MetLife Stadium pulsed with suspense as Isiah Pacheco jogged to the sideline after his Week 3 miscue, shoulders slumped just enough for people to wonder. Did the Kansas City Chiefs’ bold running back lose his edge? Or was there something deeper in head coach Andy Reid’s coaching quietly shaping this moment?

In the second quarter vs. the New York Giants’ defense, Pacheco went off course. He opened his hips facing the Chiefs’ end zone at the same moment quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw him a pass to escape pressure. Pacheco missed the ball, and a defender picked it up for what could have easily been a fumble recovery.

But Mahomes rushed in, tackled the defender, and got the ball back. Socials flooded with that clip, wondering what went wrong with Pacheco, but Andy Reid found the right words to praise his running back postgame: “I was probably the most happy for Pacheco coming home and putting up a 4.5-yard-per-carry shot out there, which was good.”

Following that fumble and coach Reid’s praise, former Chiefs offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz believes the coaching approach needs to change.

Schwartz didn’t sugarcoat anything when he delivered his verdict on X: “He’s never going to criticize guys directly in the public. That’s not how he rolls. He’s going to build you up and talk positively about you, and say there’s stuff to work on. That’s one of the best things about playing for him, you’re never gonna get flamed in the media.”

But a bit of tough love might just be what Pacheco needs from coach Reid to get back to terrorizing defenses again. Andy Reid has always been a player’s coach: pep talks, not public rebukes; encouragement, not ego destruction. It’s a style that has elevated Mahomes and created a locker room dynamic built on trust. But that gentle touch stands out when the pressure mounts and mistakes start putting wins on the line.

Isaiah Pacheco’s career arc once felt like a comic book origin story. Picked in the seventh round, he bulldozed his way into the pro scene. Raw, explosive, driven by hustle. But since his leg injury in Week 2 last season, that burst seems to be gone.

Reid’s positivity can’t run for tough yards or make up for a half-second lost in the backfield. Now, every blurred handoff and slip sets off alarms. Kansas City isn’t just missing a step. It’s watching the foundation shudder.

Patrick Mahomes, always cool under fire, took the blame upon himself: “I kept throwing the ball backwards. That’s not good. Just letting the rush get to me a little bit and then trying to kind of throw it without looking to see if the guy’s actually in the spot we’ve got to get to.”

But with Reid smoothing over Pacheco’s rough patches in public and sticking to optimism, these early season miscues could snowball into playoff heartbreaks easily. For Pacheco, the consequences of repeated misses could be monumental.

Isiah Pacheco’s plight and Chiefs’ next move

Pacheco’s Week 3 blunder lit up message boards with theories about his decline. From nagging injury to diminished role. Still, he had 10 carries for 45 yards, which was a much better stat line than his Week 2 performance vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. 10 carries for just 22 yards.

But with Kareem Hunt splitting the reps and the spotlight and adding up better numbers, it doesn’t look that great for Pacheco. The offense is already stretched thin with Xavier Worthy’s injury and Rashee Rice’s suspension. Travis Kelce’s declining performance also signals alarm bells. F

or 2025, Patrick Mahomes needs all the targets he can get. But what about beyond this season?

Through training camp, there was a lot of optimism around Isiah Pacheco’s explosiveness for this season. But with the run game clearly lacking a punch, the Chiefs could pivot to their new seventh-round pick Brashard Smith instead.

As ESPN’s Dan Graziano suggests, “They believed Isiah Pacheco was running like his old self in camp and that he would be productive right out of the gate. He has not been. Don’t be surprised if at some point soon rookie Brashard Smith gets a shot. The Chiefs view him as a different kind of back than those two (Pacheco and Hunt) – more of a receiver type who can make explosive plays in space.”

Bottom line? A series of missed opportunities and a lingering sense that Reid’s support may no longer be enough to keep Pacheco in red and gold looms large.

Will the Chiefs pivot toward a rookie running back, or risk waiting for Pacheco to explode on the field? KC is 1-2 heading into Week 4 vs. the Baltimore Ravens. If the miscues and struggles continue against another championship caliber team, the Chiefs risk another loss in their ledger. Andy Reid’s all for second chances, but the margin for error is razor-thin when dynasties hang in the balance.