KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s not the first time Chiefs training camp generated buzz about the return of Patrick Mahomes’ high-flying early days.
Mahomes set the NFL on fire in 2018, his first year as a starter.
Kansas City led the league in scoring (35.3 points per game) and total offense (425.6 yards per game), kicking off a reign of terror against the league’s defenses.
Mahomes and the Chiefs never finished worse than sixth in total yards or scoring offense during his first five seasons, but things changed in 2023 and 2024.
Kansas City has been much more pedestrian the last two seasons, averaging fewer than 350 yards and only 23.2 points in Mahomes’ 32 starts during that span, but Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy were supposed to usher in the return of the deep ball last season.
Combined with Travis Kelce’s unique talents and Rashee Rice’s ascendance over the middle and in intermediate areas, the Chiefs were supposed to be untouchable.
Instead, Brown broke his clavicle on the first snap of preseason and missed the season’s first 15 games, Rice suffered a knee injury and missed the last 13 games, and Father Time caught up with Kelce as Worthy soldiered through his rookie season.
With the band back together and the offensive line rebuilt, that dream was supposed to materialize in 2025.
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Instead, Rice was suspended for the first six games, Worthy suffered a shoulder injury in a collision with Kelce on the season’s third snap, and the greatest tight end in NFL history managed only one catch for 10 yards before sneaking free for a 37-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The result was a painfully slow start for the supposedly juggernaut Chiefs offense during a 27-21 loss against the Los Angeles Chargers in São Paulo, Brazil, to open the season.
Mahomes went 12 of 21 for 98 yards and that includes a 38-yard deep shot to Tyquan Thornton in the closing minute before halftime.
Worthy’s injury certainly made a difference
“That’s someone that’s a huge part of our game plan and someone we’re counting on to go out there and make plays against some of the man coverage that they played,” Mahomes said. “I feel like guys did a good job stepping up in some of those roles, but you could tell it took us a little bit to get going.”
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Worthy will have an MRI when the team returns from Brazil to determine how long he’ll be out.
With Rice sidelined until Week 7, Kansas City need to find answers sooner rather than later. The upcoming schedule includes homes games against Philadelphia, Baltimore and Detroit with primetime matchups against the New York Giants and Jacksonville sprinkled in.
But there is good news.
“The first half, we were off a bit then the second half it picked up a little bit,” Reid said. “We had a few more explosives there and got into a little better rhythm.”
Mahomes connected on a 37-yard touchdown to Kelce early in the fourth quarter and found Brown for a 49-yard gain on fourth down as the Chiefs tried to rally in the closing minutes.
Brown finished with 10 catches for 99 yards, while JuJu Smith-Schuster stepped in and made five grabs for 55 yards.
“We’ll come back better this next week,” Mahomes vowed.
Meanwhile, the wait for vintage Mahomes continues.
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