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If you were watching the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 19-16 win over the San Francisco 49ers in their preseason opener Saturday night, then you had to be interested in what the Chiefs’ revamped offensive line was going to look like in their debut. And let me tell you — they didn’t disappoint.
With Mahomes Under Center
The offensive line’s first-team unit, which consisted of left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., left guard Joe Thuney, rookie center Creed Humphrey, rookie right guard Trey Smith, and right tackle Lucas Niang, played a total of two series. The first series was with starting quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which was just four plays, with a total 16 yards racked up between two rushing attempts by Clyde Edwards-Helaire for 12 yards and two pass attempts — one of which fell incomplete — for four yards.
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With Henne Under Center
The second series involved veteran quarterback Chad Henne under center for the Chiefs. That drive resulted in six plays for 39 yards and the first touchdown of the game.
Henne went 4-for-4 for 22 yards and a touchdown on that drive. Tyreek Hill opened the drive with a five-yard pass caught on a crossing route. After a defensive pass interference on San Francisco, fullback Michael Burton caught a pass for seven yards, Edwards-Helaire had runs of one and three yards, respectively, and the drive was capped off with a quick step-back throw from Henne to receiver Byron Pringle in the right side of the end zone for six points.
O-Line Didn’t Face Best Version of 49ers’ D-Line
What’s worth noting after their outing is that, unfortunately, Kansas City’s offensive line starters did not get to face the 49ers first-team defensive line. That’s not ideal, considering we wanted to see how they operated against not just a first-team unit, but one of the top pass-rushing units in the NFL. Nevertheless, the Chiefs’ starters did a great job of communicating and keeping a clean pocket for both Mahomes and Henne, who were neither sacked or pressured in their two series with the starters along the offensive line.
Here’s what head coach Andy Reid had to say about keeping the starters along the offensive line in the game after Mahomes’ night ended:
“I left them in there so they could get a little more work,” Reid told the media after the game. “I wanted to get Chad (Henne) some work with them, so it worked out good. I thought they did a nice job. There were some little things there we need to clean up, but I thought they did a good job.”
Overall, it was a very promising showing for an offensive line that has five new starters on it this season.
Next Task At Hand
For the offensive line, the next task at hand is continuing to build chemistry and communication throughout the remainder of the preseason. That begins this upcoming week, as the team travels to Arizona to take on the Cardinals. The Cardinals have two dominant pass-rushers in J.J. Watt and Chandler Jones, but will only get to face one of them, maybe, as Watt is still preparing to be fully healthy for the regular season. Jones sat out the team’s preseason opener against the Cowboys, however, we may see him get some action in their second preseason game against Kansas City.
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