The KC Chiefs’ new offensive line can convert the boring way, and that’s a compliment
.JPG "Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, middle, had some new-look protection around him Saturday evening during Kansas City’s NFL preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara, Calif.")
The most important thing for the Chiefs is that Patrick Mahomes and his most important teammates flew home healthy.
The most interesting thing for football fans is that Trey Lance exploited some bad Chiefs coverage for a banger of a touchdown pass — bootleg left, first read covered, back across the field deep for an 80-yarder.
But it doesn’t make much of a column to say that someone didn’t get hurt, and we don’t cover the San Francisco 49ers a lot around here, so now is the time to go through the biggest takeaway from the Chiefs’ first preseason game, which ended with a 19-16 win (if you care about that last part, please consider some help for your gambling problem).
The Chiefs’ offensive line looked good, very good, but we owe it to ourselves to remember the 49ers kept most of their defensive starters on the sideline — including the entire defensive line and star linebacker Fred Warner.
But trust me when I say that that this space would be blowing them up if they were getting beat, so it’s only fair that we recognize the Chiefs played well.
“They’re getting there,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “We still have plenty of room to go. But where we’re at right now, I’d say yes. Do we need to get better? Yeah, we need to keep working together.”
Here’s an unfamiliar sight: the Chiefs’ offensive line moving the opposing defense back in the run game. Happened a few times against the 49ers, most notably on the first snap, when Clyde Edwards-Helaire went 10 yards mostly untouched, and for a no-nonsense conversion on third and 2.
Those are the spots we’ve grown used to seeing Ferrari Right or an underhanded pass to a fullback. Gimmick stuff. It worked more often than more traditional attempts, but the shelf life on that stuff is temporary. The Chiefs’ new line can convert the boring way, and that’s a compliment.
But we know this group will be evaluated largely on its pass protection, because that’s what happens when Mahomes plays quarterback.
Mahomes is relentlessly self-critical, and among other things this season he is prioritizing playing from the pocket — we all remember the Super Bowl scrambles, but even that game included some examples of him breaking the pocket unnecessarily.
Well, to do that Mahomes needs to familiarize himself with an overhauled line. From left to right, the Chiefs started Orlando Brown Jr. (acquired in a trade), Joe Thuney (free agent) and rookies Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Lucas Niang. That group played just two series — one with Mahomes, the other with backup quarterback Chad Henne — and allowed virtually no pressure.
“There were some little things there we will get cleaned up,” Reid said. “But they did a good job.”
Without the benefit of watching the film, all five appeared to play well, and collectively they were terrific. Thuney was getting downfield on runs, Humphrey looked prepared and controlled and Smith was disposing of the man in front of him and then looking for more.
But the most interesting guys to watch may have been Brown and Niang.
Brown because of the importance of left tackle and some shaky moments in training camp one-on-ones, and Niang because he opted out of what would have been his rookie season in 2020.
Niang was quick at the snap and steady with his hands, but for now let’s focus on Brown. He made it to the second level on a few snaps, and the closest his pass rusher came to his quarterback was on a run-by or two — the rusher got around, but only after going too deep to make the play.
We’re into the weeds here, but those are critical measurements. Mahomes needs to trust his line, but he knows he can help if his line can trust where he’ll be. He’s spent much of camp talking with Brown, each man exchanging his preferences and working toward a partnership. It’s worth noting that after Mahomes’ only series, he and Brown were on the sideline in conversation.
“Just certain things I’ve been working on with Patrick,” Brown said. “Really just getting the feel for — as the left tackle and an offensive lineman, period — it’s always good to know where your quarterback wants to be, what he wants to do, what he’s thinking in certain situations. That can help me react, or put my player wherever I need to put him so he can do what he does best.”
This cannot be emphasized enough: It’s one preseason game, and the competition was compromised.
But the Chiefs’ Super Bowl repeat was blown up by injuries on the offensive line, and the front office spent the bulk of its offseason — in terms of time, money and other resources — on fixing the problem. One sort of game in, and it looks pretty good.
If you want to nitpick, we could talk about a blown coverage in basic Cover 2, where Mike Hughes and Devon Key let Trent Sheffield behind them on that long touchdown. But let’s pick nits another day.
Now’s not the time. Maybe this week.
This story was originally published August 14, 2021 at 11:40 PM.