Why Reid’s Approach With Rice Was Perfect for Mahomes, Chiefs

In other words, the Chiefs have unleashed an offensive dimension they really haven’t had since Patrick Mahomes was firing deep passes to Tyreek Hill.

“He said it when he said the EGE thing,” Mahomes said postgame, referring to Rice’s mantra Everybody Gotta Eat. “We have a lot of weapons. We have a lot of guys; they all love each other. They all want each other to succeed.”

Dash of caution

But success couldn’t come without a dash of caution, and credit Reid for keeping Rice’s feet firmly in the grass.

“I was a little cautious with him on how many plays and all that,” Reid said, “but I thought he came out and functioned at a high level for being gone for all that time. I mean, it's crazy that he can come back and do what he did, and do it at the level that he did it at.”

All that time amounted to 385 days, since Mahomes’ fateful Sept. 29, 2024, interception – ironically to future Chiefs cornerback Kristian Fulton – ended in Rice’s knee injury. Rice on Sunday led the team in targets (10), receptions (seven) and touchdown catches (two). He played only 33 snaps.

“But we'll gradually build him,” Reid added. “We'll build him up. We'll get his reps up here a little bit. And as we go, you gotta be careful with that when somebody's been off for a while. So, but listen, I thought all of them together did some really good things.”

Really great things. Travis Kelce exploded for a 44-yard gain on the Chiefs’ first drive, the tight end’s longest reception since a 53-yard catch on Oct. 22, 2023. Hollywood Brown got his fourth touchdown catch. Tyquan Thornton caught a 39-yard pass and still leads the NFL with a 22.2-yards-per-catch average.

Word of caution to NFL

Toss in JuJu Smith-Schuster, and with Rice back in the mix, it’s a lethal attack.

“Having him and Trav working underneath with Hollywood,” Mahomes said, “and Tyquan downfield, Xavier downfield. You don’t know where it‘s coming from. JuJu is out there making plays happen.

“Guys are just ready to go out there and when they get their opportunity, they’re going to make the plays. And you saw that throughout the entire game. Everybody made plays. It might be one guy’s game one game, and then it might be another guy’s game the next game. But as long as we’re getting better all together, we can go out there and have a lot of success.”