Former NFL defensive end believes Chiefs’ Achilles heel could be holding penalties

The Chiefs are the defending Super Bowl champions and have the league’s best player in Patrick Mahomes, so yeah, expectations are high for the 2023 season.

ESPN’s Marcus Spears and Dan Orlovsky on Monday debated the outlook for the Chiefs this season, and were asked to say if KC would be better, worse or the same.

Orlovksy thinks the Chiefs will be better, while Spears said about the same.

Spears, the former Cowboys defensive end, expressed his concern about the Chiefs’ new tackles, Donovan Smith and Jawaan Taylor.

“You just said there’s a question at the left tackle spot,” Spears said. “First of all, Donovan Smith has played a lot of football, but Donovan Smith has held a lot in football. And the one thing that could disrupt this offense is penalties. And we know that when you’re ushering in two new tackles starting in the system. And you’re right, we’ve seen Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid overcome a lot.

“The one thing we haven’t seen them overcome is bad offensive line play. It’s been an issue here before in this franchise as we’ve seen and I’m not just pointing to the Super Bowl (LV). You can point back to when they were struggling a little bit early in the season. That unit wasn’t playing great throughout that stretch. ... That offensive line was playing into a lot of what that offensive struggle was for this team.”

Spears and Orlovsky both noted the importance of the Chiefs reaching a deal with defensive tackle Chris Jones. He’s missed all of training camp while holding out for a new contract.

But Spears reiterated that the offensive line will be the key to the Chiefs’ hopes this season.

“They are not going to win the Super Bowl on defense, they are going to win it because of Patrick Mahomes and this unit that they put around him from a protection standpoint,” Spears said. “I’m not even worried about the wide receivers because Travis Kelce is there. I don’t care who is playing wide receiver as long as Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes are on the field.

“But ultimately, if we are sitting here saying, ‘Dang man, did you see what has happened to Kansas City? Or Kansas City didn’t get back to the Super Bowl or back to the AFC Championship,’ I think we will squarely point to protection for Patrick Mahomes from those tackles spots. I don’t think it’s gonna be an issue, but I can’t say they’re gonna be better leading into the season trying to put two new guys in that position.”

Penalty numbers

Spears is particularly concerned about Smith, who was the second-most penalized player in the NFL last season. He was flagged for holding seven times, the most of any player, per the Football Database. That was in 13 games.

However, in the 2021 season, Smith played all 17 games and was called for holding just three times. Taylor, however, was called eight times for holding that year.

“Patrick Mahomes’ ability to run and improv in the playoffs are a big reason why the Kansas City Chiefs have so much success in winning Super Bowls,” Spears said. “I get concerned when a play goes for seven seconds, and there’s a tackle on the field that is susceptible to holding defensive lineman, and he’s gonna play a lot of really good outside rushers in the AFC this year. That’s my only issue.”

Here is that ESPN discussion.