How Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes plan to turn play action into a powerful weapon

Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid are looking to make deception a much bigger part of the Kansas City Chiefs offense after a disappointing 2025 season exposed weaknesses in their running game.

Kansas City finished 6-11 and missed the playoffs for the first time in Mahomes ’ career, with the quarterback’s season also ending early because of ACL and LCL injuries.

One of the areas Reid and Mahomes have focused on during training camp is making play action more effective by giving defenses a genuine reason to respect the run.

Mahomes changes how he sells the fake

Mahomes operated from shotgun on 80.6 percent of Kansas City’s non-kneel-down snaps last season, the third-highest rate in the NFL.

That could now change following the arrival of Kenneth Walker III , whose running style gives the Chiefs more reason to work from under center.

“No. 9. That’s all I can say,” Mahomes said when asked what excited him most about the offense. “That change and the ability to catch, run, pass protect, do everything. [He can] make a play out of nothing into a 20-yard gain. That’s going to be the biggest impact, I think, we’ll have — just finding the ways to get him the ball.”

Mahomes has also been working on keeping the ball visible for longer during play fakes and bringing it closer to the running back.

Last season, he sometimes pulled the ball back too quickly, allowing linebackers to recognize that a pass was coming.

Reid wants play action to actually fool defenses

Reid has made clear that simply calling more play action isn’t enough.

“Well, play-action has always been a big part of this offense,” Reid said. “We look at the production of it. What are you getting out of it [on film]? You might as well just dropback and forget about the play-action.”

Kansas City has experimented with several variations during camp, including deeper drops, rollouts and less conventional fakes involving receivers in motion.

The idea is to make every fake look more like a genuine handoff, forcing linebackers and safeties to hesitate before reacting.

Travis Kelce has also praised Mahomes ’ approach ahead of the new season.

“Pat has done an unbelievable job of not only getting himself ready, but working with these receivers and making sure that everybody’s living up to that standard of how we’re going to play this year,” Kelce said.

If Kansas City can make defenses believe the run is coming, Reid and Mahomes could regain some of the space their passing attack lost last season.