“Chaos was the law of nature; Order was the dream of man.”
Super Bowl LV was the juxtaposition of two realities in life: things we can control and things we can’t control. There were things in the game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that the Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t control.
Some would argue these elements made it nearly impossible for the Chiefs to compete. Some would argue that the individual players made enough mistakes that despite these uncontrollable factors, they likely wouldn’t have won the game anyway.
The truth is, whether you believe in a God or you believe that we’re simply here as the result of natural processes, the one fundamental aspect that unites these two diverse sets of paradigms is the agreed-upon fact that 99 percent of what happens in life is outside of our control.
That’s why you usually don’t hear great players harp on the referees after a game. They didn’t become exceptional at their craft by dwelling on the things they can’t change. They became exceptional by learning from the things that happened and moving forward in a positive direction.
The Chiefs must focus on the offensive line this offseason.
For this piece we’ll aim to do the same. Super Bowl LV was replete with flaws the Chiefs can actively work toward fixing. The biggest, and most pressing for the Chiefs to move forward is the offensive line.
There was a particular, let’s say, well-respected analytics guru who writes for a fairly prestigious website in the world of sports blogging who made what I would consider a crazy argument following the game.
He contended that Patrick Mahomes, based on time-to-throw averages took nearly 50 percent more time to throw than did Tom Brady in the game. He asserted that the problem with Mahomes and pressure in the game wasn’t due to the presence of “backups” but Mahomes holding the ball for too long.
When I first saw this I chuckled—not a happy chuckle, mind you. This is a perfect example of data analytics folks having difficulty cross-analyzing data on a spreadsheet with actual reality.
You may simply say, “Well you just don’t understand analytics well enough.” It’s true, I don’t happen to be an analytics “expert,” but I happen to work in an industry where analytics and real-world application is extremely important. I couldn’t do my job effectively if I didn’t understand how to marry the two concepts.
In this case, the idea Mahomes had incredible amounts of time to throw just isn’t the case. Mina Kimes tallied the final stats: Mahomes was pressured on 29 out of 56 dropbacks, or the most in the history of the Super Bowl. Brady, on the other hand, was pressured on just four of 30 dropbacks for the least of any Super Bowl he’s played in.
The moral of the story is the Chiefs lack of investment in high end offensive line talent finally caught up with them after all these years. Patrick Mahomes’ mobility, and Alex Smith’s for that matter, has covered a multitude of wrongs along the unit over the last several seasons. Losing Eric Fisher appears to have been the final straw.
For context, in Andy Reid’s tenure the Chiefs have drafted three offensive lineman in the first three rounds of the NFL draft. Mitch Morse signed with the Buffalo Bills two off seasons ago, Eric Fisher just tore his achilles, and Lucas Niang opted out of his rookie season due to COVID.
They obviously brought in Mitchell Schwartz who’s an All-Pro caliber right tackle, but as we’ve discussed before, there’s a chance he’s either not in Kansas City next season or a lesser version due to age and injury. It’s a real possibility, given the length of recovery for Fisher, the Chiefs don’t have any top-tier investments with starting experience on the offensive line next season.
To me, this item is the very top of the list in terms of priority. Without question, the Chiefs need to invest in an offensive lineman in the first three rounds of the 2021 NFL Draft and probably draft a developmental prospect in the later rounds. They also need to figure out a way to work in a veteran starter in free agency, if that’s even possible.
These O-line additions aren’t just about winning games. This is to keep the franchise’s most important asset and $500 million quarterback healthy. As has been the case many times the last two seasons, Mahomes took an absolute beating on Sunday evening. He was running for his life, and this can’t continue if the Chiefs are serious about Mahomes having a long career.