Down Rashee Rice for their Week 5 matchup against the New Orleans Saints, the Kansas City Chiefs got major contributions from some players no one could have guessed coming into the year.
Neither the leading rusher (Kareem Hunt) nor the leading receiver (JuJu Smith-Schuster) was on the team in July. Heck, Smith-Schuster latched on with Kansas City as the calendar was flipping to September and he had all of one target in Weeks 1 and 2. Hunt was playing in just his second game of the season on Monday. Both players broke out anyway.
Hunt toted the ball a season-high 27 times, amassing 102 yards and a touchdown. Those attempt and yardage totals were his most since 2017 and 2020, respectively. Smith-Schuster had at least seven receptions and 100-plus yards for the first time since Week 7 of the 2022-23 campaign, his first season with the Chiefs.
What led to Hunt and Smith-Schuster's statement games against New Orleans? On a new episode of the "New Heights" podcast with his brother Jason, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said their familiarity with the offense factored into the ability to get going quickly.
"Well [for] one, both of these guys are familiar with the offense," Kelce said. "They're familiar with the scheme. I think they're familiar with the nucleus of the coaching staff and the players that we've got here. Honestly, it just felt like we got our guys back in the building. There was no, like, 'Alright, let's ease them into it.' It was like, no, they're ready to rock and roll right now. JuJu's won a Super Bowl with us, Kareem's had unbelievable success in this offense before so I think when it comes down to what Coach Reid is going to call, everybody's very familiar on how to have success with it."
Kansas City will certainly need that boost moving forward. Starting running back Isiah Pacheco remains on injured reserve as he recovers from a broken fibula, and Rice is slated to miss the rest of the season following LCL surgery. That's without even mentioning wideout Marquise "Hollywood" Brown, whose regular season is also projected to be over due to a sternoclavicular injury that didn't heal properly. The Chiefs' offense isn't involving players like Hunt and Smith-Schuster by choice, but rather by necessity. This is all they have right now.
It's early, but the early returns are promising. Patrick Mahomes threw for 331 yards in Week 5, and the offense amassed over 400 total net yards. With a good stable of in-house pieces, that aforementioned familiarity is making a difference. Now, the pressure is on to either sustain that production or find ways to improve ahead of the trade deadline.
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