Kansas City Chiefs: Offensive Line Looking For Answers

The KC Chiefs take on the Detroit Lions today in London, and the game begins up front for Kansas City.

The Kansas City Chiefs shuffled its offensive line through training camp, preseason and the first seven weeks of the regular season. Have they finally settled on the right group?

Through seven games, the Chiefs have allowed the second most sacks in the NFL with 26. Only Seattle (31) has allowed more, according to ESPN.com. Every phase of the offense has struggled at times this season, but the offensive line has been especially chaotic.

The Chiefs may have found a viable combination during last week’s 23-13 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Eric Fisher moved to left tackle, Ben Grubbs and Mitch Morse stayed at left guard and center, while Laurent Duvernay-Tardif took the job back at right guard, and Jeff Allen started at right tackle for the first time this season.

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It was out with Donald Stephenson and Zach Fulton, and in with Duvernay-Tardif and Allen. It might have been the first time since Week 2 that the offensive played a complete game.

Stephenson had every opportunity to earn a starting job, but consistently poor showings forced the Chiefs to tweak the formula.

It’s far from set in stone, but coach Andy Reid liked what he saw from the unit last week, according to The Associated Press‘ Dave Skretta:

"“I thought the offensive line did a pretty good job, and I say that telling you that I think Pittsburgh has a pretty good front,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “They gave us a few different looks. So the thing I saw, and again, it wasn’t all pretty, but the effort there was.”"

Today, the Chiefs face a Detroit Lions defense that ranks ninth in the NFL in sacks with 17. They added defensive lineman Haloti Ngata to go with rising talent Ziggy Ansah on the defensive front. They’ll provide a nice test for Kansas City’s offensive line, especially the left side, as the newly configured unit has a chance to win consecutive games for the first time this season.

The Chiefs offense goes as the offense line goes. When the Chiefs control the line of scrimmage, Alex Smith typically can lead an offense down the field, and the Chiefs defense gets some much-needed prolonged breaks.

If the Chiefs want to have any chance of going into next week’s bye week with a 3-5 recrod, the offensive line must continue to set the tone.

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Without Jamaal Charles, with a banged up Jeremy Maclin and revolving doors across most of the offensive line, it’s a big day for the Chiefs. If they can find a way to take care of the Lions on the road, they’ll get the better part of 13 days off before the traveling to Denver on November 15.

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