The Kansas City Chiefs were chasing a historic three-peat last season, and after a 15-2 record, the franchise made it back to the Super Bowl for a third straight year.
But they ran into a buzzsaw called the Philadelphia Eagles, as Patrick Mahomes was eaten alive by the Eagles’ defensive front.
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This was nothing new, with Mahomes being sacked the most he has been since becoming the starter, including 11 times in the postseason and 36 times in the regular season.
So moves were made with Jaylon Moore signed in free agency, and Josh Simmons was selected in the first round of the draft to help ease the loss of Joe Thuney, who was a salary cap casualty.
And for NFL Network’s Judy Battista, the offensive line might be the last piece of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl puzzle.
“Everything else is in place for the Chiefs to make another big push this year if they can get this [offensive line] right,” Battista said.
Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Wanya Morris (64) and running back Isiah Pacheco (10) at the line of scrimmage against the Cincinnati Bengals during the game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. © Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports
The defense under Steve Spagnuolo will again be one of the better units in football, and Mahomes’ weapons look just as good as last season.
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Marquise Brown, Juju Smith-Schuster, and Kareem Hunt are all returning, while Rashee Rice will come back from his knee injury to partner with Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce, and Noah Gray in the passing attack.
But for all of Mahomes’ weapons, they are rendered useless if he doesn’t have the time to get the ball to them. Enter the offensive line’s improvement.
If the unit can take a step forward and keep Mahomes upright more often than it did last season, then maybe the Chiefs can make another deep playoff run.
Because it was their undoing last season, and you can bet defenses will be looking to stress the line again in 2025 in the hopes of breaking the Chiefs’ spirit as the Eagles did in the Super Bowl demolition.
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But if it can improve, then maybe Kansas City will be in business once again.
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