Welcome back to the Arrowhead Pride Mailbag! Throughout the season, keep watching The Feed for an opportunity to submit your questions about the Kansas City Chiefs!
The box score and advanced metrics paint a prettier picture than the Chiefs’ Week 3 24-10 victory over the Miami Dolphins felt as the actual game unfolded. Let’s see what’s on our readers’ minds ahead of an unexpected showdown of 3-0 teams Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders.
John 1963 asks:
Has quarterback Patrick Mahomes lost faith in wideout Xavier
Worthy? Or is he not getting open? Only two targets Sunday.
The Chiefs ran only 49 offensive plays on Sunday, making it a difficult sample to determine who the staff may be fading on or who simply didn’t factor into a truncated game plan.
I think there is evidence that Tyquan Thornton has more trust on deep routes than Worthy does. Worthy still seems preferred to his fellow speedster on short and intermediate routes, although second-year man Jalen Royals is trending up in that category.
Worthy’s 17-yard catch on Sunday was one of the better routes we have seen him run in 2026, and he came down with a high pass from Mahomes. But right now, if the deep throws are going to Thornton and Rashee Rice, and Travis Kelce is getting so much intermediate work and racking up yards after the catch, where is Worthy’s ceiling to improve on a dismal showing so far this season?
Worthy and Mahomes both spent the offseason recovering from major surgery, so it’s still a bit early to write off his season. But if he isn’t a more effective piece of the offense coming out of the Week 5 bye, I think you could see his snaps start trending down dramatically.
FoxBot2021 asks:
If Rashee Rice stays on this kind of pace for 1k and maybe 5-6 TDs, and IF he can walk the straight and narrow, do the Chiefs give Rashee a short 2-3 year deal like they did with Tyreek Hill?
The ship has sailed on Rice signing an extension as Hill did in 2019. Hill signed a three-year extension after his final season on his original rookie contract. So the Chiefs really had four seasons to pay off what was then a very controversial three-year deal. Ultimately, the Chiefs traded “The Cheetah” ahead of the extension’s final season in 2022.
Rice is now three games into the final season of his rookie deal and set to be one of the most interesting free agent cases next offseason. He is currently on pace for 1076 receiving yards and six touchdowns, with his targets increasing each week. With Rice coming off of his own offseason surgery, I expect his production to rise further from what we are seeing.
With running back Kenneth Walker getting significant check-down work in the passing game, Rice’s current 6.4-yard average depth of target would easily set a career high if it holds.
That said, the Chiefs will need to have some serious conversations about his future. The wide receiver franchise tag for 2027 is currently estimated (per Over the Cap) at $30.9 million. Even if Rice becomes Kansas City’s first 1000 yard wide receiver since 2021, will that really be due to his transcendent talent — or a product of the Chiefs’ offense?
Ultimately, I predict that Rice will be a Chief somehow in 2027. I don’t think the Chiefs will eat the salary cap room to use the tag — but I also don’t think teams will line up to pay him as a No. 1 wideout. If he has to prove himself — on and off the field — for one more season, I think Rice will ultimately decide the Chiefs give him the best chance to put up numbers that eventually get him paid.
AzDiamond asks:
Is defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo going to going to give cornerback L’Jarius Sneed the Daniel Sorenson and Ben Nieman treatment or will he play Chris Roland-Wallace and/or rookie Jadon Canady in the slot?
The last two weeks, offenses have thrown quick passes to Sneed to mitigate anything the Chiefs might do to pressure the quarterback. His lowest passer rating allowed through three games is 89.6 in Week 1.
I am not sure it will become the frustrating situation Chiefs fans saw with Sorensen and Nieman in the past. Spagnuolo clearly has an affinity for Sneed, but that is true for multiple players in the current secondary.
With safety Chamarri Conner likely to return in Week 4, I am wondering whether he will take on some of the rotational third-safety role and let Roland-Wallace absorb some of Sneed’s slot work. Roland-Wallace played only 12 defensive snaps on Sunday but led the team’s defenders with a 93.2 coverage grade per Pro Football Focus.
One solution I am wondering we’ll see after the bye is Nohl Williams taking on some of the slot work, with veteran Kristian Fulton rotating in outside. After playing the first two weeks in relief of rookie Mansoor Delane heavily, Fulton did not see the field against Miami.
Canady has played in more than two-thirds of the special teams snaps the last two weeks, and I am not sure the team can currently spare him unless absolutely necessary. I expect the fourth-round pick to have a learning year in 2026 and compete next summer for a significant defensive role.
ChiefTigerfan24 asks:
When will we see rookie wide receiver Cyrus Allen get some more offensive snaps? I would like to start working him in to see if the pre-season hype is real or not.
I expected Allen to defy expectations and carve out a bigger role early in his rookie season. One complicating factor has been the usage of Royals, who I wasn’t totally sure would even make the team six weeks ago. Royals only has three catches for 17 yards, but all have come in three moments. One went for a touchdown, and his other two catches have yielded first downs.
Whenever Allen’s first real action comes, I think it will be unexpected and the result of the Chiefs seeing something they feel he can exploit. With the chance to enter the bye at 4-0 and alone in first place in the AFC standings, I won’t be surprised if they find a situation to use him against the Raiders in Week 4.
KaneMarko asks:
Pass rush….where has it been the last 2 weeks?
As the following two slates have unfolded, I truly believe that the Denver Broncos entered Week 1 with a terrible offensive game plan that made the Chiefs’ pass rush look more ready than it truly was.
This is a young defense, and you should expect ups and downs.
Pass rush and coverage tend to work hand in hand. The Chiefs are giving up too many frustrating third-down completions. A more dependable linebacker would also help mitigate the success teams are having against Kansas City on play-action.
It was concerning to see Dolphins quarterback Malik Willis enter the game as the league’s most sacked quarterback and for the Chiefs not to get to him. It is also still early, and the Chiefs have less mobile quarterbacks on tap for their next two games in Kirk Cousins of the Raiders and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert.
Chief Among Them asks
The Vikings, Bills, Raiders, and 49ers all went 3-0 this Sunday, playing 0-3 and 1-2 teams in one-score games. Why is everyone acting like the sky is falling for the Chiefs, who was one of only three teams this week to win by more than one score?
There’s really no way to explain to someone who didn’t watch the game why fans are mad. The Chiefs covered a 10-point spread, allowed only three points after halftime. Per Next Gen Stats, Kansas City never had less than a 76% win probability (and never less than 86% in the fourth quarter).
Watching the game (and reading real-time reactions), I was reminded of another Week 3 contest against a seemingly terrible opponent. The eventual Super Bowl LVII champion Chiefs traveled to face the Indianapolis Colts for their third game — only to lose 20-17 to a team that ultimately finished the 2022 season 4-12-1.
You can acknowledge that the past two weeks have raised some early concerns for the Chiefs while also appreciating that defeating any team by 14 points is a difficult accomplishment. Each of the NFL’s (now five) remaining undefeated teams was tested to some degree in Week 3 as teams inevitably adjust to two games of film.
Many football fans get the full picture of their favorite team while disproportionately taking in mostly highlights of the other 31 squads. This sometimes makes normal variance in play quality seem like a unique weakness for the team they follow.
The “sky is falling” sentiment will get very loud and very real if the Chiefs lose to an undefeated Raiders squad and leave us waiting two weeks to see how Kansas City rebounds.
Thank you for reading this week’s Arrowhead Pride Mailbag! We will be back after the Chiefs’ season continues with another road game in Las Vegas on Sunday. Keep watchingThe Feed for an opportunity to ask your questions.
