KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs are the first NFL team to go through 12 games of a season without a receiving touchdown from a wide receiver since the 1977 New Orleans Saints.
While that’s a mind-boggling statistic, it hasn’t really hurt the Chiefs, at least while they’re in the red zone. They get a touchdown on two-thirds of their trips inside the 20-yard line, which is second best in the NFL.
The overall passing game has worked in the red zone as well. Quarterback Alex Smith has a 67.4 completion percentage in the red zone, seventh in the league. The Chiefs are 11th in red-zone receptions (29) and tied for 14th in red-zone passing touchdowns (12).
The ability of Jamaal Charles both as a runner and receiver is a huge advantage to the Chiefs inside the 20.
“We’re not worried about who scores, just that we do score," Smith said. “We’ve got a lot of different guys that can do it a lot of different ways. You see Jamaal line up as a receiver catching the ball. There (aren’t) many backs making that kind of play in the NFL against a starting corner."
As a result, the Chiefs don’t really try to get the ball to a wide receiver in the red zone. Smith is 6-of-12 in the red zone when a wide receiver is the intended target. No NFL team has fewer attempts or completions to a wide receiver.
A wide receiver can, of course, score a touchdown from outside the 20. The Chiefs’ inability to get a few of those plays from a wideout is a much bigger problem.