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Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff Writer
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes pondered the situation suddenly confronting the Kansas City Chiefs after another one of their top offensive players, wide receiver Rashee Rice, left their lineup with a right knee injury in last week’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers.
The quarterback had found a way to overcome a 10-point deficit without Rice to beat the Chargers. But Mahomes also understands the challenge the group faces in moving the ball and scoring points for the rest of the season.
“Guys stepped up and filled in as good as they can, the role that (Rice) has in our offense, which is a big one,” Mahomes said. “All we can do now is kind of go back to the basics and try to get guys opportunities to succeed … I think it’s going to pay off in the end.”
Mahomes understandably sounded more hopeful than certain that the 4-0 Chiefs’ offense could play well enough to beat the New Orleans Saints (2-2) on Monday at Arrowhead Stadium (8:15 p.m. ET, ESPN).
A month into the season, the Chiefs have lost three of their most important offensive pieces: a prolific pass catcher in Rice, a fast wide receiver in Hollywood Brown and a tough running back in Isiah Pacheco. Whether the Chiefs have enough remaining firepower to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to three-peat remains to be seen.
Brown, a free agent signed during the offseason, will miss most if not all of the season with a right shoulder injury he suffered on the first play of the preseason. Pacheco has a broken right leg but could return late in the season.
The timeline for Rice’s return is less clear. Coach Andy Reid said the initial diagnosis on Rice’s injury wasn’t what the Chiefs were hoping for but didn’t go into specifics. In any case, Rice was placed on injured reserve Thursday, meaning he’ll miss at least four games.
The Chiefs still have some pieces. Tight end Travis Kelce had his best game of the season in Los Angeles. Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy delivered a 54-yard touchdown catch against the Chargers and had two important third-down catches. Running back Kareem Hunt had an encouraging debut in his return to the Chiefs, six years after he was released by the team.
They are eyeing potential moves ahead of the trade deadline in a few weeks, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, but this group may also be the one that has to carry them through.
“We’ve got a good group of guys there that we can utilize,” Reid said. “We normally spread the ball around and that’s what we’ll continue to strive to do.”
KELCE, WHO TURNED 35 on Saturday, had eight catches in the Chiefs’ first three games, leading to speculation that either age was catching up to him, he was being distracted by his many off-the-field endeavors or both. He ended such talk, at least for now, by catching seven passes for 89 yards against the Chargers and passing Tony Gonzalez to become the Chiefs’ all-time leading pass catcher.
“It’s not that he’s slowing down or any of that bit,” Reid said. “That’s not what the deal is. It’s just teams focus on him and kind of know he’s been Pat’s go-to guy. What it’s done is that it’s allowed us to utilize the other guys around him and they’ve been productive.”
Kelce’s big game happened at an opportune time for the Chiefs. Rice’s injury, which happened in the first quarter, suddenly left the Chiefs without their top receiver.
Rice led the NFL in receptions heading into Week 4, when he was injured, with 24 catches.
“With Rashee going out early, you’ve got to put Kelce back in that situation where he is getting a high volume of catches,” Mahomes said. “The Chargers were taking away some of the outside stuff, leaving the middle of the field open and we were able to get it to Trav in some of those zone coverages.
“The whole Kelce (slump) in general hasn’t been a worry to me. I know whenever we need him he’s going to make plays and that’s what he did.”
To the Chiefs, there was nothing magical about Kelce having a big game. The Chargers didn’t often try to cover him with multiple defenders, which opponents had done for much of the first three games.
“The respect factor they have for Travis is just unreal,” Mahomes said before the Chargers game. “It’s well deserved, but we’re calling a lot of plays for Travis and it’s like two or three people are going to him.
“I’m going to try to do my best to keep feeding him the ball whenever he’s there, whenever he’s open. But … the more we’re able to run the football, the more we can get Worthy involved, that’s going to open Travis up more.”
With Rice out, the Chiefs are concerned about what happens when opponents try to cover Kelce as they did early in the season. With Rice in the lineup, they were good enough to take advantage.
Who, if anyone, would become Mahomes’ go-to receiver?
“Every single year is different,” Kelce said. “I think with the pieces that we have, teams are playing us a little bit differently than they were last year and they’re playing Patrick differently than they were last year. I think you’re seeing teams play a little bit softer, making us drive an entire way down the field instead of just taking away those big shots. And I think Pat’s doing a great job of getting the ball in everyone’s hand.”
WORTHY, THE CHIEFS’ first-round draft pick this year, is the most obvious candidate to become their leading wide receiver, at least until Rice or Brown returns. Worthy made a name for himself when he ran an NFL combine record 4.21 in the 40.
His touchdown against the Chargers was his third play of the season of at least 20 yards. All three of those were touchdowns, including two in the season-opening win over the Baltimore Ravens.
“I’m a rookie, learning my role, learning where I fit into the scheme,” Worthy said. “I’m just going to keep growing in this offense. Making plays when it’s my turn is the key.”
But Worthy is 21, so there’s a delicate balance in terms of how much the Chiefs want to ask of him at this stage in his career. When they drafted him, the Chiefs thought of Worthy as a player who wouldn’t necessarily get the ball a lot but would have a big impact when he did.
They were right, at least through the first four games. He has nine catches, but for 154 yards and a healthy 17.1-yard average and the three touchdowns.
Now, though, their needs have changed.
“It’s critical because he’s a playmaker with the ball in his hands,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said. “Most (defensive coordinators) that you talk to, they always are concerned about the speed element from players. … It’s important to get him going. He’s a special player.”
Worthy’s touchdown against the Chargers is an example of what he can do. Mahomes threw a go-route without seeing exactly where Worthy was on the field. He just knew the Chargers had him single-covered and trusted he would outrun the cornerback, which he did.
“Xavier showed what he could do,” Reid said. “He had a couple other potential opportunities there that we weren’t quite able to get to him, but you got a chance to at least see him operate out there and do some nice things as one of the primary receivers.”
The Chiefs also have JuJu Smith-Schuster, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore and Mecole Hardman at wide receiver. But those players have combined for eight catches this season, with Moore and Hardman having none.
Smith-Schuster and Watson are the strongest candidates for increased playing time without Rice. Moore and Hardman have played sparingly this season.
Hunt looked like he could help be part of the solution against the Chargers. He led the Chiefs in rushing with 69 yards and Reid suggested he would continue to play a lot.
“We all had a lot of trust in Kareem since he had been here and we kind of know how he’s wired and he’s been able to pick stuff up pretty quick,” Reid said. “So I think we’re OK there increasing (his workload).”
After drafting Worthy and signing Brown, the Chiefs had big hopes they would return to the high scoring ways, as earlier in Mahomes’ career. In Mahomes’ first five seasons as their starter, the Chiefs were top five in scoring every year, leading the league twice.
Last season, they were in the middle of the NFL pack in scoring, finishing 15th at less than 22 points per game, as their defense helped carry them to the Super Bowl championship.
Now, those offensive plans haven’t been put on hold but expectations may be tamped down. The Chiefs are suddenly counting on a lot of players who weren’t a big part of their plans or even in the picture just a few weeks ago.
“It’s hard to replace (Rice’s) production with just one guy. He’s a special type of receiver the way he’s able to run with the football after the catch and then still run routes and catch the ball downfield as well,” Mahomes said.
That means if the Chiefs are to succeed, they’re going to need some unlikely receiving stars.
“It’s going to come from a lot of guys, not even just in the (wide) receiving room but the tight end room, the running back room, everything,” Mahomes said.