Chiefs’ shoddy O-line, WR corps prove too much for Patrick Mahomes to overcome

NEW ORLEANS — When asked how much he was taken aback by the extent of his team’s Super Bowl LIX loss, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins provided a fairly harmless response: “A loss is a loss. It’s a ‘W’ or an ‘L’ at the end of the day.”

Then, Hopkins branched off within the same answer, obviously wanting to get something off his chest following Sunday night’s 40-22 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“I saw a lot of things in the media about the refs but, obviously, (expletive), what y’all gonna say now about the refs and us when there was a lot of touchy calls?” Hopkins said. “Are y’all gonna report that? Are y’all gonna talk about the refs now?”

It wasn’t officiating that doomed the Chiefs, though. For all the blame that will land on Patrick Mahomes for the Chiefs’ failed attempt at a three-peat (and any blame Hopkins wanted to drop on the officials), the makeshift pieces surrounding Kansas City’s superstar quarterback along the offensive line and wide receiver room didn’t help matters against an Eagles squad that owned the Chiefs in every phase. 

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It was clear the Eagles’ pass rush, generated entirely by the team’s defensive front, made Mahomes more uncomfortable than any defense in recent memory. Eagles edge rusher Josh Sweat sped around the Chiefs’ tackles for 2 1/2 sacks, while defensive lineman Milton Williams bullied his way through Kansas City’s typically potent interior line for two more, including a second-half strip-sack.

Mahomes said he felt the Eagles blitzed him maybe once or twice Sunday; according to TruMedia, the actual number of Eagles blitzes in Super Bowl LIX was zero. Without ever needing to bring extra defenders, Philadelphia piled up six sacks on 18 pressures with a 40.9 percent pressure rate. 

“In order to make a team blitz, you have to be able to beat what they’re showing, and that’s what we didn’t do — especially in the first half,” Mahomes said. “We made some good adjustments (at) halftime and came out better, but it was almost too late. The momentum had kind of flipped in (the Eagles’) favor, (because of) how they play and how they can run the football and control the clock with Jalen (Hurts) making big third-down conversions. It kind of put our defense in a really bad spot.

“And so, when you’re in these big games, you have to play better from the beginning. And that’s stuff that I hope to continue to work on and continue to get better at.”

There’s zero question the Eagles’ pressure affected Mahomes on both of his interceptions Sunday night, including a pick-six by Cooper DeJean that pushed Philadelphia’s lead out to 17-0 in the second quarter.

“He’s human,” said Hopkins of his QB.

That consistent pressure helps explain why on DeJean’s interception, Mahomes moved outside the pocket to his right on a designed rollout. But even with a little clear space before some late pressure arrived, Mahomes — having already been sacked multiple times by that point — pressed and threw a poor pass. DeJean picked off the errant ball, then took it back for an Eagles TD.

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Mahomes’ second interception also occurred deep in Kansas City territory, this time from a clogged pocket. Mahomes said a defender hit his arm on the play, which induced a short pass that Eagles linebacker Zack Baun nabbed as he dove to the turf.

“They didn’t show any different looks,” center Creed Humphrey said. “They didn’t show anything unscouted. It just came down to them coming out and playing harder.”

That might be the most telling part.

Joe Thuney has been one of the league’s best guards for many years — there’s a reason the Chiefs signed him in 2021, and why he’s been a first-team All-Pro the past two seasons. But Thuney was the team’s last resort to protect Mahomes’ blind side after Kingsley Suamataia, Wanya Morris and D.J. Humphries proved not to be the answers there, and that revolving door was destined to catch up to the Chiefs at some point.

Thuney ended the regular season with an 11.5 percent pressure rate allowed at left tackle on 131 pass-block snaps. His numbers had improved during the Chiefs’ two prior playoff games (4.6 percent pressure rate), but they reverted (11.9 percent) on Sunday night.

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Mahomes put the heat on himself for the Chiefs’ miscues and inability to handle the Eagles’ pass rush, keeping the criticism away from his front five. He said he’s going to study how to be better equipped against opposing teams’ abilities to throw free defenders at him in the pocket.

“These defenses are going to continue to get better and better, and so I have to get better, and so I take a lot of ownership in that,” Mahomes said. “… I can’t make bad plays worse, and I think that’s something that you saw (Sunday) is that there’s times when guys aren’t open and I need to throw the ball away or check it down and let the other guys make plays happen.”

True. But Mahomes needs help, too.

There’s a high probability Thuney returns to his usual guard spot for the 2025 season, meaning the Chiefs will need a left tackle — badly. Plus, another Kansas City guard, Trey Smith, may be one of the more coveted free agents set to hit the market in March.

The Chiefs’ offensive line issues are relatively new. Mahomes’ lack of viable options at wide receiver, on the other hand, began last season.

Even with Rashee Rice healthy in 2023, Mahomes produced the worst EPA-per-dropback rate of his career. The Chiefs won the Super Bowl that season, of course. But without Rice (on injured reserve since October) for much of this season, the Chiefs had to piece together a band of aging veterans, such as Hopkins, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster, along with rookie Xavier Worthy, who spent the year trying to jell with Mahomes.

All three of those veteran receivers are impending free agents, but they also combined for just 12 catches for 155 yards and one TD this postseason. Worthy, by himself, eclipsed all of them (19 receptions, 287 yards, three TDs).

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“This might be my last time playing with them, some of them — might be their last game, trades happen,” said Worthy, who caught eight passes for 157 yards and two TDs in Sunday’s loss. “These guys really helped me out a lot, just on my development as a man and as a player in this league. This knowledge they gave me to learn and keep building my rookie year, I just really appreciate them for that.”

Given how many close wins the Chiefs escaped with this season, it always was fair to wonder how far some of these position groups could take them. The Super Bowl LIX drubbing should force Mahomes and the Chiefs to examine closely how they’ll need to improve to keep pace moving forward.

(Photo: Patrick Smith / Getty Images)