The Sports Xchange

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A five-game losing streak is not going to leave many NFL head coaches in good spirits. But it is even harder to take when the coach’s background is with the offensive line, and those blockers are making victory so tough to find.

That was Andy Reid with his Kansas City Chiefs offensive line after losing five consecutive games and starting the 2015 season with an ugly 1-5 record. There was no consistency in the team’s offensive performance, especially in blocking for the run and pass. In those five defeats, they allowed 22 sacks and the offense scored a total of eight touchdowns.

Most coaches don’t like to shuffle healthy offensive linemen; they are always searching for continuity. But after six games Reid finally had a healthy group of blockers and decided it was time to make changes. He benched his right guard and left tackle, moved the right tackle to the left side and reinserted a couple of former starters on the right side.

The O-line shuffle showed some life as the Chiefs ended their five-game losing streak with a 23-13 victory over Pittsburgh.

“There’s a certain attitude that they brought to the game and they’re not going to get the credit, but the result is a running back that got 110 yards (Charcandrick West on 22 carries and a TD) and a quarterback that had some big throws,” Reid said of his new blocking group. “The main thing I thought they did was battle.”

Donald Stephenson started the first six games of the season at left tackle, but he was benched and former left tackle Eric Fisher was moved back into the spot from right tackle where he opened the previous four games. Stepping into right tackle was fourth-year blocker Jeff Allen, who missed all but one game last year with a ruptured biceps and was on the injured list most of August and September with a knee injury he suffered in the first preseason game.

Deep breath.

At right guard, second-year draft choice Laurent Duvernay-Tardif returned to the starting lineup. He opened there in the season’s first three games but was benched and last year’s starter Zach Fulton elevated. But Fulton was on the sideline Sunday. Left guard Ben Grubbs and center Mitch Morse remained in their spots.

The big change was Fisher moving back to the left side and Allen returning to playing time. “I thought there was an opportunity for Jeff, and he brings a little juice,” said Reid. “He’s got a certain attitude and we wanted to see if he was able to push off on it (knee) and put himself in a position to actually go four quarters.”

The Chiefs ran for 138 yards and 4.8 yards per carry. Quarterback Alex Smith was sacked twice in 34 passing plays. Through the first six games, Smith was sacked on average every 9.8 passing plays, so allowing a sack on average every 17 pass plays was a huge improvement.

“Those guys had a tall task and there had to be a lot of communication,” Smith said of the new line facing the changing looks that come from a Pittsburgh defense. “I thought for the changes that got made this week those guys did such a great job of communicating and being a unit … there are a lot of adjustments on the fly and those guys did a great job of talking the whole time.”

The leader of the communications was Morse, the second-round selection in the 2015 draft out of the University of Missouri. He moved into the starting lineup during the preseason and has become a fixture.

“Mitch is in charge of redirecting things in there and I thought he did a nice job,” said Reid. “I thought Alex did a nice job working with him and making sure people were going in the right direction.”

Although he would not commit to the same five on his starting line for next Sunday’s game against Detroit in London, there seems little chance Reid will make any changes after waiting so long to see the line stabilize. “I thought they did some good things,” he said. “They seem to work well together. We’ll see.”

REPORT CARD VS. STEELERS

–PASSING OFFENSE: B. The Chiefs were productive in the passing game against the Steelers. A revamped starting offensive line allowed just two sacks in 34 passing plays. With time to throw, quarterback Alex Smith completed 65.6 percent of his throws and averaged 7.8 yards per attempt. The best thing the K.C. pass game got done was no giveaways, as Smith did not throw an interception, and added a late touchdown pass. He has not thrown one to the other team in four straight games now. For what has been a struggling passing attack, the performance against Pittsburgh was their best overall effort since the regular-season opener.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: B. Without Jamaal Charles (knee/out for the season), the Chiefs barely registered a running game in losing to Minnesota. But a revamped offensive line seemed to bring a tougher attitude to the run blocking and they came out and ran for 138 yards; their most productive performance in five games. Unknown Charcandrick West handled most of the opportunities and ran 22 times for 110 yards and a touchdown. That was five yards a carry, with a 36-yard run, the team’s longest of the season.

–PASS DEFENSE: B. The Chiefs had a big edge due to the absence of Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Backup Landry Jones was making his first NFL start, and while he handled most of the duties, he ended up throwing a pair of interceptions and lost a fumble when he was sacked by outside linebacker Tamba Hali. Like most teams in the league, K.C. had a tough time covering Antonio Brown, who caught six passes for 124 yards, including a 41-yard play. But other than a touchdown catch, they kept Martavis Bryant under control and tight end Heath Miller did not catch a pass.

–RUN DEFENSE: C. Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell dented the Chiefs for 121 yards rushing on 17 carries, including a 42-yard run. That 7.1-yards per carry average helped the Steelers stay in the game through the fourth quarter. DeAngelo Williams was not a factor with just nine yards on four attempts. Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Todd Haley tried to take advantage of the Chiefs’ defense’s tendency to overrun plays with two end-around runs that produced 19 yards.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: B. Overall, a solid performance for the kicking game, led by punter Dustin Colquitt, who averaged 54.7 yards on three punts, with a net average of 54 yards and the Chiefs’ coverage team allowed Pittsburgh’s explosive punt returner Antonio Brown just one return for two yards. Kicker Cairo Santos hit three of four field-goal attempts, missing only from 54 yards. K.C. returners still haven’t broken off a big punt or kickoff return.

–COACHING: B. It was 42 days between victories for the Chiefs, and Andy Reid and his staff deserve some recognition for keeping the players working hard. During the five-game losing streak, effort was not a problem. Sunday’s game plans on Sunday against Pittsburgh appeared on the mark, including Reid shuffling his offensive line, changing the starters at three positions and not because of injury. In this case, rather than continuity, the head coach was looking for attitude and it produced results.