Kansas City Chiefs' Offense Finally Shows Promise with Week 1 Dominance

Familiar questions faced the Kansas City Chiefs as their 2015 season kicked off Sunday against the Houston Texans. All of them hovered around a pretty important part of football: offense, and the general act of moving the ball downfield.

Some would call that important, while others may say it’s absolutely fundamental to survival.

The Chiefs scored enough points to remain competitive in 2014, floating around at a very mediocre mid-pack average of 22.1 points per game (16th). A similarly yawn-inducing tale is told by their 2014 touchdown total of 40 (tied for 14th).

Infamously, not even one of those touchdowns came when a wide receiver hooked up with quarterback Alex Smith in the end zone. Overall, Smith threw 18 passing touchdowns, and half went to either his running backs or fullback Anthony Sherman. Then there’s Kansas City’s weekly offensive output of 318.8 yards per game, which couldn’t even achieve average status (25th).

There was a certain inevitability to a one-dimensional unit that ran through running back Jamaal Charles, who accounted for just over 25 percent of the Chiefs’ offensive production even during a season when he was hobbled by an ankle injury.

So of course the Chiefs began 2015 against Houston in the same plodding, grinding fashion with a complete lack of downfield explosiveness, right? Nope.

In a 27-20 win, Smith threw three touchdown passes. As ESPN Stats and Information notes, he joined some rather respected names in Chiefs history:

Sure, we’re still waiting on his first regular-season scoring connection with a wideout since 2013. But on the joyous opening Sunday of 2015, let’s focus on pleasant developments, of which there were plenty for a team that needs its offense to evolve quickly after the addition of wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

Smith made his 31st regular-season start for the Chiefs Sunday, and during that time he’s logged only five games with three-plus touchdown passes. Worse, of his 15 starts in 2014, five ended without a touchdown thrown to anyone.

So getting three from Smith immediately is significant for a passing offense that’s often existed only to distract defenses periodically from Charles’ juking. And it’s especially encouraging when two of them went to tight end Travis Kelce, who may have become the greatest celebration innovator of our time.

Even with the addition of Maclin, the Chiefs' passing offense should still feature Kelce heavily, as he’s a uniquely athletic tight end. His measurements (6’5” and 260 lbs) can cause some seriously jittery knees when he gets moving in the open field.

Merely normal humans would be lumbering brutes at that size. But Kelce led all tight ends in 2014 with 503 yards after the catch, per Pro Football Focus, and he’s at his best when targeted on deep routes down the seam.

On his 42-yard touchdown Sunday, Kelce created separation with precision route running on a double move, then was wide open to streak downfield. It was one of his three 15-plus yard receptions, and he finished with 106 total yards on six catches.

Which resulted in some more history, again per ESPN Stats and Information:

The Chiefs offense will still feature lots of dinking followed by dunking. That’s the foundation of head coach Andy Reid’s West Coast approach, and he’s assembled the personnel to fit with his vision.

But now there’s an opportunity to be a little more dynamic as Kelce grows in his second full season and Maclin brings his secondary-stretching fireworks. There’s a chance to ease the burden on Charles as he attempts to age gracefully while turning 29 years old in December. And overall, there’s the possibility of passing consistency—or at least enough to properly reward the efforts of a defense that ranked seventh in 2014, finishing with 46 sacks.

The offense needs to shed its average label, and Sunday was the first step. The defense? It just needs to stay the same.