The Kansas City Chiefs may not have landed a proven No. 1 wide receiver at the NFL trade deadline, but by trading for Josh Downs, they at least addressed one of their biggest needs. Unfortunately, the Chiefs had more than one major need going into the deadline but were only able to make the one deal. So now K.C. will have to find a way to make do at the other spots that they weren't able to address.
There is definitely still reason to question Kansas City's pass rush. They have had a handful of highly productive games getting after the quarterback, but they've also had multiple games where they weren't able to get much pressure at all. While the pass rush still has plenty to prove, at least there is some realistic hope there. George Karlaftis has been good, R Mason Thomas has real potential, Chris Jones may still have a little juice left, and Steve Spagnuolo may still have a few blitzes up his sleeve.
While the pass rush at least has some realistic hope for improvement, the offensive tackle position is another story. The Chiefs' only real chance for the tackle position to become reliable this season is if the enigma that is Josh Simmons decides he's ready to play football again, and who knows if that will be the case. If the Chiefs are stuck with their current options for the rest of the season, then K.C. is going to have to game plan around bad pass protection on the outside.
Kansas City's offensive tackles remain a major liability
Kahlil Benson has at least shown some potential, but he is still far from reliable. The undrafted rookie is currently ranked 68th out of 71 qualified offensive tackles in pass protection by Pro Football Focus. While Benson hasn't given up a quarterback sack, he has given up 13 quarterback hits, which ranks dead last among offensive tackles. So basically, Patrick Mahomes is great at getting the ball out before Benson's man takes a shot at him.
Benson has been a really good run blocker, and if the Chiefs had Simmons at left tackle, they could just focus on helping Benson on the right side. But when an overachieving undrafted rookie who is giving up a bunch of QB hits is your best tackle, things aren't going great. Meanwhile, K.C.'s starting right tackle, Jaylon Moore, has been worse than Benson as a run blocker, and while he's only given up five QB hits, he has given up five quarterback sacks.
Moore left last week's game with an ankle injury and didn't practice on Tuesday. If he isn't able to go this week, it will likely be Joshua Ezeudu who starts on the right side. Ezeudu hasn't played much but has a couple of bad pass-rush losses on his limited reps. Maybe they can develop him, but the looks we've had so far don't suggest he's the answer either. That means that, barring a Simmons return where he actually stays healthy and motivated, the Chiefs are going to have to work around an offensive tackle issue for the rest of the year.
How Andy Reid can work around the tackle problems
Andy Reid will have to continue to game plan with help from backs and tight ends on the edge and quick passing routes where Mahomes can get the ball out quickly. A receiver with the ability to separate like Josh Downs could help that quick-passing attack, and if the Chiefs can continue to run the ball well with Kenneth Walker, they can utilize play-action to help get some passing reps with less pressure.
The Chiefs may not be helpless with their current offensive tackle situation, but it does feel like it is by far the biggest issue on the roster that they need to overcome if they want to be a true Super Bowl contender down the stretch. The Chiefs are 6-2 and have looked like one of the better AFC teams thus far despite their weaknesses. How the Chiefs deal with that weakness down the stretch and in the playoffs may be the number one thing for fans to keep an eye on going forward.
Add us as a preferred source on Google