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In the 2021 offseason, few NFL scenarios generated more coverage than the Kansas City Chiefs rebuilding their offensive line. None of the linemen who started in Sunday’s 33-29 win over the Cleveland Browns were even on the squad in 2020 – let alone from here.
After the game, head coach Andy Reid praised a group of positions that faced a tough game in Game 1 of the season.
“It’s a good seven forward,” he said. “I thought they were doing well and doing a really good job. To make the racing game go like this against this crew? I was thinking [it] was great. We got the only bag at the end, but that shouldn’t spoil the rest of what they did.
“I was quite impressed. Lucas Niang probably had the hardest job of all – and he [bore] down and pushed through. They’re young, young guys in there – and a veteran group of defensive linemen. “
To be fair, it took a while for the offensive linemen to pull themselves together. In the first half, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire only gained three yards in as many carries – and quarterback Patrick Mahomes posted a passer rating below 100. But in the second half, Edward-Helaire gained 40 yards on 11 carries, clearing the way for Mahomes to pass for 168 yards and three touchdowns – good for a spectacular 147.9 second-half score.
Redi credited offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy with insisting on returning to running play in the second half, saying it made a big difference to the result. But he also clarified that there was still work to be done upstream.
“We’re not going to rely on that,” said the head coach. “We have to improve. There were too many mistakes. We had detention penalties [and] an illegal procedural sanction. We need to improve, so we’re going to hammer that out.
“But for now, we’re going to take advantage of it – because it was difficult. These wins are hard to come by in this league, so we’re going to take advantage of this one. But we’ll come back and make sure we sort out some of the things we need to improve ourselves in. “
Mahomes acknowledged that part of the improvement had to come from him.
“There were times when I drifted back a little too far,” he admitted, “and they kind of made these guys move into the 10-yard zone. , so I had to speed up pretty quickly. But we will continue to work on it. They do a great job of being firm up front and knocking out these guys so I can still be in the pocket. They did a great job today against – as you said – a very good defensive line. “
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