Remember when KC Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes ran for his life in Super Bowl LV? Not anymore

The Chiefs’ offensive line had some defining moment in Week 16’s 36-10 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Facing a first-and-goal play at the Steelers’ 5-yard line late in the first quarter, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes took the snap under center, faked the handoff to running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and dropped five steps into the pocket.

Mahomes surveyed the field in front of him, and surveyed and surveyed some more, continuing to evaluate his options before stepping up untouched and firing a highlight-worthy sidearm touchdown pass to wide receiver Byron Pringle.

Potentially lost in the action was how long Mahomes had in the pocket — a full seven seconds — because the Chiefs’ offensive line, with assists from fullback Michael Burton and tight end Blake Bell, stonewalled the Steelers’ four-man pass rush.

Seven seconds.

“That was a beautiful thing,” Chiefs offensive line coach Andy Heck said. “We maxed that pro(tection) up, so we had a little bit of an assist from Burt(on) and Blake on that thing, but that was a lot of fun.

“We had great play-action. That was a good team effort on that thing and a great job by Patrick hanging in there to find Pringle.”

Each member of the Chiefs’ offensive line has had his own individual shining moment this season. But Heck’s point about the collective work done by the offensive line on that particular play hits home.

There’s little doubt one of the biggest — if not the biggest — question marks entering the 2021 season fell on the Chiefs’ front five, which featured all-new starters thanks to general manager Brett Veach’s aggressive offseason rebuild.

It started soon after the Buccaneers beat the Chiefs in the last Super Bowl. The Chiefs released veteran starting tackles Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher, then elected to not bring back center Austin Reiter and Stefen Wisniewski, who started at right guard in Super Bowl LV.

Veach continued the overhaul by securing stalwart left guard Joe Thuney in free agency, trading for left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., and drafting center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith. Rookie Lucas Niang, who opted out of the 2020 season, returned at the right tackle position.

The Chiefs also entered training camp with veterans Mike Remmers, Andrew Wylie, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who was traded to the New York Jets during the regular season, and center Austin Blythe.

But throwing five new bodies together doesn’t equate to immediate success, and the revamped offensive line had to endure some hiccups as the season progressed.

Right tackle was a work in progress. Niang opened the season as the starter before giving way to Remmers, who started in Weeks 6-7 before suffering a knee injury. Niang returned to replace Remmers in Week 8 before suffering an injury of his own, to his ribs, in Week 9. Niang went out and Wylie stepped in, starting six of the Chiefs’ final eight games at right tackle.

Remmers and Niang finished the season on injured reserve.

“He’s absolutely essential to what we’re doing here,” Heck said of Wylie, who projects to remain at right tackle during the playoffs. “Those kinds of unheralded guys that do the dirty work like that, that’s what it’s all about.”

The overall results since the start of the regular season? Well, they speak for themselves.

“I think we’ve improved a great deal,” said Humphrey, already widely regarded as one of the NFL’s top centers. “We’ll turn on film sometimes and see games from earlier in the season, and it kind of feels like it was two years ago, just because of how much I feel we’ve improved as a group.

“Not just physically improved, but also mentally improved and being on the same page. There’s been a ton of growth. We’re still trying to keep growing and continuing to get better.”

“I think there’s always more to achieve,” Smith said. “You could play for 10-plus years and there’s always something you can do better, something you can learn.”

Whatever the Chiefs’ new-look offensive line did together behind the scenes to bond as a unit has transitioned well to the field. With his blockers setting a wall, Mahomes once again ranks among the league leaders in passing. The Chiefs’ offense overall remains one of the NFL’s best, ranking third in total yards, fourth in scoring and first in third-down percentage.

Individually, Brown made his third career Pro Bowl, while Thuney, Humphrey and Smith were selected as alternates.

Heck enjoys being around his players as they continue to learn and improve. Their growth never ceases to amaze him.

“Taking a group of talented people doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re going to have a great team or a great unit,” Heck said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to get done to have guys that gel together, and a lot of that work has to be done by them. (That’s) the way they’ve approached this whole thing, with a focus to get better every day.

“And they enjoy each other. They enjoy football. It is a lot of fun to be able to be a part of a group like that.”

The Chiefs need their offensive line to continue its upward trajectory because of what’s on the line now. Up first: the Steelers, this Sunday night. Win that game and the Chiefs’ quest to return to the Super Bowl for a third straight season remains alive.

The stakes will continue to grow, but this growing Chiefs offensive line appears ready to meet the challenge.

“I’d tell you they’ve done a nice job of getting familiar with one another, so that’s important,” head coach Andy Reid said. “I like the production that we’re getting.

“We’ve got to step it up even another notch as we go here, but they’re in the right frame of mind.”

This story was originally published January 14, 2022 at 5:00 AM.

Herbie Teope

The Kansas City Star

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