the Chiefs DNA this season. Trevor Lawrence, the Price Who Was Promised, one of football's next great quarterbacks, could not score a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs defense last week. Lawrence completed only 53% of his passes and, scientifically speaking, stunk in the red zone. His struggles can be read as proof of the continued emergence of an elite defense in Kansas City.

    After a muffed punt by Richie James gave Lawrence's offense the ball 17 yards away from the end zone, the Chiefs D only allowed a Jags field goal. In the third quarter, KC"s defense once again ruined one of Jacksonville's golden opportunities. The Jags got to KC's one-yard-line with a full set of down to work with. They ended that drive with the third and final Jacksonville field goal of the game.

    At the conclusion of an ugly contest that included nine punts and seven fumbles, KC claimed victory despite scoring only 17 points. This studly Chiefs defense rose to the occasion and accomplished things we haven't seen in Chiefs Kingdom for years. Last season's KC defense never held an opponent to single digits and never had a two-game stretch averaging 15 points or fewer points allowed per game. That happened in the first two games of this season, and there was no Chris Jones in Week 1. With only 48% of the defensive snaps, Jones had a tackle-for-loss, two QB hits and a sack and a half against Jacksonville. That's a Hall of Fame-level talent returning to an already-effective defense, which, shockingly, makes Kansas City's defense the best part of the team at this point in the season.

    The Chiefs have only scored 37 points, but this offense's future still looks bright. Coincidentally, the team visiting Arrowhead today has also scored 37 points so far. Does that mean Chiefs-Bears will be a tense, low-scoring affair like Chiefs-Jags? Probably not! After playing in 64% of snaps for KC's offense last week, Travis Kelce should see more action today as he returns to his typical, insanely high standard of play. That is bad news for a Chicago defense who has struggled this season against offenses with less pedigree.

    Chicago has allowed 28 and 27 points to the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, respectively. Actually, I'm not sure what's the chicken and what's the egg here; did Chicago's defense stink so much that it made Baker Mayfield and Jordan Love look unnaturally good, or are those guys just underrated this season? After all, Love posted a QBR 12.9 points higher against the Falcons in Week 1 than his QBR against Chicago last week. Only he and Kirk Cousins have thrown for six touchdowns through two games, and only Love has done so without throwing any picks. So, maybe Love is on his way to being really good, and maybe the Bears defense could look effective as long as they aren't facing a QB that is really good. Even if this turns out to be the case, the Chiefs have a QB that surpassed "really good" a long time ago.

    Patrick Mahomes has a QBR of 65.1 through two games this season - disappointing by his lofty standards, but still good for 9th in the league. Justin Fields' QBR currently sits at 22.5, which is the league's second-worst. Pair that with Chicago's lack of a defensive coordinator today, and I expect KC to make this the first comfortable viewing experience of the season for Chiefs fans. I'm predicting a 37-17 beatdown as KC gets back to looking like the dynasty they truly are.

Fisher and Company Face Tough Task in Houston

Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher, the often-maligned first overall pick in the 2013 draft, just gave us the best regular season performance in his budding career, but the Houston Texans defense humbles some of the planet’s strongest individuals on a weekly basis. Fisher’s confidence has perhaps never been higher, which is great, because he’ll need it this Sunday.

Pro Football Focus proclaimed that Fisher and his 82.0 grade was the NFL’s best at his position in Week 1. Kansas City right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif received a grade of 79.4, and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz (who will perhaps see more J.J. Watt than any Chief this time around) received a 75.7. This should obviously bode well for KC’s offense as a whole, but the reigning Deacon Jones Award recipient isn’t the only guy to fear on Houston’s defense.

Whitney Mercilus earned the season’s first AFC Defensive Player of the Week award by terrorizing Jay Cutler and the rest of the Chicago Bears offense. Mercilus finished Week 1 with four hits on the opposing QB, including two sacks and a forced fumble. Nobody in the league has more sacks since Week 6 of last season than this guy. Mercilus’ two sacks and forced fumble occurred when he targeted the Bears’ left tackle – a position now held securely in KC by the aforementioned Eric Fisher.

Fisher succeeded on passing plays and run protection interchangeably last Sunday, and it seemed that he only lost his man when Alex Smith was forced out of the pocket. This Texans defense will surely throw more creative blitz packages at KC than the San Diego Chargers could, and the difference in talent found on the Chargers’ defense and Houston’s is immense. KC needs both their offensive tackles to limit the damage done by Mercilus and Watt in order to keep the offense moving in Houston.

Since pointing out how much I appreciate all 17 people following me on Twitter @DLaC67, I actually lost a follower. Thanks for nothing, whoever you were.