Patrick Mahomes May Finally Have His Receiver
Photo Credit: John Locher, AP Photo
The Kansas City Chiefs offense put up more than 17 points for the first time in a month this weekend when they defeated the Las Vegas Raiders 31-17. Despite the slow start, the offense found its groove and it appeared to be humming on all cylinders. The attack was well-balanced, and Mahomes and Kelce both got heavily involved in what was an efficient outing. While many things went in the favor of the Chiefs’ offense, perhaps the thing that propelled the offense forward the most, opening up possibilities for other players on the field was the breakout of Rashee Rice.
Rice, a rookie receiver on the team, has shown flashes throughout the season as he ranks very highly in PFF’s rookie rankings, but in the past few weeks, he and the other Chiefs’ receivers have put up modest performances. That changed this week as Rice led the team in receptions (eight), and receiving yards (107), and added to his numbers with a touchdown.
Mahomes, like everyone else, noticed the improvement from the second-round pick. In this post-game interview, he was asked about Rice.
“I think we’ve only scratched the surface,” Mahomes said. “I think you see us hitting his around the line of scrimmage, but I think he can do some of the vertical threat stuff and he has speed and he has bursts… He has a chance to be a great receiver in this league and we’re going to continue to be that receiver every single week.”
Rice has earned the respect and trust of his quarterback as well as more routes and opportunities from his coaches, but there is more that his recent breakout could provide for the team. Since the run game has greatly struggled this season, when Travis Kelce does not get involved, the offense sputters. As the run game has been inconsistent and the team has not fielded a reliable receiver, defenses have double teamed Kelce all season, leading to some of the performances from the Chiefs offense that have been seen this season.
With the emergence of Rice, however, gameplans will have to be focused on him, leading to more opportunities for Kelce to get one-on-one coverage to get open. It may also lead to more zone coverage looks from defenses, which will not only allow Kelce to thrive, but it will unload the box to provide for easier run lanes. Because of this, if Rice continues to find ways to get open to give Mahomes a second option, the offense will improve drastically. Not only will it be a reliable target for Mahomes to turn to, but it will allow for other facets of the offense to get involved as well. If this trend continues, the Chiefs will only get better, and much of the praise will be for the rookie receiver.
