Getty Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Andrew Wylie helps up Patrick Mahomes after a sack.
Kansas City Chiefs fans were not happy about the play of right tackle Andrew Wylie after the Sunday Night Football comeback over the Tennessee Titans.
The KC offensive line allowed 37 total pressures (29 hurries, four sacks, four QB hits) on quarterback Patrick Mahomes II according to Pro Football Focus, and Wylie was charged with eight of them (seven hurries, one QB hit).
Since then, it appears the temperature surrounding the fifth-year blocker has actually risen. Arrowhead Pride polled the fanbase this week and an “overwhelming majority” voted for long-lost OT prospect Lucas Niang to retake his place in the starting lineup once healthy.
Chiefs Fans Call for Lucas Niang in ‘Overwhelming’ Vote
Through their parent company SB Nation, Arrowhead Pride revealed the results of their Week 10 polls with a couple of Chiefs-centric questions mixed in.
“90% of Chiefs fans think Lucas Niang should get a chance to start when he returns from injury,” the results read. “Now that he’s been designated for return from the Reserve/PUP list, the team must activate him to the roster before Thanksgiving,” writer John Dixon relayed, “or else he will be lost for the season.”
Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney was among those reporting Niang’s return to practice on November 2. That began the bookend’s official 21-day window.
The last we saw Niang, he ruptured his patellar tendon filling in for Orlando Brown Jr. at left tackle against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 17 of the 2021 season. That injury occurred on January 2 of this calendar year, so it’s somewhat impressive that the former third-round selection is back on the field practicing already.
He’ll have to prove more than that if he’s going to unseat Wylie, however. Mahomes is the Chiefs’ prized possession and they won’t just throw someone back in the lineup to protect him unless they feel that player is 100% ready to go.
Until then, fans will continue to brainstorm ideas that would shore up the blocking unit in front of their superstar QB. After all, stopping Mahomes becomes darn near impossible when he has time to throw.
Poll Results From Harrison Butker to Patrick Mahomes
There were a few other interesting survey questions to report on after SB Nation’s latest poll of the fanbase. The first involved kicker Harrison Butker, who has struggled of late after an ankle injury sidelined him for part of the season.
They asked fans “how confident” they are in Butker right now, and 53% voted for “a little concerned,” which was only a two on a 1-4 scale with one being the lowest amount of worry. 25% of supporters said they weren’t concerned at all, while 17% voted “somewhat concerned” and 5% admitted that they were “very concerned.”
52% of Chiefs Kingdom was also bold enough to predict that Kansas City would finish undefeated in the AFC West — which was projected to be a gauntlet of a division at the start of 2022. The competition has disappointed so far — although the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers both gave the Chiefs a run for their money early in the year — and more than half of the fanbase thinks KC will finish 6-0 against their rivals.
Finally, the early MVP poll of all NFL fans saw Mahomes trailing Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts. Behind an undefeated record, Hurts managed to steal 26% of the votes away from the Chiefs signal-caller, who tied Josh Allen for second with 21% each.
2022 comeback stories Geno Smith and Tua Tagovailoa rounded out the top five, with 13% and 7%, respectively.