The Kansas City Chiefs are on to their second consecutive Super Bowl after defeating the Buffalo Bills 38-24 in the AFC Championship Game, but they also suffered a big loss during the matchup. During a play in the fourth quarter, offensive tackle Eric Fisher went down with what appeared to be a leg injury while blocking Patrick Mahomes‘ blind side. Later in the quarter, the Chiefs announced that Fisher was ruled out for the rest of the game with an Achilles injury. And while the significance of the injury was not revealed on Sunday night, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport has reported that Fisher has suffered a torn Achilles. The injury will keep him from playing in Super Bowl LV.
The first overall pick in the 2013 draft, Fisher has been named to the Pro Bowl in two of the past three seasons. Prior to sustaining his injury on Sunday, Fisher had participated in 100% of the Chiefs’ offensive snaps this season sans Kansas City’s Week 17 loss to the Chargers, a game that saw several of the team’s starters miss given that they had already clinched the No. 1 seed.
The Chiefs have been forced to reshuffle a bit along the offensive line, and already have starting offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz on injured reserve with a back injury. It would be absolutely brutal for the Chiefs if they were forced to attempt to stop the likes of Shaquil Barrett and Jason Pierre-Paul of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl without Fisher and Schwartz. The duo of Barrett and Pierre-Paul combined for five sacks in the NFC Championship Game against the Green Bay Packers.
When Fisher exited the game, Mike Remmers moved from right tackle to left and Andrew Wylie moved to right tackle. The Chiefs may decide to stay with that lineup change for Super Bowl LV.
