The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Denver Broncos with a last-second field goal block on Sunday, securing a 16-14 victory.
Broncos lineman Alex Forsyth has taken the brunt of the blame for the block because the Chiefs identified that he was “light on his toes” and susceptible to a bull rush.
Following the loss, film junkies noted that Forsyth had been knocked down on eight of the team’s last ten kicks, making it appear that he was an obvious weakness in the field goal unit’s protection.
Forsyth’s apparent struggles, however, might be overblown.
Two former Denver players — offensive lineman Tyler Polumbus and tight end Joel Dreessen — came to the defense of Forsyth on Twitter/X.
“It’s not normal how often he gets knocked down but you get knocked on your ass often,” Polumbus tweeted. “You have to take on 3 guys at once playing TE on FG block. You stick your arms out like an Iron Cross get your pads low and pray to God you fall slow enough that nothing bad happens. A lot of these clips look more normal than you would think.”
I’m prepared to get ratio’d to death on this take but these clips are not as unusual as you would think.
I played this position my whole career and my coach told me “You are going to die playing this position, your goal is to die slowly”
It’s not normal how often he gets… https://t.co/05140Ndfob
— Tyler Polumbus (@Tyler_Polumbus) November 12, 2024
Forsyth is the “tight end” in field goal protection and it’s not uncommon (and not necessarily discouraged) if the player in his position falls backward. The key is to fall slowly and to cause a pileup, not allowing rushers to break through the line.
Well stated…playing TE and wing on FG/PAT is a thankless job…especially when 2/3 defenders attack gaps at the same time…you have to eat the charge & not get flat backed so quickly that the snap, hold, kick time is fast enough to beat any block attempt…
— JoelDreessen (@JoelDreessen) November 12, 2024
The problem with Forsyth’s fall was that he fell so quickly and straight to the ground, allowing rushers to quickly jump over him and block the kick. The lineman should have been more “stout” (something he admitted), but the outrage over his frequent falling is perhaps a bit overblown.
Broncos coach Sean Payton also came to Forsyth’s defense on Monday.
“This isn’t on the player,” Payton said. “This is on all of us. This is on us as coaches. We’ve got to continue to look at, ‘Hey, are we big enough stature-wise there for that?’ And understanding how the rush was coming.”
Denver is now set to host the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11. A big storyline this week will be (a) is Forsyth still on the kick protection team and (b) if he is, does he hold up better in protection against the Falcons? We’ll find out Sunday.
