Sansevere: Chiefs Deals for O-Line Shows Why/How Zimmer’s Vikes aren’t Champs [Exclusive]
Bob Sansevere
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When the Kansa City Chiefs’ offensive line was introduced in the Super Bowl and Mike Remmers was listed as the starting left tackle, reactions from Vikings fans ranged from “Yikes!” to “Holy Schnike!” to “Oh, Eff. I should have bet on the Bucs!”
Remmers is a former lineman for the Vikings, and while he may not have reeked like lutefisk rolled in yesterday’s diaper, he wasn’t exactly a standout in Minnesota.
The fact he was starting for the Chiefs was a very bad sign, and if you knew Remmers you also knew Patrick Mahomes was in for a hellish day.
And he was.
The Chiefs’ offensive line did a pretty good imitation of the Vikings’ offensive line, and stunk it up.
So what did the Chiefs do?
They said “To hell with this” and made a deal to acquire a damn good left tackle. On Friday, less than a week out from the start of the NFL draft, the Chiefs traded their first-round selection and three other picks to the Baltimore Ravens for Pro Bowler Orlando Brown Jr. The Chiefs also received a couple of picks to go along with Brown.
This is what the good teams do. They react. They act.
They neither dilly nor dally, like the Vikings have done for years when it comes to improving their offensive line.
And now the Chiefs have a completely revamped offensive line from last season’s opening game, having signed Kyle Long, Joe Thuney and Austin Blythe in free agency while getting back two linemen who opted out of 2020 due to Covid-19.
Meantime, the Vikings lost left tackle Riley Reiff in free agency and are worse off along the line than in 2020.
Remember: Good teams react and act.
Bob Sansevere hosts “The BS Show,” a daily podcast that also is broadcast on ratio stations in Duluth (KDAL), Hibbing (WNMT) and St. Cloud (WBHR).