Chiefs Lack of Receivers Finally Comes Back To Haunt Them

The Kansas City Chiefs got through the first five games of the season with a shortage of wide receivers, but their issues with injuries and underperformance finally caught up with the Chiefs in a big way when they couldn’t even manage a touchdown against the Seatttle defense in their 20-3 loss on Sunday night. 

Seattle’s defense had a lot to do with the Chiefs’ offensive problems, but it was a pathetic performance by a mostly second-rate group that came through and made some plays against the Los Angeles Chargers last week. 

But the Seahawks aren’t the Chargers, and the stat sheet put the group in a negative spotlight with the Chiefs missing both Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton due to injuries. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes went just 19-for-33 for 165 yards and an interception, and he was flushed from the pocket frequently and left with no one to target. 

The biggest disappointment was receiver Xavier Worthy, who came up small with just 11 yards on three catches. Worthy struggled to separate all night, with safety Nick Emmanwori running stride-for-stride with the Chiefs receiver on deeper routes that were designed to produce chunk plays. 

Worthy did make one catch for a short gain on one of those crossing routes the Chiefs were talking up in training camp, but those were conspicuously absent with Mahomes needing to make quick throws and not having the time to wait for Worthy to come open. 

Instead it was the tight ends who showed up at the top of the receiving chart, with Noah Gray and Travis Kelce combining for 88 yards on seven receptions. Gray did have one nice catch for 19 yard, but Kelce struggled to get in synch with Mahomes all night long, and drops were a problem for him as well. 

As for the rest of the receivers, they did next to nothing, and their numbers were as forgettable as their names suggest their performance would be. Cyrus Allen had a moment with an 18-yard grab, but the only other contributions came from Justin Watson and Andrew Armstrong, with each having a catch for less than ten yards. 

The offensive line had something to do with this, too, of course. The Chiefs were rocked by the news that left tackle Josh Simmons had been placed on IR with an injury/personal designation, and the patchwork line couldn’t give Mahomes time or open holes for Kenneth Walker III. Suddenly there’s a lot to fix with a date with the Denver Broncos coming up on the road on Sunday.