The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off a two-game losing streak against division rivals, the Denver Broncos, and conference mega-rivals, the Buffalo Bills.
This leaves the team third in the AFC West with a 5-5 record and currently out of the playoffs, being one game behind the 6-4 Jacksonville Jaguars, who occupy the #7 seed.
One possible buoy for the team heading into a critical matchup in week 12 against the 8-2 Indianapolis Colts was the potential return of starting running back Isiah Pacheco, who has not played since week 8 as he continues to recover from an MCL sprain suffered against the Washington Commanders.
Pacheco was a full participant earlier in the week, giving home for his potential return to the starting lineup this weekend, before the team’s injury reported was released on November 20th, saying that the two-time Super Bowl champion had been downgraded to limited practice three days prior to game-day.
“Correction here on RB Isiah Pacheco (knee): The #Chiefs listed the running back as limited on Thursday after he was full on Wednesday. Xavier Worthy (ankle) and Kingsley Suamataia (concussion) were also limited.” The Kansas City Star’s Pete Sweeney wrote.
Will Isiah Pacheco Play In Week 12?
At this point, it is not immediately clear whether the team will have Pacheco available to them this coming weekend.
Moving from full to limited practice implies some sort of setback in his recovery from the knee injury. And to make matters worse, Chiefs Digest’s Matt Derrick reported that Pacheco was sporting a knee brace at practice on November 20th.
RB Isiah Pacheco was limited after a full day Wednesday. He’s still wearing a bulky brace on his right knee.
What Will The Chiefs’ Running Back Room Look Like Moving Forward?
Kareem Hunt‘s emergence on the Chiefs’ offense, having managed 4.5 yards per carry over the past two games in Pacheco’s absence – higher than the 26 year old’s season average of 4.2 YPC – could see him and the former starter do a 40% – 40% split, with young up-and-comer, Brashard Smith, receiving the final 20% of offensive snaps as Kansas City looks to secure the position for the future.
Head coach, Andy Reid, has always had a soft spot for Pacheco – something that was always highly warranted until the back end of the 2024 season, when he averaged just 3.7 yards per carry in the last portion of the regular season – coming off a fibula injury suffered early on in the year – which was followed by just 2.8 YPC that postseason.
But now – even with Pacheco having improved on his 2024 form, but still not hitting the heights of his rookie and sophomore years – the offense will need to decide how they want to balance carries and snaps between their top guys.
Chiefs Get Unfortunate Update On Injured Playmaker