With the postseason officially here, the Kansas City Chiefs are just days away from their first outing of the NFL's single-elimination tournament. They'll do so coming off a scorching 15-2 effort in the regular season, and there's something else working in their favor as well.
Despite wide receiver Rashee Rice being out for the playoffs, this could be the healthiest version of Kansas City. In turn, the offense might just be stronger now than it has been at any point in the year. With a trio of rookie Xavier Worthy and veterans Marquise "Hollywood" Brown and DeAndre Hopkins leading the way, there's a good mix of dynamic athleticism and football IQ to count on.
The Worthy-Brown duo, specifically, has the Chiefs excited about the next week-plus. Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy believes the return of Brown from injury has helped Worthy's slow-burning debut campaign finally take off.
"Yeah, I love it," Nagy said. "Again, you've heard me relate it to Rashee, but that's real. Xavier's done a great job of staying patient the entire season. He's been great with the players. It's been a fun process for him and now, as we continue to kind of go into these moments and these games he's going to realize that when we get to the playoffs, it steps up even more and things get even faster. It's been really fun to see this offense start to come together, and getting Hollywood back too certainly helps that."
Worthy is indeed experiencing the Rice-like jump Kansas City hinted at weeks ago. His last seven games extrapolate to 95 receptions for 952 yards and seven touchdowns over the course of a 17-game season. Pass game coordinator (and former receivers coach) Joe Bleymaier attributes that improvement to talent, smarts, versatility and work ethic.
"I think it speaks to his intelligence and his ability to continue to grow and continue to progress week-to-week, not hit a rookie wall, not be satisfied with one particular niche or one type of receiver," Bleymaier said. "He's been open to expanding all of his routes and then being used in different ways. I think it speaks to him. He's been healthy, he's come with a great attitude, trying to learn [and] trying to get better.
"And then with that, it's evolved some of those routes and some of the different ways that he's been used. It's a credit to him. There's a lot on his plate: being used in different positions, being asked to do different things, getting out of the huddle in different situations. It's a credit to him that we are able to put him in those different spots because in the past, maybe there have been guys that have been limited to one or smaller niche-type routes."
With Worthy trending the way the coaching staff wants him to, the club's focus can shift to optimizing its rotations for the postseason. Having Brown in the lineup after a preseason shoulder injury is a massive plus, as his presence has a ripple effect on everyone else. In his two games played late in the regular season, he hauled in nine passes for 91 yards and left plenty of production on the table. A three-headed monster of him, Worthy and Hopkins allows each player to serve a particular purpose on offense and take some pressure off tight end Travis Kelce.
Much like last year, the development of the Kansas City offense has taken longer than many – including the team – likely hoped. With that said, things are looking up with the star rookie and savvy vet(s) hitting their stride. Saturday's divisional round game against the Houston Texans may be just the third for Brown as a Chief, but the most dangerous rendition of the offense could be on the horizon.
"I think he started to integrate to where we kind of envisioned him this season," Bleymaier said of Brown. "He's dynamic, he's a natural receiver, he's got playmaking abilities – it comes naturally to him. Just getting back into the flow, although he has all that natural ability, just doing it again and being in the live fire, I think, is good for him just to get back to where he was. You're starting to see kind of where he left off in August. Hoping that in January and February, he can just really take off."
