The Kansas City Chiefs' Season May Have Been Saved by Some Injuries

In the world of sports, injuries are usually a bad thing. Beyond the human element—no one wants to see someone get hurt—enforced absences force teams to make some less-than-ideal choices. No team wants to trot out a backup quarterback in a must-win game.

On Sunday, however, the Kansas City Chiefs may have suffered some injuries at the exact right time.

Going into the game, head coach Andy Reid's offense had struggled to fully hit its stride. In that context, the absence of Kadarius Toney, Mecole Hardman Jr. and Jerick McKinnon seemed like bad news. However when the dust cleared, it seemed like KC had found a way to balance their attack.

And, in the context of this season, that could be exactly what the club needed to get over the hump.

Let's break things down.

Injuries Helped the Chiefs Find Balance

During the 2023 campaign, Patrick Mahomes has been forced to spread the ball around. Without a legitimate number two target beyond Travis Kelce, no one is regularly creating separation and emerging as a go-to option. That may sound good in theory—if you have five receiving threats, someone will have a favorable matchup—but things haven't clicked in practice. The Chiefs offense has been plagued by inconsistency, whether that's through drops, bad choices or simply having to rely on players who should be complimentary pieces rather than primary reads.

But against the Las Vegas Raiders, things had to be different. With Toney, Hardman and McKinnon (who, despite being a running back, is primarily used as a pass-catcher) being out, Mahomes couldn't really spread the ball around.

In Sin City, the Chiefs' offensive attack was fairly balanced. There were 23 runs, with 15 of those touches going to Isiah Pacheco, and 27 passes. Within that aerial attack, Rashee Rice (10) and Kelce (seven), received the bulk of the targets. The other players Skyy Moore (three targets), Pacheco (five targets), Noah Gray (three targets), Justin Watson (three targets) and Marquez Valdes-Scantling (one target) were complimentary pieces.

And Rice made the most of that increased workload. The rookie pulled in eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown. Unbelievably, he was the first Chiefs receiver to break the 100-yard plateau in a game this season.

Beyond that, the club's offensive output (31 points) was tied for the second-highest mark they've posted all season. And KC also got over their second-half hoodoo, scoring 17 points after halftime.

Rice's Larger Role Could Change Everything

A single game could be an outlier and Sunday's performance could be a significant result for Rice and the Chiefs offense.

At the risk of ignoring all the work that goes on behind the scenes during practices and meetings, rookies need to prove that they're capable of performing when the chips are down. That's what Rice did against the Raiders. Even though he did have a drop during the game, the young receiver bounced back and seized his opportunity to make a difference.

After the game, Mahomes suggested that Rice could be filling a different role moving forward.

"I think we've only scratched the surface, honestly," the quarterback told reporters. "I think you've seen us hitting him kind of around the line of scrimmage, you saw the one around the sideline. I think he can do some of the vertical threat stuff. He has speed and he has burst, you can see it when he has the football in his hands. So let's start working him in and getting him more opportunities. It's hard when defenses play us like this — we've put some kind of deep-crossers and stuff in where defenses are settling back and I can go underneath. But I think he has a chance to be a great receiver in this league, and we're going to continue to push him to be that receiver every single week."

The Athletic's Dianna Russini also reported on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday that the Chiefs' coaching staff planned on making adjustments to how their younger receivers were used so they 'play fast and not have to think.'"

Trying to get inside the mind of an NFL head coach can be a fool's errand. But, in this case, Rice having a break-out game around that time that his quarterback and head coach are talking about making adjustments certainly bodes well for the rookie.

And if Rice is occupying more of a traditional "Receiver 1" role, that addresses the biggest issue the Chiefs have struggled with this season. Without a true second option beyond Kelce, Mahomes has been forced to spread the ball around and rely on unreliable targets. That has, in turn, led to stalled drives and a stagnant offense.

But on Sunday, things were relatively simple. Pacheco handled the bulk of the carries. Most of the passes were split between Rice and Kelce. With those two shouldering most of the load, other players like Watson could be used as supplementary options.

The Penn product, in this case, is a perfect example. He's capable of making things happen, and pulled in a touchdown pass on Sunday. But that should be his role within the offense; going to him on fourth down with the game on the line (as happened against Philadelphia) isn't setting anyone up for success.

And those same principles can be applied when the injured Chiefs return. Take Toney, who has struggled to make a consistent impact since arriving at Arrowhead. There's a big difference between shoehorning him into the offense and expecting him to dominate the defense and using him as a gadget player who receives a few carries and catches a few passes in short-yardage situations.

Will there be bumps in the road relying on Rice? Probably, he's a rookie slotting into an important role on a team with Super Bowl aspirations. But the Chiefs are (largely) stuck with their current roster at this point; barring an emergency, there aren't going to be any notable changes.

That means that Rice is the club's best option to assume the top spot in the receivers' room. And once he's in that top role, the next step is building the offensive game plan around relying on him, Kelce and Pacheco.

Sometimes, the best ideas are born out of desperation. And for all of Reid's legendary creativity, maybe he needed to be forced to simplify and play to his offense's strengths.

Maybe when the 2023 NFL season is said and done, we'll look back on this mini-injury outbreak as the moment that solved KC's offensive woes.