Kansas City had some clear problems with pass protection in Super Bowl LV, with Patrick Mahomes having to scramble for nearly 500 yards before throwing or getting sacked.
Part of that stemmed from the Chiefs playing a backup left tackle and their third right tackle. Part of it was scheme, as via Daniel Jeremiah of NFL Media, NFL Next Gen Stats determined Kansas City used a five-man protection on 92 percent of Mahomes’ dropbacks — leaving those backup tackles without help on the edge.
But with center Austin Reiter up for free agency, left tackle Eric Fisher recovering from a torn Achilles, and right tackle Mitchell Schwartz not playing after Week 6 due to a back injury, there’s some reason for concern on the offensive line heading into 2021.
But things aren’t all that bad, according to head coach Andy Reid.
“With the guys that are injured that are potentially coming back, or opted out or potentially coming back, we’ll kind of get all that covered here in the next couple of days,” Reid said Monday, via Matt Derrick of Chiefs Digest. “I don’t think the outlook is bleak by any means.”
The good thing is that the Chiefs have Mahomes, who can cover up many of an offensive line’s deficiencies. But as Tampa Bay proved Sunday night, there’s only so much the QB can do when he’s under constant duress.