KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will be starting a new left guard and tackle, the latter coming off a major knee injury, when they travel nearly 12 hours to play their season opener on foreign soil against one of the NFL’s best defenses.
If that sounds like a nightmare for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, how would you describe last season?
The Chiefs pondered a half-dozen options back then in trying to protect his blind side, ultimately giving up on second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia and second-year pro Wanya Morris. The result was predictable. Mahomes was sacked 36 times, eight more than any other season in his eight-year NFL career. His sack rate was a career-worst 5.83% of drop-backs, and that translated into a net yards-per-attempt of fewer than 6 for the first time in his career.
The whole mess culminated at the Super Bowl, when the Philadelphia Eagles not only sacked Mahomes six times but hit him on 11 occasions in a 40-22 loss that never seemed as close as the final score might suggest.
“We knew we had to get better,” Chiefs general manager Brett Veach acknowledged.
Whether they did will be revealed on Friday night in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where the Chiefs open the season against the Los Angeles Chargers. They will be starting first-round pick Josh Simmons at left tackle against a defense that features pass rushers Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu, while Suamataia — now converted to guard — will be lining up next to him on the left side.
The duo solidified starting roles early in training camp along an offensive line that includes All-Pro center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith — who just signed a four-year, $94 million extension — and veteran right tackle Jawaan Taylor.
“I think every step of the way so far, they’ve done a great job of getting better and better, and kind of checking those boxes,” Mahomes said. “This will be a great test for them. This is a prolific D-line with Khalil Mack and really all throughout. They have great depth at edge, at D-tackles, and they were one of the best defenses in the league this past year.
“It’ll be another test for these guys,” Mahomes said, “and I’m excited for them to go out there and accept the challenge.”
What other choice do they have?
Simmons has been a revelation in the preseason, perhaps even surpassing what the Chiefs expected of him when they selected him No. 32 overall in the April draft. The biggest reason he slid so far in the first round was that Simmons tore his patellar tendon last season at Ohio State, and many teams were uncertain when he would be ready to play.
Simmons wound up attending every optional workout, mandatory minicamp and training camp practice, and he excelled when he got an opportunity in preseason games. Never once did it look as if his knee was causing him any problems.
“I took preseason with a grain of salt,” Simmons said. “It’s kind of backups here, maybe a guy who doesn’t play this position here, so I just kind of took it with a grain of salt. How was my technique? Did I take the right footsteps? Etcetera.”
He certainly made a believer of his most important critic: Andy Reid.
The Chiefs coach is an offensive line coach at heart, so he takes particular interest in the big guys up front. And while Reid was predictably understated in his assessment, he admitted that Simmons has looked the part of a franchise left tackle.
“I’ll probably be saying this every week through the season, but it’s his first year, so there are going to be certain things that he hasn’t seen before,” Reid said, “and he’s got to fight through that. But he’s a talented kid and he’s willing. He wants to do well and he’s worked very hard. He’s worked very hard to get himself into this position right here to be the starter.”
Not just any starter but perhaps the most important starter on the offensive line, one tasked with protecting Mahomes better than it did last season, when it was among the many reasons Kansas City came up short in the Super Bowl.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Dave Skretta, The Associated Press
