No team came into this season with higher expectations than the Kansas City Chiefs. Behind the excellent play of their offensive line in their three preparatory games, the team looks to be on the verge of something truly special.
After their offensive line was decimated last year, a contributing factor to their loss in the Super Bowl, general manager Brett Veach redoubled his efforts to keep MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes healthy for years to come. Kansas City found two new starters in April’s draft, Creed Humphrey and Trey Smith, and settled on starting 2020 rookie opt-out Lucas Niang at right tackle. They also signed the best guard available in free agency in Joe Thuney and traded for a Pro Bowl left tackle in Orlando Brown Jr., transforming their weakest offensive unit from last season into a seemingly impenetrable wall around their star quarterback.
The new line made it through the entire preseason without allowing a sack and only allowing two pressures on Mahomes. They’ve excelled not only in pass protection, but also showing tremendous push in the running game. Following Friday’s home win against Minnesota, Mahomes made a point of showering his linemen with praise, telling reporters that the unit has been better every week.
“I think they’ve had an amazing preseason,” Mahomes said, “I haven’t got hit a lot; I don’t really think I got touched today. I think that just speaks to them and how they’ve been playing. They’ve done a great job and gotten better each and every week so I’m excited for the season.”
Their relative inexperience up front would be a major problem for some teams that don’t have the benefit of Kansas City’s world-class coaching staff. Throughout the camp and preseason process, coaches have placed a major emphasis on keeping their linemen on the same page, trying to mold them into a cohesive unit before September. Mahomes seemed impressed by the younger players’ ability to adjust to the pro game and pleased with where they’re at ahead of the regular-season opener.
“Obviously they’re all really talented,” Mahomes told reporters of his linemen. “You can see that in their practice, you can see that when they’re doing one on ones, whatever it is. As you kind of gel as an offensive line, with the quarterback, with the whole entire offense, when everybody is on the same exact page is when you have those truly great offensive lines and great offenses. I think you see us as games are going on, we’re communicating better and better, and I think we’ll continue to improve throughout the season.”
Commitment to improvement has become something of a mantra for this team as they look to avoid the dreaded Super Bowl hangover. Keeping Mahomes in good health with a clean pocket will be absolutely crucial to make another championship run. So far it seems they’re right where they want to be ahead of Week 1, primed to make waves early in the regular season behind a line that is only scratching the surface of their full potential.
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