Kansas City Chiefs

Chiefs' offensive line shake-up brought back the nastiness

Published Nov. 9, 2015 6:51 p.m. ET

foxsports

Eric Fisher wasn't going to just let a defender pound on his running back after the whistle.

So, at the expense of a 15-yard personal foul call, the former first-round pick showed the toughness his early-season detractors claimed he never owned.

“The whistle was blowing, and I saw a defender cranking on my running back’s knee,” Fisher told Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star. “And I can’t have that.”

Fisher isn't the only chippy Chiefs blocker these days. Ever since the team's shake-up up front, they've been committed to, as offensive line coach Andy Heck calls it, playing through the "echo of the whistle."

The results have never been clearer. Kansas City's run game was rejuvenated before its bye week. And Alex Smith took fewer hits than at any point during the team's five-game losing skid.

Jeff Allen is a big part of the reason why. He sat angrily on the team's bench for weeks as they struggled to block defenders. He thought he might never see the field in a contract year.

Then, the team mixed up their front five. Allen got a job and a chance to funnel that frustration against the player lining up across the line of scrimmage from him.

“I just felt like (some nastiness is) needed,” Allen said. “That’s the personality we’ve got to take on as a group. So I feel like if I go out there and I do my part, guys are following suit and everyone feeds off that type of energy.”

(h/t Kansas City Star)