That Was Easy: How Kenneth Walker Solved the Chiefs' Biggest Offensive Shortcomings in One Game

Do you remember that Staples ad campaign from the early 2000s? The office supply company rode the marketing wave all the way to a commercial during Super Bowl XXXIX featuring the "Easy Button," where one press of the button (or a quick trip to Staples) would solve your life's most immediate problem.

Not only was the campaign successful, the Staples "Easy Button" became an actual product! You push the button, and the iconic audio line plays: "That was easy." I even had my own Easy Button! Now, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes have one too.

Handing the ball to Kenneth Walker? That really was easy.

Even in recent years when the Kansas City Chiefs have had tremendous success, Mahomes hasn't had many "easy" solutions to the challenges defenses bring on a weekly basis. Plenty of role players deserve immense credit for their contributions, but the team often lived and died with their quarterback's ability to create in adverse circumstances. When those role players made the play, there was magic. When they didn't—when a receiver dropped a pass, when a lineman was consistently overwhelmed, when the running back couldn't convert a third-down run, when the defense couldn't get off the field—Mahomes' brilliance was squandered and the offense could either run out of options or run out of time.

As we've discussed as of late (and on Thursday's edition of Only Weird Games), Mahomes seemed to slip into do-it-all mode too frequently last year. For a play, a drive, or even an occasional game? That's what makes Mahomes so special. But that can't be the baseline for the offense. In 2026, it won't be.

In the Chiefs' 31-10 win over the Denver Broncos on Monday night, Mahomes threw for 184 yards, with only 37 of those yards going to wide receivers. Sure, Mahomes still went Superman-mode on a few occasions, running for the first touchdown of the game and a first down later in the first half, but the offense ran through Walker on Monday night.

Walker's 23 carries for 173 yards (including the 60-yard touchdown taken to the house on 4th and 1) were electric, but they were also necessary. Look at the two graphics below from Steven Ruiz and Matt Lane. The Chiefs didn't complete a pass 10 or more yards beyond the line of scrimmage, and Mahomes only attempted two passes beyond 15 yards, with one interception and one incompletion. ...And the Chiefs scored 31 points.

OKAY BUT https://t.co/u301J8nXsK pic.twitter.com/5lGhwvZvpM
— Matt Lane (@Matty_KCSN) September 15, 2026

To be clear, I think this is a completely fair and useful note from Ruiz! In almost any other Chiefs game in recent memory, that passing performance would've pointed to a frustrating loss. That's the point.

Walker also succeeded in a variety of ways. His 60-yard touchdown run showed off his game-breaking ability, but some of his short conversions were just as impressive, especially in light of how many times we've seen Chiefs backs struggle to find tough yards.

This is a one yard gain last year pic.twitter.com/UknyMytwjK
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) September 15, 2026

By the end of the night, Walker had secured the highest single-game rushing total for a Chiefs running back since Jamaal Charles in 2020. By the end of the first half, he had forced more missed tackles in a single game than any Chiefs running back since 2021. He ended the night with 14 forced misses and 101 yards over expected, according to Next Gen Stats.

So...Kenneth Walker?

(RB missed tackles forced vs. yards after contact per touch after Week 1, charted by the @FantasyPtsData team.) pic.twitter.com/wsa31U7oeF
— Ryan Heath (@RyanJ_Heath) September 15, 2026

The Chiefs' offensive line did enough for Walker to succeed, but the Tuesday morning analytics (and all of those yards after contact stats) show that Walker wasn't exactly working with enormously wide-open holes in the line. Fair enough, by the way; being an NFL running back is an extremely hard job. Walker just made it look, well, easy.

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