The Chiefs' pass protection issues are becoming more noticeable by the week

A template is being set to beat Kansas City, and it's happening in large part due to failures up front

We’ll talk about the defense.

Believe me, we’ll talk about the defense. After 4 weeks of looking like one of the better and more well-coached units in the NFL, the Chiefs’ defense fell apart completely against the Raiders Sunday, delivering big play after big play to (checks notes) Derek Carr. In between those big plays, they failed to tackle well, took poor angles, and generally just looked disinterested far too often. So yes, we’ll talk about the defense.

But first, let’s talk about pass protection. Because 5 weeks into the season, the Chiefs offense has looked very, very good… but beatable. And there’s on specific issue that’s emerging as a particular concern.

Let’s go to a crucial 4th and 7 in the 4th quarter against the Raiders. The Chiefs, on the back of several failed drives and a defense that was getting torched, found themselves in a “gotta have it” situation. What followed was an example of where things are looking a bit more concerning week by week.

There are a few things about this play that are concerning, but chief among them is how the Raiders are able to get pressure on Mahomes pretty quickly despite the fact that they only sent three rushers.

Let me say that again for emphasis… the Raiders only sent three pass rushers, and still got relatively quick pressure on Mahomes. And this wasn’t a chicken or egg situation like we talked about against the Chargers, where Mahomes’ own movement made things hard for the line at times. The Chiefs’ quarterback hung in the pocket and was the victim of Eric Fisher just getting beat without anyone there to help him, while the rest of the line stayed occupied with two other rushers.

Look at what rushing three players allows the Raiders to do on the second and third levels.

Notice that there are seven defenders flooding the zones at the intermediate and deep portions of the field. The Chiefs love to try to overwhelm zone coverage with 3x1 formations that overload defenses, but when they can keep that many defenders back it doesn’t work nearly as effectively and they can bracket multiple receivers (it doesn’t help that two Chiefs run routes to the same area of the field).

Even worse, the Raiders don’t need to send a fourth rusher, so they can have another defender act as a spy on Mahomes waiting for him to break the pocket in one direction or another. That’s a very different situation from a team rushing four, as Mahomes has a chance to scramble for first down yardage in that situation even against zone coverage with the routes going deep.

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The Raiders pass rush, which coming into the game was not considered even close to one of the best in the league, was consistently able to get pressure on Mahomes without sending blitzes or even utilizing much gamesmanship up front throughout the day.

This was on the Chiefs’ first drive of the day, coming after a beautiful deep touchdown to Hill that was called off on a… well, it was a called hold. Look how quickly Mahomes is flushed from the pocket and forced to drop his eyes while moving around the field.

The Chiefs have long relied on their offensive tackles to hold their own and win without a great deal of help, and it’s paid dividends in the sort of play calls they can make. However, there have been multiple weeks in a row where not just the interior line, but the tackles have looked overmatched.

This was easy to look past against the Chargers, who boast one of the best edge-rushing duos in the league. Against the Patriots it was more concerning, as Belichick often sent four or even three rushers and was still able to disrupt Mahomes on a consistent basis.

Now, with those same problems coming up against the Raiders, it’s becoming more and more difficult to not be concerned about the state of the offensive line.

The inability to protect for any serious length of time up front affects much more than just one play. It alters the ability of the Chiefs to effectively run play action or longer-developing routes, and it forces Mahomes to speed up his process far too often. It also has a significant effect on where the ball can go, as Mahomes will need to check down more or look to bailout options due to quick pressure.

Udit Ranasaria @uditranasaria

@ChiefsAnalytics

Some of those numbers might be tough to read here, but the gist is this: Mahomes having to get rid of the ball more quickly this season, and has an average depth of target that’s almost 2 yards shorter than it was last season. A lot of that can be attributed to pressure.

The players Mahomes is throwing to is forced to change with pressure as well.

Ethan Douglas @ChiefsAnalytics

Underrated storyline of the year for KC - Mahomes average depth of target (ADOT). Down almost 2 full yards on early downs from 2019. He has targeted a running back over 50% more often on early downs this year than in 2019.

I talked recently about the difference between quality targets and non-quality targets for running backs. Far too often this season, the targets Clyde Edwards-Helaire has received have been of the non-quality sort, as he’s a checkdown due to quick pressure when the offensive line can’t provide enough time for Mahomes to go through his reads.

This is not an ideal way to move the ball down the field. Edwards-Helaire gets the dumpoff with the defense well in position because Mahomes is under immediate fire, and is only able to gain even 4 yards due to an exceptional move on the defender in space.

Far too many of the Chiefs’ plays were disrupted by pressure, even when the kept in extra players to help pass block.

On this play in the first quarter, the Chiefs wanted to take a shot down the field and brought in Anthony Sherman to help sell a play action and buy time for Mahomes. It’s impossible to say without the all-22, but it appears the first read (the deep shot they were dialing up) is covered.

Ideally, in this situation Mahomes would be able to scan the field for his other receivers, given that the Raiders are only rushing four and they have an extra blocker. Instead, there’s a breakdown in multiple spots (including Mitch Schwartz, who is quietly having a very tough season after years of being an absolute wall on the right side) and Mahomes has to throw the ball away.

Often, the Chiefs having successful plays required Mahomes getting on the move away from pressure.

Mahomes is so gifted that the Chiefs were still able to move the ball at times against the Raiders (enough to put up 30+ points, which should win games in the NFL. Again, the defense was the significantly bigger issue against Vegas). He also chewed up the Raiders when they tried blitzing home, something he’s shown he can do time and again this year.

However, what the Raiders did (which they copied from the Chargers and then the Patriots) is going to serve as a template for defenses until the offensive line shows it can hold up in pass protection. If teams are confident they can get pressure with three or four defenders, it will allow them to drop back seven defenders and where the Chiefs like to throw the ball. Additionally, because that pressure is coming, Kansas City’s weapons won’t have time to run to the soft spots in those zones before Mahomes is forced to drop his eyes.

It’s still early in the season, and Reid is still Reid. The Chiefs have the best passing offense in the league. However, the template is now out there to at least slow them down, and its a template that previously didn’t work due to the success of the line in pass protection (especially on the edges). If they can’t get better play out of the line, it’s going to be tough for the offense to reach its ceiling this year.