KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wanya Morris replaced an ineffective Kingsley Suamataia during the fourth quarter during a Week 2 win against Cincinnati.
It was Morris’ turn to get benched in the fourth quarter of a 19-17 victory Friday against the Las Vegas Raiders at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
“Wanya, he was struggling a little bit, so we moved (left guard) Joe (Thuney) over there and (Mike) Caliendo in at guard,” Reid said. “I thought it was the right thing to do at that time. I talked to (offensive line coach) Andy (Heck) about it; he agreed with it, so we made that move and it just solidified things. Pat took a few hits there, so we were struggling with it at times.”
Twice, Raiders defensive end K’Lavon Chaisson slapped aside an ineffective Morris punch and reached quarterback Patrick Mahomes for a sack before he’d even finished his drop.
Eventually, Mahomes became visibly frustrated on the sideline about the pass-protection struggles, even if — as is his custom — he refused to publicly call out a teammate.
“Whoever’s out there, I trust those guys to go out there and make it happen,” Mahomes said. “I’ve seen those guys play and they’ve played at high levels. The coaches made a move and I thought the guys went in there and did a good job. I have to trust it. I think there were times I didn’t trust it there on that last drive. If I can trust it and make some of those throws, then we’re not in the situation that we were in at the end of the game.”
Kansas City’s offensive-tackle issues have plagued the offense all season.
The Chiefs let Orlando Brown Jr. walk after the 2022 season despite two Pro Bowl seasons after arriving via a trade with Baltimore.
Kansas City gave Jawaan Taylor a massive free-agent deal the following offseason and publicly said they planned to move him to left tackle, but he wound up settling at right tackle and veteran Donovan Smith was signed as Brown’s de facto replacement on Mahomes’ blindside.
Taylor led the NFL in penalties last season, struggling with illegal formation and holding penalties, but he improved as the season went along and the Chiefs managed to repeat as Super Bowl champions.
To address the left side, Kansas City developed Morris last season then used a second-round pick on Kingsley rather than re-signed Smith during the offseason, a move that’s proven inadequate.
“Penalties are killers and then the sacks are killers,” Reid said.
Thuney is a Pro Bowl performer at left guard. He’s played at left tackle before but has been viewed as a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option during his tenure with the Chiefs.
That emergency arrived in the fourth quarter against Las Vegas.
“Joe’s played a lot of ball and he’s an elite player,” center Creed Humphrey said. “... He’s done that for us before. A couple years ago, he had to jump out there and did a great job then, too. We know that, if that has to happen with Joe, he’s going to do a great job.”
Humphrey also expressed confidence in Caliendo: “He’s a great player. He does a great job. He’s someone who comes to work determined to get better every day. So, with him coming in, we had full trust in him.”
The best solution for Kansas City’s season-long left-tackle conundrum may have arrived via free agency earlier this week.
The Chiefs signed former Arizona left tackle D.J. Humphries, a 2021 Pro Bowler, after he was medically cleared from a torn ACL. He was inactive after arriving during a short week, but don’t be surprised if he quickly ascends the depth chart — lest poor left-tackle play spoils a chance at the NFL’s first Super Bowl three-peat.
“It’s disruptive to any offense if the quarterback’s getting hit and not able to get the ball off, so that can be a problem,” Reid said. “Now, listen, he’s playing against a couple good players, but you’ve got to do better than what we did there.”
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