Members of Chiefs’ O-line, guys Browns ‘threw away,’ made statement against old team

Kareem Hunt and Travis Kelce gave command performances upon returning to their hometown for the first time as members of the Chiefs, combining for all five touchdowns in Sunday’s 37-21 triumph over the Cleveland Browns.

But the contest was just as meaningful for another group — not guys hailing from the Cleveland area, but Chiefs who were once Browns employees.

Four of the Chiefs’ five offensive line starters played for the Browns, and they delighted Sunday in showing their former team what they’re missing.

“I wanted to go out and show everybody in that (Browns’) front office that I can play football, and (darn) you if you think I can’t,” said left guard Cam Erving.

That’s how good it felt.

Erving was a first-round selection, No. 19 overall, of the Browns in 2015. Unhappy with Erving’s progress, the Browns dealt him to the Chiefs just before the 2017 season.

“It was a huge blessing to come here,” Erving said.

Besides Erving, right tackle Mitchell Schwartz spent his first four seasons with the Browns. When he became a free agent in 2015, the Browns made an offer far below what Schwartz believed he could get on the open market.

After testing the market, Schwartz indicated he wanted to return to the Browns. But his team had pulled its original offer, and Schwartz signed a five-year deal with the Chiefs.

“It’s all worked out,” Schwartz said.

For center Austin Reiter and right guard Andrew Wylie as well. Reiter was with the Browns for two seasons before he was waived and picked up by the Chiefs in September. He’s the Chiefs’ starting center while Mitch Morse recovers from a concussion.

Wylie has filled in for Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who suffered a fractured fibula earlier this year. Wylie spent two months on the Browns’ practice squad last year before he was released.

“They let Mitch Schwartz go, and he’s one of the best right tackles playing football,” Erving said. “Me, up and down times, but I can play football. Austin Reiter can play football. Andrew Wylie can play football.

“But hey, that’s OK. At the end of the day, we came back, the guys that you threw away, and made a statement.”

The statement was 499 total yards, and five touchdowns and a field goal on the Chiefs’ first seven possessions. The one drive that didn’t end in a score started with 26 seconds remaining in the first half.

The line kept quarterback Patrick Mahomes clean enough for him to pass for 375 yards. It run-blocked well enough to help Hunt motor for 91 yards and for the team to rush for 139 and average 5.8 yards per attempt.

The Chiefs have been doing this all season. They entered the weekend leading the NFL in scoring, and their offensive skills stand with the best in the league. The offensive line has largely flown under the radar, but on Sunday the group felt perhaps more satisfied with its performance than any other this season.

Especially Erving, who after a Hunt touchdown in the third quarter picked up a dog mask that had been hurled from the Dawg Pound and fired it back into the stands.

“I had to send it back,” Erving said.

He didn’t need a souvenir from Cleveland.

Blair Kerkhoff

Blair Kerkhoff covers the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals and college sports for The Star.

This story was originally published November 4, 2018 at 5:33 PM.