The end of the Kansas City Chiefs season is one that many people did not seem coming. Even heading into Super Bowl LIX, there were a great many people who believed the Chiefs would win despite all their close one-score games during the regular season and playoffs.
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What happened was the Philadelphia Eagles exposed the offensive line and protection for the Chiefs, leading to a lopsided 40-22 victory. Considering the most important player on the team is quarterback Patrick Mahomes, fortifying the offensive line should have been at the top of the list for the team.
Instead of fortifying the line, the Chiefs lost their best offensive lineman in Joe Thuney, who signed with the Chicago Bears. As a result, there is one insider who has stated that Kansas City has let down Mahomes in a big way.
NFL analyst Domonique Foxworth stated that work on the offensive line was not great in free agency.
"Yes, I watched the Super Bowl. That man (Patrick Mahomes) looked like a victim to me," Foxworth said. "It is like the Bears; it is obvious what they had to address. The Bears went and did it. The Chiefs lost their best offensive lineman. Their guard, who was also their best tackle, left. And the way that they answered it was by getting a back up tackle from the 49ers to be the best quarterback in the league, his blindside protection.
It does feel like they have failed him. They tried to fix this position through the draft in the past, they tried to sign right tackles to make them left tackles, and now they are trying to sign a backup tackle to make him a starter. I do not know how we argue that there was one big thing they had to solve this year with their offensive line; they have not solved it yet."
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Foxworth does have a point. The protection for Mahomes was already questionable heading into the end of the regular season. The star quarterback suffered a high ankle sprain that nearly led to him missing time.
Mahomes did play through his injury, but the Eagles cracked the code of being able to get to the Chiefs' biggest star.
Mahomes took 36 sacks in 2024, which was good for 11th in the entire league. While being top 10 would be worse, protecting Mahomes is the biggest task the team needs to accomplish.
If Mahomes cannot do his job, then the offense becomes stale, which was evident in Super Bowl LIX.
Losing Thuney is going to impact the Chiefs' protection in 2025, and it will be up to Andy Reid and offensive line coach Andy Heck to get the best out of the new unit.
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This story was originally published March 15, 2025 at 9:47 AM.