Chiefs Now Have Multiple Deadline Needs After Loss To Seattle

The Kansas City Chiefs had a tough game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night, and in many ways the 20-3 loss was a reality check. The Seahawks found a way to stop dynamic running back Kenneth Walker III, which no one had been able to do before. 

The Chiefs also got badly exposed at wide receiver. Without receivers Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton, quarterback Patrick Mahomes had noone open to throw to, and he spent much of the evening running for his life in a sequence of scenes that was very reminiscent of what the Chiefs and their fans saw last season. 

But there was one setback that was the worst of all, and that was on the offensive line. The Chiefs managed to survive the loss of left tackle Josh Simmons as he continued to work his way from a back injury, with Kahlil Benson playing well enough at the position to at least mark himself as a piece for the future. 

Simmons’ situation changed over weekend, though, and it also added a need the Chiefs will have to address going forward. He’s now on IR with an injury/personal designation, and the fact that the left tackle was asked to leave a meeting by coach Andy Reid makes his return far more problematic than just a simple injury recovery. 

The Chiefs also have right tackle Jaylon Moore out as he continues to recover from concussion symptoms, and it showed against Seattle. There’s a tipping point where losses on the line become insurmountable, and Kansas City found it and passed it on Sunday night. 

The situation creates another genuine area of need going into the trade deadline. We found out what a patchwork line looks like last season for the Chiefs, and it got Mahomes hurt against the Houston Texans. 

It almost happened agains against the Seahawks when Mahomes fumbled after getting hit from behind after leaving the pocket. It was a blind hit once Mahomes was on the loose, but it’s not hard to imagine something similar happening with an injury thrown in going forward. 

Unfortunately, the trade deadline isn’t going to be a good answer this year. Most of what’s been listed on trade boards has been defensive players, and good teams rarely trade quality linemen at the deadline, tacklers especially. 

But the future of running back Kenneth Walker III also might be at stake here. Walker was the lone Chiefs player who sulked and delivered monosyllabic answers to questions after playing against his old team, and the Chiefs need to keep him happy going forward.