3 Chiefs on Thin Ice Entering AFC Championship Game vs. Bills

2. The Offensive Line

Perhaps the biggest story of Kansas City's season has been the offensive line play. Four different left tackles have started a game and while Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, and Trey Smith are excellent players, Saturday was a poor performance overall.

Patrick Mahomes was under duress for the entire game. He was only sacked three times but the constant pressure held him to completing only 16 of 25 passes for 177 yards. We saw the Bills' defensive front blitz Lamar Jackson to help cause two turnovers and if that happens again, the Chiefs will probably lose.

Surprisingly, Smith graded as Kansas City's worst offensive player (48.3) at Pro Football Focus. He was facing a tough matchup and ranked 14th out of 135 qualified guards during the regular season, so hopefully this was just a bad game and not what's to be expected against a weaker Buffalo front.

Much-maligned right tackle Jawaan Taylor may have committed a penalty, though he did well all things considered by allowing only two pressures. Humphrey is still a stalwart up the middle and Thuney is capable on the outside, meaning there's reason to believe in this group.

On paper, the Texans will be the best defensive line the Chiefs could face. The Bills coaching staff will likely try to take advantage of holes along Kansas City's interior though, and that could spell disaster for the three-peat bid.

Provided that Caliendo, who graded poorly (59.8) at Pro Football Focus as well, can hold his own, things should be okay. All Chiefs fans will be anxiously watching the offensive line on the first few plays though, knowing from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Super Bowl loss that one terrible effort can thwart everything else with the offense.