The Kansas City Chiefs have been the NFL's most explosive offense with Eric Bieniemy as their offensive coordinator, leading the league in scoring and total offense. However, the latest report surrounding his coaching future isn't for a head-coaching job, but rather the Washington Commanders' offensive coaching vacancy, a lateral move.
Washington, which has strong interest in adding Bieniemy to Ron Rivera's staff as the next OC, just concluded its first day interviewing him for the position, according to ESPN. Those talks were said to have gone well and will continue into Friday. Bieniemy's contract with Kansas City has expired, so any team could hire him without any repercussions as far as pick compensation goes.
The Chiefs have won two Super Bowls in the last four seasons with him at the helm of their offense while assistants for the teams Bieniemy has defeated in the Super Bowl -- like Mike McDaniel (then-San Francisco 49ers run game coordinator in 2019), DeMeco Ryans (then-San Francisco 49ers inside linebackers coach in 2019), Shane Steichen (then-Eagles offensive coordinator in 2022) and Jonathan Gannon (then-Eagles defensive coordinator in 2022) -- have gone on to receive NFL head-coaching opportunities.
Under Bieniemy (since 2018), the Chiefs lead the NFL or rank second in most of the crucial offensive categories.
Chiefs offense under OC Eric Bieniemy
| Kansas City | NFL Rank* | |
|---|---|---|
PPG | 29.2 | 1st |
Total YPG | 413.6 | 1st |
Yards/Play | 6.4 | 1st |
3rd Down Pct | 48.7% | 2nd |
Red Zone TD Pct | 69.4% | 2nd |
* Since 2018
During Bieniemy's tenure as offensive coordinator, the Chiefs have 60 games with 25 or more points since 2018 -- the most in the NFL -- and no other team has 50 such games. Kansas City additionally has only six games with fewer than 20 points since 2018 -- the fewest in the NFL -- and all other 31 NFL teams have at least 19 or more such games in that span.
Unsurprisingly, two of the Chiefs' previous three offensive coordinators before Bieniemy were hired as head coaches: Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy. Pederson was hired as the Philadelphia Eagles head coach in 2016 and went 42-37-1 in five seasons, and won Super Bowl LII over the New England Patriots for the franchise's only Super Bowl victory. He also has received a second head-coaching gig since then, going 9-8 with the Jacksonville Jaguars this season while leading them to their first playoff victory since the 2017 season. His inaugural season with the Jaguars ended with a divisional round playoff loss against the Chiefs and Bienemy.
Nagy was hired as the Chicago Bears head coach in 2018 and went 34-31 in four season with the team, and he won the 2018 NFL Coach of the Year award while leading them to an NFC North title. Nagy has since returned to the Chiefs' coaching staff as a senior assistant and quarterbacks coach.
Prior to Kansas City's Super Bowl LIV win against the San Francisco 49ers that concluded the 2019 NFL season, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid expressed confusion as to why his current offensive coordinator hasn't received the same head-coaching opportunity that both Pederson and Nagy have received.
"His role's the same as Doug's and Matt's was," Reid said in January 2020, via Sports Illustrated. "He's the coordinator, he runs the meetings."
That quote flies in the face of the perceived slight that Bieniemy isn't the full-time offensive play-caller, sometimes splitting those duties with Reid. However, Reid has made it a point to allow Bieniemy to call the Chiefs offense for extended stretches, as evidenced by the video below.
Andy Reid added defensive backs coach to John Harbaugh’s special teams responsibilities, because he knew it would help him land a HC job. He allowed Doug Pederson and Matt Nagy to call plays in second half of games. Doing same for Eric Bieniemy. This is why Reid’s tree succeeds. https://t.co/TJJ2CoyL9o
— Matt Lombardo (@MattLombardoNFL) January 13, 2020
Bieniemy has actually had a more productive offense with the Chiefs than Pederson or Nagy did during their previous stints as the team's offensive coordinator.
Bieniemy, Nagy and Pederson as Chiefs offensive coordinator
| Chiefs offense | Bieniemy | Nagy | Pederson |
|---|---|---|---|
PPG | 29.2 | 25.9 | 24.8 |
Total YPG | 413.6 | 375.4 | 329.1 |
TD/Game | 3.6 | 2.6 | 2.9 |
Patrick Mahomes leads the NFL with 192 passing touchdowns under Bieniemy since 2018, when the latter became the offensive coordinator and the former became the team's starting quarterback. Mahomes has become the fifth starting quarterback in NFL history to win multiple NFL MVPS (2018 and 2022) and Super Bowl MVPs (LIV and LVII) with Bieniemy running the offense. .
Mahomes since 2018
| Mahomes | NFL Rank* | |
|---|---|---|
W-L | 63-16 | 1st |
Pass YPG | 303.3 | 1st |
Pass TD | 192 | 1st |
Passer Rating | 106.0 | 2nd |
* Among 60 QBs with 10+ starts over span
Bieniemy has 15 seasons of NFL coaching experience with as the Minnesota Vikings running backs coach (2006-2010), the Chiefs running backs coach (2013-2017) and currently as the Chiefs offensive coordinator (2018-2022).
