As the postseason approaches, the Kansas City Chiefs still have one pressing question to answer on each side of the football. On offense, it's the left tackle position that needs to be sorted out by the time the reigning champs take the field in the divisional round.
That's been a point of uncertainty for Kansas City dating all the way back to the offseason, yet the solution could see that spot get shored up in time for a Super Bowl run. The concern centers around who will start against a to-be-determined opponent: November signing D.J. Humphries or veteran left guard Joe Thuney?
Humphries returning from his hamstring injury in time to play 32 snaps in Week 18's loss to the Denver Broncos gave Reid and company a chance to gain some clarity. Now several days removed from that start, how does the team feel Humphries held up?
Reid gave the 31-year-old a vote of confidence when he spoke to the media on Friday morning.
"Yeah, listen, I thought D.J. did a pretty good job there," Reid said. "A few plays he'd probably like to have back, but he's heading in the right direction for sure. I haven't made any decisions on that, which direction to go, right this minute. We'll see. We'll get there by the time we get into the end of next week there."
Despite having some rough (and quick) losses and being given a poor Pro Football Focus grade, the eye test suggests that Humphries was respectable in Denver. Reid seems to agree with that sentiment, which presents the Chiefs with an intriguing predicament. If Humphries is healthy and ready to go come playoff time, it would theoretically allow Thuney to go back to a spot where he's an All-Pro type of performer.
With no offense at all to Mike Caliendo, who filled in for Thuney while he was filling in for Humphries, a starting five without him in the mix may be Kansas City's best offensive line configuration. Thuney did an admirable job shutting down premier pass rushers on the perimeter but in an ideal world, the back-to-back Super Bowl winners would benefit from competent tackle play paired with the NFL's best interior trio.
Reid believes he and offensive line coach Andy Heck have a good problem on their hands.
"The best part is they're both good players," Reid said. "And Caliendo is playing well, too, so I'm not too worried about that whole situation. We'll just see how it plays out. Andy rotates them during the week anyway, so they'll all get work and we'll just go from there. Obviously, you want the best combination but I think in this case, you've got three guys there that are pretty good players."
With right around a week left before their first playoff game, the coaching staff is running out of time to decide what that best-case combination is.
