Chiefs' Isiah Pacheco on unique descriptions of running style: 'I ain't no zombie'

Kansas City Chiefs running back Isiah Pacheco runs like an enraged person looking for contact, plowing into and through any defender in his path.

The bulldozing second-year back is aware of all the comments and comparisons for his running style.

“The funniest one that I thought was they said that I run like I bite people,” said Pacheco, who’s dealing with a toe injury and did not practice on Wednesday. “I ain’t no zombie. That was crazy. That was one of the funniest ones. You said, ‘I run like I bite the ground/grass,’ that’s crazy. It’s a great opinion. For me, it’s just being determined and that I have a goal to achieve, and we want to get the job done.”

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He might not be a zombie, but Pacheco certainly runs like he won’t die.

Dubbed the Chiefs’ “Energizer Bunny” by head coach Andy Reid during last year’s Super Bowl run, Pacheco has keyed K.C.’s ground game this season, generating 935 rushing yards and seven touchdowns despite missing three games. Throughout the season, when the offense struggled with the passing game, the Chiefs leaned on Pacheco to keep them in favorable situations.

The running back averaged 3.5 yards per carry after contact in 2023, including playoffs, second-most among players with 200-plus carries (James Conner, 3.7), per Next Gen Stats.

Dating back to last year’s postseason run, Pacheco has played a major role in the Chiefs’ success.

He’s generated 75-plus rush yards and 1-plus rushing TD in each of his last three playoff games and 75-plus scrimmage yards in all five career playoff games. If Pacheco has 75-plus scrimmage yards at Baltimore on Sunday, he will tie Hall of Famer Walter Payton for the fourth-longest streak of 75-plus scrimmage yard playoff games by a RB to begin a career.

Last year, Pacheco set a Kansas City single-postseason rushing record with 197 yards. With 186 rushing yards and two rushing TDs in two games this season, he’s 12 yards shy of breaking his own mark. With 17 rushing yards Sunday, he’d become the fifth player in the last 50 seasons to have 400-plus playoff rushing yards in their first two seasons (Marcus Allen, 574; Shonn Greene, 502; Fred Taylor, 493; Tony Dorsett, 484).