Arrowhead Pride
The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Baltimore Ravens 37-20 on Sunday. The game marked one of the Chiefs’ largest offensive outputs in almost two seasons and featured explosive plays from quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Xavier Worthy.
These plays were made possible by the Chiefs’ offensive line. The unit put together its best performance of the season, helping the team make an early statement.
Let’s take a look.
This was the Chiefs’ best pass-blocking performance of the season. The front five gave Mahomes the time he needed to get the job done.
The Ravens attempted to use multiple blitz looks and pre-snap misdirection to confuse the line, but Kansas City stayed true to its protection plan, holding the rushes off long enough for Mahomes to target deep routes down the field.
Even on incompletions, he had enough time to confidently step into his throws, giving his receivers a chance to make plays.
Rookie left tackle Josh Simmons and second-year left guard Kingsley Suamataia — in his first year starting —continued to show improvement. Suamataia delivered several solid one-on-one blocks in pass protection, while Simmons continued his ascent. Although Simmons gave up the first sack of his career, his progress with fundamentals has been encouraging.
Mahomes was hit only four times, enjoying his cleanest pocket of the season. The added time led to big performances from Worthy — who returned to the lineup on Sunday — and Kelce. Mahomes turned in his 20th game with at least four touchdown passes — the first since 2023’s Week 7 game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
While Kansas City’s ground game didn’t produce eye-popping numbers, the offensive line displayed true physicality for the first time this season.
On this play — running back Isiah Pacheco’s longest run of the day — the Chiefs execute a Y-counter.
With right tackle Jawaan Taylor and right guard Trey Smith double-teaming the 3-technique — and Creed Humphrey blocking back on the 2i-technique — Suamataia pulls to kick out the defensive end, while Kelce follows through as the lead blocker on the linebacker. Both Suamataia and Kelce make strong contact, creating a C-gap opening for Pacheco. After sealing his block, Kelce plants the defender into the turf, while Suamataia finishes by pancaking the defensive end.
So far this season, we hadn’t seen these kinds of nasty finishes — and it was a promising sign.
Earlier in the game, Kansas City ran a trap play designed to get Brashard Smith into space. While the play didn’t break open, it was executed well.
On the snap, Simmons and Suamataia release to their inside gaps, leaving the 3-technique for Smith, who is pulling. The defender loses his footing, but Smith still delivers a big blow, working to finish the block. Simmons climbs to the second level, sinks his hips and drives the linebacker into the pile Smith has created.
Ironically, this condenses the space Smith had established with his kickout block,...
