The Kansas City Chiefs kicked off their season with a 27-20 victory, showcasing the speed and explosiveness of their receiving corps. And that’s without Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, who is expected to be the WR2 behind Rashee Rice. Rice, who set a record last year for the most postseason receptions by a rookie (26), caught seven passes for 103 yards in the opening game against the Baltimore Ravens. With this win, the Chiefs have taken the first step toward what could be the first three-peat in NFL history, and they looked incredibly confident and secure as they defeated last year’s best regular-season team.
JuJu TikTok’s Return
The main competition within the Chiefs’ offense seems to be between rookie Xavier Worthy and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Worthy made a big splash in his NFL debut with two touchdowns, proving why he set a combine record by running an official time of 4.21 seconds last March. In contrast, JuJu’s performance in the opener was overshadowed by his infamous TikTok dances, reminiscent of his early days with the Chiefs and previously with the Steelers. It seems that his focus might be more on his social media presence than his on-field contributions, his zero receptions and one drop speak for themselves.
At 27, JuJu’s best years might be behind him, but he remains a solid player. In the event of injuries to any of the other three receivers, having a seasoned player like JuJu as a backup is a luxury few teams can afford. In his 2022 championship season with the Chiefs, JuJu caught 78 passes for 933 receiving yards and three touchdowns. That Kansas City team was far less explosive than this year’s squad, and with this group of receivers-including Travis Kelce-I can easily see Mahomes throwing for over 5,000 yards and nearly 40 touchdowns this season, which could be historic for both the Chiefs and the NFL.