Do You See What I See? Snow Reveals Chiefs Primary Issue, On Offense

Do You See What I See? Snow Reveals Chiefs Primary Issue, On Offense – after a dominant performance against the Denver Broncos, the Kansas City Chiefs are headed to Chicago to face the Bears. Fan confidence is at an all time high thanks to the first, truly, complete game since week three against the Baltimore Ravens. The Chiefs defense has maintained its dominance and, despite some struggles in the red zone, the offense looked like it’s old self. It would seem that everything is headed in the right direction, but the snow obscured more than just the field, it hid the Chiefs fatal flaw: the interior offensive line.

Here’s the Problem

In the snow it’s a lot harder to get pressure on the interior. In a part of the game which is largely about leverage, it’s tough to unlock your force while sliding on slush. Mahomes has struggled for much of the year with his pocket presence. He’s been quick to bail on bad pockets, and even some good ones, if he sees a stunt coming and doesn’t expect the OL to pick it up. While he was aware of this issue, and undoubtedly working on it, I don’t buy that as great as he is, he could fix it in a single week. This week’s performance was less about Mahomes being, as he said, “A snow game quarterback,” and more about him being a pocket QB. For all the great things he can do on the run, Mahomes is still at his best in the pocket. This week made it evident that the primary source of his regression this year, is the lack of competent blocking in front of him.

Here’s a Solution

Andy Reid has many fine qualities and he may be the best: non-cheating, coach in the modern era. However, he’s far too slow to make adjustments on the Offensive Line. Fans and analysts alike, have been clamoring for Steven Wisniewski to take a starting position, on the interior. Anytime Andrew Wylie, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, or Austin Reiter have gone down with an injury, the line has gotten markedly better. With Wylie injured again, it seems likely that Wisniewski will man the interior against the Bears but, with the playoffs coming Reid needs to leave him in there after this game. The Chiefs should consider other possible shuffling along the Offensive Line as well. For some reason they seem set on Erving playing Swing Tackle, but he could present a potential improvement at LG, vs Wylie. Wylie seems more comfortable on the right side and with LDT’s struggles this year, might improve the unit by playing there. Whatever the arrangement may be, something has to change, giving these guys ‘time to gel’ hasn’t worked yet and K.C. is running out of time.

The Result

The beauty in this is, we now know that the offensive struggles aren’t really on Mahomes, or even the receivers. A solid interior should be all that’s required to bring them back to greatness. It should also help tremendously on those rare occasions that the Chiefs need to run the ball, thus making them more dangerous in the red zone. Shoring up the OL will be a major priority in the off-season, but K.C. has to do better now if they want to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Bonus Thought: The Future

The pick up of Martinas Rankin was a great move by Chiefs GM Brett Veach. RB Carlos Hyde wasn’t going to do much behind this Chiefs OL and was only under contract for just one year. Rankin is under cheap team control until 2022. He should be able to man the LG spot. Wylie is a fine RG, and a permanent move there would certainly, benefit him. Nick Allegretti has plenty of potential at OC but… the Chiefs need to move away from relying on late round picks and free agent scrap heap options in the middle. Mitch Morse made this offense much better and so it’s time to get serious about finding his replacement. Since K.C. will be tight against the cap this coming offseason, they’ll have to spend some draft capital, but that might be difficult, as this year’s Center crop is not nearly as good as last year’s. Don’t be surprised if, come training camp, the best options at OC are still: Allegretti and Reiter.

Ransom Hawthorne — ArrowheadOne

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