Kansas City Chiefs get a lift from role players in win over the Saints

Heading into a nationally-televised Week 5 matchup with the New Orleans Saints, news broke that Kansas City Chiefs receiver Rashee Rice would miss the rest of the season early on Monday evening. Fresh off of a 17-point outing the previous Sunday, there were serious questions about how the offense would fare without its No. 1 option. In the Monday nighter, the Chiefs found some offensive firepower in unlikely places. Led by a resurgent effort by from eight-year veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Chiefs amassed 460 yards of total offense.

The offense is still lacking the consistency you hope to see five weeks into the regular season, but they had nearly 40 minutes of possession in this contest and made seven trips to the red zone. The problem was the Chiefs were woefully unsuccessful on most of them. On the night, the Chiefs were just 2-of-7 in red zone situations.

Fortunately for Andy Reid and company, beyond the 200 combined yards between the aforementioned Smith-Schuster and Travis Kelce, the supporting cast of Mecole Hardman, Xavier Worthy, Noah Gray, Samaje Perine, and Kareem Hunt added another 126 receiving yards. If this level of support continues, Kansas City can field enough offense to make another championship run.

The Chiefs cobbled together a solid offensive showing on the backs of several key offensive contributions from an ensemble of unlikely heroes.

Travis Kelce is as reliable a commodity as Kansas City has offensively, and with Rice down, he'll return as the focal point of the passing game. At some point this season, Xavier Worthy will earn the full trust of Patrick Mahomes. He's routinely been open down the field and once they're on the same page, the Chiefs will add another dimension to the offense. Smith-Schuster posted his best game since the 2020 season on Monday night. If he can lead the way as an approximation of the Rashee Rice role for this offense, it will open up opportunities for other players. A combination of Kelce, Smith-Schuster, and Worthy could be sufficient if the team cannot bolster the position through the trade market.

This all works because the backfield has recently become an offensive strength with the return of Kareem Hunt. In his two games since returning to Kansas City, he's posted 171 rushing yards on 41 carries (good for 4.17 yards per carry). The Chiefs are having so much success on early downs, they've been in favorable third-down situations. That level of balance helps Reid keep offensive options open. Monday night was arguably his best 2024 effort at offensive playcalling. He found ways to consistently exploit the middle of the New Orleans defense.

The present sample size is insufficient to come to any hardline conclusions about the offensive roleplayers. The Week 7 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers will provide a better litmus test. I suspect the team will be active on the phones during the bye week, but they'll need a willing dance partner to acquire help in the receiver room. We're roughly one month shy of the NFL's trade deadline and there are sure to be a few players on the trade block, but it's unknown how many of them would legitimately move the needle for this offense. As it stands, players like Darius Slayton (New York Giants), Amari Cooper (Cleveland Browns), and division rival Davante Adams (Las Vegas Raiders) are among the best available and would fit what the Chiefs do offensively.

Consummating a deal is never simple and if the Chiefs are unable to find a reasonable trade opportunity, they'll have to rely on in-house options. Can Smith-Schuster stay healthy enough to be a high-volume solution? Will Reid employ more 13 personnel to exploit the intermediate parts of the field with Kelce and Gray? Are Xavier Worthy and Mecole Hardman capable of regularly contributing positive gadget plays? Time will tell when the Kansas City Chiefs return from their Week 6 bye. Their 5-0 start affords them the patience to see how things shake out over their next two games.