The Kansas City Chiefs were enjoying their 2024 season remaining undefeated when they were hit with a crisis. We are not talking about the Super Bowl crisis. We are actually highlighting the struggles the left tackles faced in protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blind side. This could have affected the team’s future game against strong opponents. Hence, to come up with a solution for it, they made a move. Coach Andy Reid brought in back-to-back first-team All-Pro guard Joe Thuney to protect the QB. It worked. The team came back in the Super Bowl race for the third time. But unfortunately, the solution turned into a problem for the Chiefs.

According to former NFL star, Mark Sanchez, Andy Reid’s decision of keeping Joe Thuney in the tackle position was wrong. On The Herd with Colin Cowherd show, he brokedown the Super Bowl game. During this, he claimed that due to this Patrick Mahomes had 3 consecutive pressures and hence got sacked in the game a total of 6 times.

Sanchez highlighted, “When you have (Joe) Thuney, an all left guard, he’s not a tackle. He won two championships with the Patriots, he’s won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs, like he’s an excellent player but he’s out of position, that’s a really tough job especially when those two big guys (Jordan) Davis and (Jalen) Carter are getting pressure on the interior where they’re normally solid. So, he doesn’t have anywhere to step up to. They’re coming over the walls on the edge. I mean it’s a lose, lose and very uncharacteristic of the Chiefs.”

No doubt, from the start, Patrick Mahomes was under pressure. Even when he planted his back foot to throw, defenders were in his face, affecting his vision and stance. Hence, he was getting hit constantly. Sanchez mentioned that one key play – a bad interception – wasn’t entirely his fault. The analyst highlighted, “He (Mahomes) gets hit literally when he gets rid of the ball and as soon as he hit his back foot he was under duress and you got to credit Clint Hurtt and this defensive line, their defensive line coach and those players up front. They pushed the interior of the pocket,” while the edge rushers swarmed in.

According to Sanchez, the Eagles weren’t just chasing sacks. They rushed smart, staying disciplined and in sync. And that’s what made them so dangerous, especially in the second half of the season. On the other hand, Andy Reid’s QB had nowhere to step up in the pocket, with pressures coming from every angle. As per the former QB, this was an uncharacteristic performance from the Chiefs. Their first three downs were manageable situations, but they ended in two incompletions and an interception. So, “it was a really rough night for him (Mahomes) but credit to the Eagles because they exploited him.” And the bottom line of the story was the Eagles exposed the Chiefs’s weaknesses and Andy Reid had no answer to this.

It’s also strange to see that Andy Reid’s move to save Mahomes felt weak in the main game.

Joe Thuney was pretty sure that he would save Andy Reid’s QB

Joe Thuney had won two Super Bowls with the Chiefs. If he had clinched this one, it would have been the fifth for him in total (because of his Patriots era). He was pretty confident of winning the SB and felt lucky to be in the position. He said that he is pinching himself again and again as to being with the Patriots earlier and the Chiefs now, “it’s incredible.”

Joe Thuney, who was brought up to a different position to protect Patrick Mahomes, had the desired impact. After his transition to tackle, Andy Reid’s QB’s sack rate recorded 2.7%. Now this is indeed amazing if you look at the previous sack rate of Mahomes—7%. That’s why the gun-slinger praised him, calling the man a “gold-jacket” player. Even offensive line coach Andy Heck was impressed with Thuney.

In an interview earlier, he expressed, “It shows that he’s unselfish. He’s about the team. He’s such a great player, period. But especially as a guard. Then to go out to a position that he hasn’t played in a long time and not even bat an eye and say ‘yeah whatever you need, I’ll do it.’ He’s got a great job for us and seems to have quieted down the whole offense so we can function efficiently.” Thuney was pretty sure that he would become a game-changer for the team. He certainly became one, but failed in the extremely important matchup, resulting in a Super Bowl loss.

Well, as we all know, one game does not a legacy make. It’s rather unfair to question Thuney’s credentials based on Super Bowl LIX where the entire KC O-line got overrun. Sanchez’s criticism is fair, but we’re sure Thuney will be sleeping well with just the four SB rings too, for now.