(Photo by David Eulitt/Getty Images)
The Kansas City Chiefs were without starting running back Isiah Pacheco for the first time this season in Week 14.
The second-year star suffered a shoulder contusion in Week 13 and couldn’t get healthy in time for the game.
Clyde Edwards-Helaire started in Pacheco’s place, with Jerick McKinnon serving as a change-of-pace receiving running back.
That duo played admirably – Edwards-Helaire rushed 11 times for 39 yards and caught two passes for 29 yards, while McKinnon scored a rushing touchdown and tallied 37 yards on seven touches.
Neither is the type of player Pacheco is, though, who averaged 82.3 total yards per game in 12 games this season.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid acknowledged that Pacheco was a big loss in Week 14, but that Edwards-Helaire and McKinnon “did a tremendous job in there.”
The Chiefs need Pacheco back for their final four-game stretch in 2023.
Pacheco isn’t a wildly productive running back, but he’s put together quality performances all season long as the Chiefs’ starter.
He was also coming off a 110-yard, one-touchdown outing against the Green Bay Packers in Week 13 before the injury.
Pacheco has 779 yards on 176 rushes for six touchdowns this season as well as 33 receptions for 209 yards and one receiving touchdown.
Apart from the New England Patriots’ third-best rushing defense, the Chiefs don’t play a team with a top-10 rushing defense the rest of the season.
The Las Vegas Raiders, Cincinnati Bengals and Los Angeles Chargers rank 13th, 25th and 12th against the run, respectively.
Pacheco could feast if healthy, but the duo of Edwards-Helaire and McKinnon could also be enough as the Chiefs make their postseason push.
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