The Kansas City Chiefs dropped yet another game on Sunday night to the Houston Texans, pushing their playoff hopes to the brink. There were plenty of issues on the field. Kansas City failed to cover well down the field. The Chiefs were left with missed opportunities on offensive money downs because of dropped passes. There were also some odd decisions made throughout the night as well.
Player usage has been a fascinating part of this disappointing season. You cannot really point to that being a main issue that led to the loss against Houston. However, there are still some obvious trends forming for players via the snap counts. One player who stood out in that area was running back Isiah Pacheco.
Pacheco finished the game with just 21 offensive snaps. That is good enough for only 33 percent of the Chiefs’ offensive plays. Kansas City leaned more on Kareem Hunt, who tallied 38 snaps and played 59 percent of the offensive plays.
Trends for Pacheco becoming more apparent
The usage of Pacheco may be becoming more noticeable as the season winds down. As a result, it will lead to apparent questions about his status going into the offseason. Kansas City has given him 52 percent of the offensive snaps this season. Overall, it has been much lower since he returned from a knee injury. Coming off that knee ailment, Pacheco has just 12 carries and two receptions in his last two games.
Pacheco is averaging right around 3.8 yards per carry in those last two contests. But with Hunt being leaned on more, it has limited Pacheco to spot chances. That becomes even more true as K.C. has been chasing games recently.
Interestingly, Pacheco has only received double-digit carries in five of his 10 games played this year. His season-best rushing output in a single game is 58 yards. If you look at the situations in which the Chiefs are relying on him during the course of this season, the role just has not been clear. Hunt has carried the rushing attack as well as he can, despite not having much juice left in the tank.
Does lack of consistent reps point to KC moving on?
Currently in the last year of his rookie contract, Pacheco will be set for unrestricted free agency this upcoming offseason. Is it clearer that Kansas City may move on in the offseason? Perhaps the lack of consistent reps is pointing toward that taking place.
In reality, it is not just most of this season in which Pacheco has been unable to string solid production together. He was obviously not back to 100 percent after returning late last season from a leg injury. He was never the fastest player on offense, though he lacked any burst after coming back in 2024. The comfort level possibly got stymied after being bent backward when suffering the injury.
With the output from his regular-season return, Hunt was the primary contributor at running back in last year’s playoffs. The Chiefs gave Pacheco just 13 total carries across three postseason games last year. Now, with diminished results and limited chances over his last 18 games, the writing may be on the wall for his Kansas City tenure.
