The Kansas City Chiefs have one unresolved issue that rises above the rest as the playoffs approach.
Nov 17, 2024; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is sacked by Buffalo Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver (91) in the second quarter at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images / Mark Konezny-Imagn Images
The Kansas City Chiefs finished the regular season 15-2 as the AFC’s No. 1 seed, but one position has challenged the Chiefs all year. With a week off before officially beginning to prepare for the divisional round, are the Chiefs confident that their tackles will be able to protect quarterback Patrick Mahomes? Do they even know who their starting left tackle will be?
Matt Verderame of SI examined that question — “Are the tackles going to protect Patrick Mahomes enough?” — when picking each playoff team’s biggest uncertainty entering the postseason.
After summarizing the injury-riddled and “underwhelming” start to the season from the Chiefs’ offense, Verderame narrowed his view to the Chiefs’ issues at tackle (particularly left tackle) before discussing Kansas City’s late-season fix and potential postseason pivot.
“Yet in their past three meaningful weeks of the regular season, the Chiefs might have solved the problem,” Verderame wrote. “Coach Andy Reid decided to move All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney to tackle while sliding veteran backup Mike Caliendo into Thuney’s original spot. The result has been stark. After allowing 35 sacks through 13 games, Kansas City surrendered only one against the Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers in an 11-day span, helping the Chiefs clinch the AFC’s top seed. Lastly, in the wins over Houston and Pittsburgh, Mahomes was hit just six times after an NFL-high 62 times over the first 14 games.”
So, the Chiefs have their solution? Not quite.
“The big question now is whether Kansas City will keep Thuney at left tackle or slide him back inside to rejoin the league’s best interior with center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith,” Verderame continued. “If Thuney does go back to his natural position, it means D.J. Humphries, who [had] made one start with the Chiefs before pulling his hamstring, is going back into the lineup.”
Humphries also got the start and almost every offensive snap of the Chiefs’ Week 18 backup-led loss to the Denver Broncos, giving him another round of live-action reps for KC to evaluate. Ultimately, Humphries’s second game with the Chiefs had ups and downs, making the Humphries-or-Thuney question even harder to answer as the playoffs approach.
