KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs will be starting a new left guard and tackle, the latter coming off a major knee injury, when they travel nearly 12 hours to play their season opener on foreign soil against one of the NFL’s best defenses.
If that sounds like a nightmare for Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, how would you describe last season?
The Chiefs pondered a half-dozen options back then in trying to protect his blind side, ultimately giving up on second-round pick Kingsley Suamataia and second-year pro Wanya Morris. The result was predictable. Mahomes was sacked 36 times, eight more than any other season in his eight-year NFL career. His sack rate was a career-worst 5.83% of drop-backs, and that translated into a net yards-per-attempt of fewer than 6 for the first t