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No sneak in sight: the Chiefs' short-yardage problem after the stand at Denver
Kansas City has scored on two of 13 runs inside the 5 and hasn't tried a sneak since 2023. Reid gave no sign Wednesday that will change against the Jets.
Five plays at the Denver goal line with the game on the line, and none of them was a quarterback sneak. That will not surprise anyone who has followed the Chiefs closely: they have not run a sneak of any kind since October 2023, and Patrick Mahomes has not run one since 2019, ESPN's Nate Taylor reported on Wednesday. Asked about it, Andy Reid deadpanned that a sneak would be the first call on Sunday, and gave no real sign that anything will change.
The numbers make the case for trying something. On third and fourth downs needing 2 yards or less, Kansas City has converted 20 of 34. Inside the opponent's 5, the Chiefs have scored two touchdowns on 13 rushing attempts, a 14% success rate that is the worst in the NFL, by ESPN's figures. That is despite Kenneth Walker III ranking third in the league with 770 rushing yards.
How the sneak disappeared
Mahomes dislocated his right kneecap on a sneak in Week 7 of the 2019 season and missed two games. No quarterback in Kansas City has run one since, and the Chiefs are the only NFL team without a quarterback sneak in that span, ESPN reported. The last sneak by anyone was tight end Noah Gray's on a fake field goal in Week 6 of 2023, and Denver stopped him a yard short.
The stand at Denver
Sunday's ending showed the cost. Trailing 28-24, the Chiefs reached the Denver 4 with 35 seconds left, ESPN's Jeff Legwold wrote. Walker ran to the 1. A pass fell incomplete. On third-and-goal from the 1 with nine seconds left, Mahomes took the snap under center and handed to Walker, and safety JL Skinner stopped him for no gain. Mahomes found Rashee Rice for an apparent touchdown on fourth down, but right tackle Jaylon Moore had been flagged for a false start, and from the 6 Malcolm Roach sacked Mahomes to end it.
Mahomes said he did not think about checking to a sneak on third down. "If I do call my own number, it's got to work," he said, adding that he would consider it in the future and that he is not afraid to put his body on the line.
Short yardage cost the Chiefs earlier in that fourth quarter too. Reid punted on fourth-and-inches near midfield with an 11-point lead, and Denver answered with an 80-yard touchdown drive, ESPN noted.
The option on the bench
The Chiefs have a backup with a record in exactly this play. Justin Fields converted seven of his eight sneak attempts with the Jets last season, Taylor pointed out, and Sunday's opponent is the Jets. Whether Reid uses him, or Mahomes, or neither, is one of the smaller questions the game will answer, and one the Chiefs could face again in an AFC West race that Denver now leads by a half game.
Kickoff against New York is 1 p.m. Eastern at Arrowhead on CBS. Prices are on the game page, and the full recap of the Denver game is in our weekly recap.