Andy Reid knows exactly what the Kansas City Chiefs’ problem is, he just needs the right fix.
The back-to-back Super Bowl champions are 11-1 and heading for another postseason.
But the offense is not firing on all cylinders and despite being the first team to punch their ticket to the postseason, the three-peat chasing Chiefs risk being overpowered in the playoffs.
A 30-21 defeat to the Buffalo Bills in November – in what could end up being the AFC Championship game – highlighted the concerns.
Patrick Mahomes was then sacked five times in an unconvincing 19-17 victory over the 2-10 Las Vegas Raiders on Black Friday.
Reid benched second-year star Wanya Morris – moving All-Pro guard Joe Thuney over to left tackle.
Rookie Kingsley Suamataia was supposed the be the answer after being drafted in the second round but lost his place to Morris early in the season.
“Wanya, he was struggling a little bit,” Reid admitted after the Raiders win.
“So put Joe Thuney over there and Mike Caliendo in at guard. That was the right thing to do at that time.”
“Patrick Mahomes took a few hits there, and so we were struggling at times.
“It’s disruptive to any offense if the quarterback is getting hit and not able to get the ball off. So that can be a problem.
“He played against a couple of good players, but you got to do better than what we did there.”
Mahomes is spending too much time evading pressure[/caption]
The Chiefs signed left tackle DJ Humphries last week in another attempt to fix the leaky line.
The former Arizona Cardinal has medical clearance to return to football after tearing his ACL last December.
Reid is not sure if Humphries is ready to go against the Los Angeles Chargers in what has all of a sudden become a big AFC West game on Sunday.
“I don’t think that’s probably fair to D.J. right now, just him coming off this offseason,” he said.
“We’ll work him in and see how he feels. That’s the main thing. He hadn’t played in a while, so I just want to make sure he’s in good position.
“He did a nice job last week working in there, and we’ll do a little bit more with him this week.
“Last week was a short week, so we didn’t have a whole lot of time for the fast part of the game, practices, and so this week I’ll have a better idea as we go, and he’ll have a better idea how he feels, then we just go from there. We’ll just see how it all works out.
“I think we just play it by ear as we go, and if he feels OK, then we give him an opportunity. If it’s not where it needs to be, then you don’t, so we’ll just see how it goes.”
That leaves the crucial spot on Mahomes’ blindside up for grabs.
Reid has not ruled out shifting Thuney over from the start.
“Well, that’s another one of the options that we’ve got,” he revealed.
“We finished the game that way. I’d rather have Joe playing in at guard because he’s very good there, but Caliendo isn’t bad either, so that’s a good problem to have.
“But we’ve got some flexibility there as needed.”
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