What Chiefs Offensive Line Must Fix vs. Broncos

While Mahomes has been successful against the Broncos in his career, defeating them 13 times compared to one, pressure always surrounds the two-time MVP. In his career, Mahomes has been sacked 25 times in 14 games played.

What's really concerning is that in the last two seasons, spanning over three games (two in 2023, one in 2024), Mahomes was sacked nine times; five times in 2023 and four times in 2024. Now things have changed a tad from 2024's offensive line, but as of late, Mahomes' protection has been flawed.

In the last two games, Mahomes has been sacked six times, three each game. With the return of Josh Simmons this week against the Broncos, the Chiefs should be hopeful to see those numbers decrease.

When Simmons was playing, before leaving the franchise to deal with a personal matter, Mahomes' sack rate was very low. Without Simmons, who was added as the big draft pick this offseason to ensure protection of the quarterback, the struggles were clear. Simmons' impact is huge.

Head coach Andy Reid dove into Simmons' departure and how it has affected the team, but more so from a teammate perspective than an offensive line protecting perspective.

• "Players are always concerned about other players’ well-being, that’s first of all. But on the other hand, they also move forward, and they don’t necessarily look back. They giddy up and go on what’s there today and let’s go and they go 100 miles an hour with that. I think it’s a blend of things that they’re not dwelling on that, but they want to make sure he’s okay as a human being," Reid said.