Gene Frenette: Trench Warfare — Former Jaguars' line coach Andy Heck unsung hero in Chiefs' SB victory
Over and over again during Super Bowl week, the Kansas City Chiefs heard what an overwhelming challenge it’d be for their offensive line to contend with the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive front.
How Philly’s wave of pass-rushers led by Haason Reddick, which was threatening to set the all-time NFL sack record of 82 by the 1984 Chicago Bears, would be a relentless force like nothing KC had seen all season.
Nobody embraced that narrative more than Chiefs’ O-line coach Andy Heck, whose competitive fire from playing 12 seasons in the NFL with three different teams is in constant need of quenching.
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Heck, still the longest-tenured position coach (2004-12) in Jaguars’ history before joining Andy Reid’s staff in Kansas City a decade ago, was given the perfect button to push with his unit leading up to the big game.
Not only did Heck use it for motivational fuel, but the Chiefs’ starting five — left tackle Orlando Brown, left guard Joe Thuney, center Creed Humphrey, right guard Trey Smith and right tackle Andrew Wylie — responded by collectively putting on one of the greatest performances in Super Bowl history.
Kansas City overcame a 10-point halftime deficit by rushing for 119 of its 158 yards in the second half, plus allowed no sacks to an Eagles’ defense that had a league-high 78 (playoffs included) entering the game.
“It’s extremely satisfying, I’m so happy for our guys because we knew the great challenge ahead of us,” Heck said in a Tuesday phone interview, two days after earning his second Super Bowl ring. “They came out and they were on a mission. I could see the determination, the training.
“As a coach, it doesn’t get any better than that. It’s so gratifying in those biggest of moments. To see them execute like that, it was like winning two Super Bowls.”
Brown did a lot of chest-pounding after his unit won the interior battle against the Eagles’ highly touted front, saying: “I think we had a really good run plan. It started with coach Heck, the plan that he set up for the last two weeks. I think we executed it really well up front as individuals and we showed up when the team and offense needed us most.
“Zero sacks. Put it on a [expletive] t-shirt. This is a historic offensive line.”
Long drive on Jaguars
It could be argued no unit was more proficient in the postseason than Heck’s O-line, which allowed just three sacks in 112 times that Mahomes dropped back to pass, and he threw TD passes twice on the next play.
The Chiefs’ running game, though neutralized in the AFC title game win over the Cincinnati Bengals, did plenty of damage against the Jaguars in the divisional round and in the Super Bowl to pull out those games.
Things looked a bit bleak for KC in the Jaguars’ game when Mahomes suffered a high ankle sprain late in the first quarter, forcing backup QB Chad Henne to play the following series when the Chiefs started at their own 2-yard-line, clinging to a 10-7 lead.
Facing its first playoff crisis, the Chiefs marched 98 yards and faced only two third-down situations needing three yards, converting both on Chenne passes to Kadarius Toney and Travis Kelce. A 39-yard run by Pacheco set up a 1-yard TD pass to Kelce.
“That is a lineman’s dream right there, to stay ahead of the chains like that,” said Heck. “We take a lot of pride in being able to put two tight-end sets out there. A drive like that [against the Jaguars], when the bigs can get involved and have success running the ball, it makes pass protection that much easier.
“It’s a great feeling. That’s when our offense is at its best.”
When Mahomes returned to play in the second half, the Jaguars’ pass rush failed to take advantage of his lack of mobility, getting no sacks.
“It’s the next man up whether it’s Chad [Henne] or somebody else,” Heck said. “We feel the O-line can be a source of energy for our guys and they stepped up for us that day. I think our big guys can have a calming effect on the skill players, like ‘these guys got this.’ It just energizes everybody.”
Against the Eagles, it was more of the same as KC’s O-line either won its one-on-one battles or got enough help to properly protect Mahomes, who did his part by getting the ball out quickly. On his last touchdown to Skyy Moore, running back Jerick McKinnon picked up blitzing linebacker T.J. Edwards to give Mahomes the time needed to deliver the pass for a 35-27 lead.
“We varied our protections, used some nakeds, used chips with tight ends and runners,” said Heck. “Patrick [Mahomes] helped by spitting that thing out very quickly, particularly in the second half. Coach [Reid] called a game that helped the offensive by committing to the run. That all works hand in hand.”
Learning from Jaguars
The last two KC touchdowns, a 5-yard pass to Toney and the 4-yarder to Moore, was sort of a page from the Jaguars’ playbook. The receiver motions toward the quarterback like it’s a possible jet sweep, then reverses back into the flat.
Jamal Agnew did it for a Jaguars’ touchdown in Week 4 against the Eagles, then again in Week 12 against the Baltimore Ravens. He was pretty wide open in both instances, just like Toney and Moore. Chiefs coaches remembered those plays in preparing for their regular-season and playoff matchups with Jacksonville, so it piqued their interest for the Super Bowl.
“We showed it to our players because it was a great picture of our formation,” said Heck. “It wasn’t the exact same play. Ours was an RPO [run-pass option]. It could have been a run, while the Jaguars was a designed pass all the way.
“When you see that on tape, you think, ‘Oh, it’s a good concept.’ If you catch [the defense], the sell of the jet can work. We set it up by running jet motions several times before that. It was executed very well.”
Those two touchdowns put KC in control of the game, but the Eagles briefly tied it up 35-35 before Mahomes led a 66-yard drive for the winning field goal.
Nobody could deny in the aftermath that the Chiefs’ offensive line factored heavily into overcoming another 10-point, second-half deficit, just as it did in the Super Bowl conquest of the 49ers.
“I felt like this was going to be the big boy game where both your lines were going to have to really step up and play well, and they did on both sides,” Reid said. “That d-line battled like crazy, and that offensive line battled like crazy.”
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni minced no words about the impact KC’s offensive line had on the outcome.
“Give the Chiefs credit,” said Sirianni. “They had some completions that they get the ball out quick to mitigate our pass rush. They were chipping. They were thumping on the edge on our pass rushers, helping the guys out. They did a good job of knowing what our strength was and doing their best to mitigate it.”
Continuity big factor
One of the reasons KC has the NFL’s best record (129-52, .713) and has averaged more points per game (27.5) than anybody since Reid came aboard a decade ago is staff continuity.
Heck is among seven offensive coaches, including coordinator Eric Bieniemy and quarterbacks coach Matt Nagy, who have been with the Chiefs a minimum six years over that span.
Considering Heck has 19 seasons of NFL experience as an offensive line coach (first two years with Jaguars as assistant O-line coach), it undoubtedly played a big part in him molding a vastly different unit for another Super Bowl run.
When the Chiefs beat the San Francisco 49ers to win it all three years ago, then lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at the following Super Bowl, the only current starter on those lines was Wylie.
Four of the five starters on this team only started playing together in 2021, and the Chiefs still were an overtime loss to Cincinnati away last year from reaching the Super Bowl.
“The first year [2021] was teaching a bunch of new guys a new language, new techniques,” said Heck. “They had to assimilate to our culture. That takes a little bit of time, but it came together pretty quickly.”
Heck, 56, might well have to reshuffle the deck next season, depending on whether KC can retain unrestricted free agents Brown and Wylie, plus a potential restructure for Thuney to lessen his $22 million salary cap hit.
For now, Heck — joining Tom Coughlin, Kevin Gilbride, Jerald Ingram and Jerry Palmieri as former Jaguars’ coaches who went on to win two Super Bowls with another team — just wants to savor the experience.
He strongly implied, without saying so definitively, that beating the Eagles was the most satisfying win of his career. His family, wife Jennifer, son Jon and triplets Molly, Evelyn and Charlie were at the Super Bowl to celebrate afterwards. Charlie is an offensive tackle with the Houston Texans, while Jon, a Bolles School product, just accepted a position as the Texans' assistant strength and conditioning coach.
“The first Super Bowl was special because it’s the first time I had ever gotten that far,” Heck said. “This one was particularly special because of how great a challenge it was going to be. Many people favored the Eagles, definitely would have bet they would win in the trenches.
“We relished that opportunity to give it our best and see where the chips fall.”
Over the last five years, the Chiefs' offensive line has given up less sacks than anybody in the NFL, averaging 25.8 sacks allowed per season. So it's probably no coincidence KC has made five consecutive AFC Championship appearances.
Andy Heck has spent his whole football life figuring out how to protect quarterbacks. The Notre Dame product has played or coached in 517 NFL games (168 starts, mostly at left tackle). He knows all about trench warfare and has seen a little bit of everything.
Nothing has looked better than his current view from the NFL mountaintop.
Gfrenette@jacksonville.com: (904) 359-4540
This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Chiefs' SB triumph a crowning achievement for ex-Jaguars coach Andy Heck
