Chiefs Add Intrigue In Offensive Line As Guard Gets Benched

The Kansas City Chiefs have had some strange things going on with the offensive line this season, and things got curioser and curioser when coach Andy Reid gave a non-explanation for his decision to bench left guard Kingsley Suamataia against the Denver Broncos, per a report from Nate Taylor of ESPN. 

This is the second time this season the guard was benched, and he also had some issues last season. We still don’t have a lot of clarity about why this is happening, but Reid insists he wasn’t punishing the third-year player. 

"This is just between Kingsley and I," Reid added when Taylor followed up on the initial questions. "It's not something that's earth-shattering. I'll just keep it there."

Suamataia was a full participant in the Chiefs' three practices last week, per Taylor, and the guard wasn't on the team's injury report. But during the pregame warmup, backup guard Mike Caliendo, a four-year veteran, took most of the reps at left guard with the rest of the starting offensive line. Caliendo played all 69 of the Chiefs' offensive snaps while Suamataia was on the field for just five snaps on special teams.

The move definitely hurt, according to the writer. Running back Kenneth Walker III had another rough game, rushing for just 69 yards on 21 carries. It was Caliendo who struggled in pass protection on the final play of the game, per Taylor, as quarterback Patrick Mahomes stepped up in the pocket and into the waiting arms of Malcolm Roach, who got the sack that ended the game. 

The earlier benching came against the Las Vegas Raiders, and Reid’s response there was that he and Suamataia were just “working some things out.” Taylor added that the guard is likely to return to the lineup against the New York Jets this week, so the mystery about exactly what’s going on here continues. 

As a one-off incident, this incident would be just that. But the combination of two benchings plus the ejection of left tackle Josh Simmons last week as he was placed on IR raises serious questions about what’s going on with the Chiefs offensive line, especially now that Kansas City has lost back-to-back games. 

This will be an intriguing issue when Reid has his media availability during the middle of the week. It’s fine to be murky and mysterious when you’re winning games, but that’s not what’s happening with the Chiefs right now as they try to weather the storm and make their way through the first rough patch of the season.