Two years into a revamped offensive line, the Kansas City Chiefs couldn’t be more pleased with the play of center Creed Humphrey.
The former Oklahoma standout quickly earned a reputation last season as one of the best linemen in the NFL and now he’s been selected to his first Pro Bowl. Left tackle Orlando Brown and left guard Joe Thuney were also selected to the Pro Bowl, and Humphrey said that with the bulk of the offensive line playing together for two years, the group has taken its game to another level.
“I think we’re playing together as a whole unit a lot better,” Humphrey said. “I think the chemistry has gotten a lot better since last year. I think everybody knows what everybody else on the offensive line’s all about. We know exactly how other people are going to play.
“So I think we’re being able to build off that and complement each other more and more, and it’s been really good to see so far.”
While Humphrey, Thuney and Brown were selected to the Pro Bowl, they trail right guard Trey Smith in pancake blocks — a significant category among the group.
“I think everybody’s trying to catch up to Trey (Smith) right now,” Humphrey said. “But it’s been fun seeing things that happen whether it’s Trey, Joe, Orlando, (Andrew) Wylie, that makes me want to do even better. That makes me want to do the same thing. I definitely think that gets everybody to start playing better, more physical, things like that because we all get excited about it.”
The Chiefs are hoping to see a few more pancake blocks Sunday against Denver. They Chiefs played the Broncos just three weeks ago on the road and built a 27-point lead in the first half.
The Broncos, however, intercepted Patrick Mahomes three times and had two sacks to rally back and make a game of it late. And Humphrey said the Chiefs are expecting to have their hands full again this weekend in Kansas City.
“They’re a very tough opponent,” Humphrey said of the Broncos. “They have a ton of good players on their defense. That defense is very good. So we know it’s going to be a big challenge for us going into this game. And for us we pride ourselves on being able to win one-on-one battles. So that’s really what it boils down to, and they have a great front seven.”
