The Kansas City Chiefs are not Super Bowl worthy right now
The Offensive Line
If you were to just look at the number of times Patrick Mahomes has been sacked on the season, you might make the mistake of thinking that the Chiefs have been good in pass protection. After all, Mahomes has only been sacked 8 times in 6 games—only 1.3 sacks per game. There are at least four quarterbacks in the NFL that have been sacked over 20 times during that same span.
However, if you actually watch the games, you know that the reason Mahomes has only been sacked 8 times is because of his awareness and ability to escape the pocket and get the ball out of his hand.
Mahomes is constantly under pressure and running for his life. That was bad enough when he was 100% healthy but it’s even worse now that he is battling an ankle injury (caused from taking too many shots to begin with). This will be helped a lot by the return of Eric Fisher. While Fisher may not be the franchise left tackle we all hoped he would be when he was the first overall pick in the draft, he is clearly better than Cam Erving who has really struggled while Fisher has been out.
While the biggest problem with pass protection may be helped by Fisher’s return, the problems with run blocking for this offensive line are more permanent. Starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, who has the Chiefs third highest cap hit this season and is making over $8.2 million,entered Sunday’s game as Pro Football Focus‘ 54th ranked guard in run blocking. Starting center Austin Reiter is even worse as he entered Sunday as their 31st ranked center in run blocking with a run grade of 44.6. I won’t even tell you Cam Erving’s run blocking grade. Let’s just say it makes Reiter’s look good.
The Chiefs offensive line just hasn’t been good enough this season. Mitchell Schwartz is still a great right tackle, but without Fisher, it’s been a train wreck everywhere else. They get no push up front—ever—and with Fisher out Mahomes simply doesn’t have a safe pocket to stand in.
The only real hope for the pass protection is that Fisher can come back full strength and be effective in the playoffs. The run blocking however, needs to be improved through a shift in mindset. That brings me to my final thing that must be improved, the play calling.