Current:Home > StocksRashee Rice's injury opens the door for Travis Kelce, Xavier Worthy-LoTradeCoin
Rashee Rice's injury opens the door for Travis Kelce, Xavier Worthy
View Date:2024-12-23 21:14:10
INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs were backed up on their own eight-yard line. On third-and-6, the Chiefs needed a first down to ice the game late in the fourth quarter. Xavier Worthy ran a shallow cross across the middle and Mahomes hit the speedy wide receiver in stride for 15 yards to preserve the 17-10 win versus the Los Angeles Chargers.
The big-time game-sealing first-down catch is precisely what Kansas City needs from their now depleted Chiefs wide receiving corps going forward.
Kansas City improved to 4-0 on Sunday. Yet, the back-to-back Super Bowl champions were dealt a significant blow in the process.
“Rashee Rice will have his knee checked out (Monday) with an MRI,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said postgame. “I’m sure it’s not as good as we want.”
32 THINGS WE LEARNED:Is one NFC team separating from the pack?
NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.
Rice injured his right knee while trying to tackle Chargers cornerback Kristian Fulton following an interception by Patrick Mahomes in the first quarter. As Rice went in for the tackle, Mahomes inadvertently collided with the wideout as he attempted to take down Fulton.
After the play, Rice was helped off to the sideline and eventually carted off the to the locker room. The Chiefs ruled Rice out of the game in the first half.
“I was trying to fire it to Travis (Kelce) on his body. I overthrew him a little bit. I turned the ball over,” Mahomes said of the play that injured Rice. “I thought Rashee made a really good play. I was trying to tackle the guy, and obviously rolled up on him, but if I just don’t turn the ball over that never happens.”
The Chiefs aren’t expecting positive MRI results on Rice’s knee.
“Guys all hung together. I feel terrible for Rashee,” Reid said. “He’s having a fantastic year.”
Rice came into Week 4 with an NFL-high 24 catches. He was the team leader in both catches and receiving yards (288). He emerged early on this year at the team’s top pass catcher, even ahead of veteran tight end Travis Kelce. Rice's absence could be a crippling blow in Kansas City’s quest for an historic third straight Super Bowl victory. The team is already without running back Isiah Pacheco and wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown.
But the Chiefs have won four straight one-score games to start the regular season and 10 in a row dating back to last year. They find ways to win with Reid’s play calling, the best quarterback in the NFL and the only tight end in NFL history to have seven-straight 1,000-yard seasons (2016-22) in Kelce.
The Mahomes-Kelce connection was rekindled on Sunday. Kelce, who’s had a quiet start to the year by his standards, was targeted nine times and the tight end produced a season-high seven catches for 89 yards when the Rice-less Chiefs offense needed a go-to target.
“With Rashee going out early, you got to put Kelce back in that situation where he’s getting high-volume catches,” Mahomes said. “The whole Kelce thing in general hasn’t been a worry to me. I know whenever we need him, he’s going to make plays.”
Kelce will presumably continue to get “high-volume” targets in Rice’s absence. However, Worthy might emerge as the go-to wide receiver. Worthy amassed three catches, 73 yards and a touchdown in the win, including a 54-yard touchdown reception. The speedster told USA TODAY Sports that the Chiefs are an ideal fit for him. Now is an opportune time to demonstrate that.
“In our receiving room it’s next man up,” Worthy said. “Praying for our brother. But I feel like we have a lot of guys that’s able to make plays in key moment.”
Without Rice, the next man up in the receiving room figures to be Worthy.
Kansas City’s passing attack will need its veteran tight end, and their rookie first-round pick wide receiver to continue to make plays if they hope to have a chance to be the first NFL team ever to three-peat as Super Bowl champions.
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Tyler Dragon on X @TheTylerDragon.
veryGood! (6)
Related
- Veterans Day restaurant deals 2024: More than 80 discounts, including free meals
- Maui mayor dismisses criticism of fire response, touts community's solidarity
- Group of 20 countries agree to increase clean energy but reach no deal on phasing out fossil fuels
- From leaf crisps to pudding, India’s ‘super food’ millet finds its way onto the G20 dinner menu
- Reds honor Pete Rose with a 14-hour visitation at Great American Ball Park
- Disgraced Louisiana priest Lawrence Hecker charged with sexual assault of teenage boy in 1975
- Hundreds of Pride activists march in Serbia despite hate messages sent by far-right officials
- Across the Northern Hemisphere, now’s the time to catch a new comet before it vanishes for 400 years
- Unexpected pairing: New documentary tells a heartwarming story between Vietnam enemies
- IRS ramping up crackdown on wealthy taxpayers, targeting 1,600 millionaires
Ranking
- Joey Logano wins Phoenix finale for 3rd NASCAR Cup championship in 1-2 finish for Team Penske
- Nationals owner Mark Lerner disputes reports about Stephen Strasburg's planned retirement
- Judge says civil trial over Trump’s real estate boasts could last three months
- Coco Gauff plays Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open women’s final
- Trump hammered Democrats on transgender issues. Now the party is at odds on a response
- Exclusive: 25 years later, Mark McGwire still gets emotional reliving 1998 Home Run Chase
- Stassi Schroeder Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 2 With Beau Clark
- Unraveling long COVID: Here's what scientists who study the illness want to find out
Recommendation
-
What to know about Mississippi Valley State football player Ryan Quinney, who died Friday
-
Ill worker rescued from reseach station in Antarctica now in a hospital in Australia
-
UN atomic watchdog warns of threat to nuclear safety as fighting spikes near plant in Ukraine
-
Biden finds a new friend in Vietnam as American CEOs look for alternatives to Chinese factories
-
Threat closes Spokane City Hall and cancels council meeting in Washington state
-
Missouri constitutional amendment would ban local gun laws, limit minors’ access to firearms
-
Vicky Krieps on the feminist Western ‘The Dead Don’t Hurt’ and how she leaves behind past roles
-
Situation Room in White House gets $50 million gut renovation. Here's how it turned out.