The Kansas City Chiefs started the season 0-2, but have won five of their last six games. One of the biggest reasons why they got off to a slow start is because they were missing some of their best offensive weapons.
Xavier Worthy returned in Week 4, but it has been the return of Rashee Rice in Week 7 that has made the offense as explosive as it ever has with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback.
He has played in only two games, but he already has 16 catches for 135 yards and three touchdowns. During an appearance on Sunday NFL Countdown on Sunday morning, former Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said that Rice is the guy that takes the offense to another level.
“I am fortunate enough to go to Kansas City pretty often,” Smith said. “Every time I’m talking to Patrick, Andy and Nagy, this is the guy they are talking about. It’s Rashee Rice. You forget this is west coast offense, and so much of this is built around short timing throws and run after catch. That is Rashee for this offense. You see this guy in person, he is built like a running back. He has the mentality to go over the middle. He is the 100 mile per hour fastball.”
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RIce has been back for the Chiefs’ wins against the Las Vegas Raiders and the Washington Commanders, and the Chiefs have won those two games by a combined score of 59-7.
As Smith said, where Rice does a ton of his work is over the middle. They can line him up in the slot where he is a matchup nightmare. He is either too big for the slot corners, or too fast for linebackers and safety.
Once he is able to establish the middle of the field, that allows guys like Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Tyquan Thornton to attack vertically.
The guy who has benefited from Rice getting back the most may be tight end Travis Kelce. He was the main guy in the middle of the field early in the year, and he was seeing multiple defenders nearly every play. Against Washington, he had his best game of the year with six catches for 99 yards and a touchdown.
Rice has helped fuel the motto ‘EGE’ in Kansas City, which means ‘Everybody Gotta Eat’. With all of his playmakers finally together on the field, it is on Mahomes to do just that and spread the ball out to all his guys.
So far, so good but the Chiefs have a much tougher challenge on Sunday afternoon as they take on Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. The Chiefs have sent a reminder to the NFL the last couple weeks that they once again are a Super Bowl contender. A win in Buffalo would add even more emphasis to that statement.
