Chiefs’ offensive line shows stability in win over Steelers

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs’ offensive line issues have been no secret this season. Prior to their 23-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Chiefs linemen struggled to find continuity and to pick up stunts and blitzes.

But against the Steelers, something clicked. The starting line — their fourth in seven games — seemed to work together a little better.

They surrendered two sacks and seven quarterback hits, but on balance, they gave quarterback Alex Smith time to deliver a handful of nice throws, and opened up enough hopes to spring Charcandrick West for his first 100-yard game.

But the most important thing they did — the thing that caught the eye of Chiefs coach Andy Reid — was play with some grit and attitude.

“I thought the offensive line did a pretty good job, and I say that telling you that I think Pittsburgh has a pretty good front,” Reid said. “It wasn’t all pretty, but the effort there was (good), and (so was) the ability to set a tempo. I thought was raised from what it was before.”

Translation: They did a better job playing with an attitude, against a Steelers defense that has long prided itself on toughness and physicality.

“I like to see the attitude,” Reid said. “That’s not really a nice-guy position, so for two hours, you have to handle yourself a certain way. You’re literally a protector of people, so you take that seriously.”

Reid’s starting offensive line on Sunday — which consisted of left tackle Eric Fisher, left guard Ben Grubbs, center Mitch Morse, right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and right tackle Jeff Allen — did just that.

And if there’s any doubt how serious Reid was about this, the fact that he essentially absolved Fisher for his 15-yard taunting penalty for running up and shouting at Steelers cornerback William Gay — who was in the midst of twisting on West’s ankle after the play — speaks volumes.

“Listen, we don’t want the penalty, that’s not what we want, we want to stay disciplined there,” Reid said. “But at the same time, the guy was twisting Charcandrick’s leg right in front of the official. So somebody has to do something about it.

“He probably could have handled it different, but at the same time, you’re going to stick up for your guys. So (if) you’re going to try to tweak the ankle of one of our guys, we better be coming to the rescue as an offensive lineman. I was proud of him for that.”

Reid added that you have to be “careful” about penalties like that, but his take on Fisher, plus his frank answer when asked if the “protector” attitude was missing prior to Sunday, said plenty.

“Yeah, there wasn’t enough of it,” Reid said. “When I tell you things are my responsibility, that’s my responsibility. That’s where that starts.”

One interesting thing to consider is that four of the five linemen have all had to overcome an obstacle of some sort this year.

For instance, Sunday’s game marked the first time Fisher started at left tackle this season, as a preseason high ankle sprain and the emergence of Donald Stephenson precipitated his move to the right side earlier this year.

“He’s handled it right,” Reid said of Fisher. “He’s one of the guys that had a good game yesterday, against a team that he didn’t have a very good game against last year.”

Meanwhile, Allen — who opened training camp as a starter, got hurt and barely made it off the bench until Sunday — made his first start of the season, period.

“He’s got an edge to him and he’s not afraid to show that during games,” Reid said. You better not just stand around after he’s blocked you because he’s going to give you that little extra bit of effort right there. And that could be contagious. I think he brings that.”

Also, Duvernay-Tardif returned to the starting lineup after being banished to the bench for three games, while Morse has had to remain mentally tough while learning how to play center again, a position he hasn’t played since 2012.

Morse has put in extra work, along with the other linemen, to improve at identifying and picking up the stunts that have ailed them, so Sunday’s win was, at the very least, one positive affirmation that his hard work is starting to pay off.

“Yeah, we talked about ID’ing the fronts and then executing what we know,” Morse said. “We really spent time in the film room, we looked at the looks and we came out with the mindset against a really good Steelers defense who is tough-nosed and will hit you in the mouth — I’ll tell you that, first-hand, they don’t mind hitting ya. Kudos to those guys. We came out here and met the challenge.”

This story was originally published October 26, 2015 at 7:42 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ offensive line shows stability in win over Steelers."