Kansas City Chiefs: Offensive line could be a problem vs Raiders

The Kansas City Chiefs could be without their two starting tackles against the Raiders on Sunday night.

Injuries have been an issue for the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line all season long, but this week it could be the worst its been, as both tackles could miss Sunday’s game against the Las Vegas Raiders. To be fair, it won’t be an injury that keeps either from playing, but rather coming into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

If both Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz are unable to play, the Chiefs will really be in a bind when it comes to finding book ends for their offensive line. Schwartz hasn’t played since Week 6 where he actually left the game early on with a nagging back injury.

The Chiefs also had to place depth piece Martinas Rankin on the COVID list, so there’s one less option to fill in. They’ve been scrambling to throw together a healthy o-line all season, as Schwartz has been banged up, Kelechi Osemele was injured last month, and both Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and rookie Lucas Niang opted out.

This isn’t the news Kansas City Chiefs fans were hoping for ahead of a big divisional game against the Raiders.

This game isn’t necessarily a must-win, as even if the Chiefs did lose, they’d still be a game up on the Raiders. It’d obviously be a pride thing, as KC hasn’t been swept by the Raiders since the 2012 season. Kansas City is going to be motivated to kick Vegas’ butt this time around, but it’ll be a little tougher to do on offense if the offensive line is made up of entirely of backups.

Patrick Mahomes was sacked three times in the Chiefs’ loss to Vegas in Week 5 and in the end, that proved pivotal. The offense wasn’t its normal self that day and Mahomes was having a tough time getting protection all afternoon long. It could be a similar story this weekend if Fisher and Schwartz do indeed have to miss the game.

As for who’s left on the Chiefs roster to potentially fill in along the line, Nick Allegretti, Yasir Durant, Daniel Kilgore, Austin Reiter, Mike Remmers, and Andrew Wylie are the rostered options. Kilgore filled in at center during the Bills game and we saw one of the best rushing performances in recent years by the Chiefs offense. Remmers and Wylie can jump around the line and play multiple positions.

We also might see Travis Kelce helping out more in pass protection, though doing so takes targets away from him and makes it easier to slow down Tyreek Hill. This is something we might see more of, but the Chiefs know better than to completely leave Kelce as a blocker.

Hopefully Fisher is able to play (Schwartz has been injured, so he shouldn’t be rushed back no matter what) because it’d be nice to at least have the starting left tackle out there in a big divisional game. The Kansas City Chiefs will need all of the help they can get in this one.