The Kansas City Chiefs are 4-0 on the season, and they remain the AFC’s best bet to represent the conference in Super Bowl LIX. However, the loss of Rashee Rice is a troubling trend that could derail their quest to make NFL History in February.
In the aftermath of the Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 road win over the Los Angeles Chargers, the big ticket item from the game wasn’t the bomb from Patrick Mahomes to Xavier Worthy. Instead, it was the senseless injury to Rashee Rice, who his quarterback hit, and thus, his 2024 season is in jeopardy.
Though we’ve yet to receive the official news on Rice, it is believed he has ACL damage to his knee. The severity won’t be known until the Chief’s medical staff reviews the MRI results Monday morning. However, based on what we saw Sunday, the news isn’t likely to tilt toward the Chiefs.
The loss of Rice is more significant than that of Hollywood Brown and Isiah Pacheco. Entering the game against the Chargers, he was the top receiver in the NFL. The amount of plays this offense runs is predicated on Rice going in motion and using the open spaces in the zone to make clutch plays can’t be duplicated.
Sure, JuJu Smith-Schuster played that role in 2022, but in 2024, back with the Chiefs, he is not the same receiver. The big question remains: Can he step up and do it again?
If not, the Rice plays, as we saw in the game-clinching first down late in the fourth quarter, might fall on Xavier Worthy. He set the tone early after the injury on the long pass he hauled from Mahomes.
The speed was impressive, but the one-handed catch was even better. It’s a lot to ask of a rookie, but he is the only receiver on the roster who can do Rice things. Still, if the Chiefs get bad news today, they must look for another wide receiver, either this week or during their bye week.
Either way, integrating a new wide receiver rather than bringing up either Nikko Remigio or Justyn Ross is a good idea; they are not every-down receivers. Add that to the fact that Skyy Moore showed Sunday that he was not ready for more playing time. Yet, out of necessity, the Chiefs threw him out on the field.
General Manager Brett Veach is not one to be bashful when it comes to roster building. He is aggressive. However, getting a top-shelf wide receiver before the trade deadline might be more difficult now that his top two receivers are down.
Honestly, only two receivers, Amari Cooper from Cleveland and Diantae Johnson from Carolina, can fill the Rice role in Andy Reid’s complex offense. Johnson’s 2024 salary would be $7M, which would be prorated, while Cooper’s base salary is far less, at $1.5M.
The Chiefs have an extra third-round pick thanks to the trade of cornerback L’Jarius Sneed to Tennessee so that they could dangle that. It would be ironic if the Chiefs sent that pick back for DeAndre Hopkins, who is lamenting his talents on a bad football team.
Regardless, Rice’s loss is the biggest story of the season. He was too valuable in this offense, playing so well, and had worked his tail off to be the number one option. I don’t think he can be replaced.
His loss puts the Chiefs 4-0 season in perspective. If the defense can play like it has throughout this season into February, this team can be in a position to win another Super Bowl. Still, it won’t be easy.
Mahomes is struggling in the pocket this season. He’s making bad decisions, the knock on him coming out of college, his offensive line isn’t getting the job done in pass protection, and until Sunday in Los Angeles, Travis Kelce hadn’t shown up this season.
Now that Kelce appears out of his funk, Mahomes will focus more on getting the ball to 87. He can absorb some of the yards that Rice was getting in this offense, but he can’t duplicate those numbers.
I’m trying to be positive, and I want to believe this is a bump in the road and not a roadblock, but Rice was the most valuable piece of the offense next to Mahomes.
So, can Worthy become the new Rice? Will Veach trade for another wide receiver? With a Monday night matchup against the New Orleans Saints looming one week from today, the Chiefs have time to figure something out.
Let’s hope they do for their sake because their receiver room is thin and not as good as the 2023 squad’s, and that’s painful to admit. That group got it together because Rice emerged as the go-to guy.
Who that player is this season is probably outside of Kansas City.
