SAO PAULO — Before the Kansas City Chiefs could get in rhythm on offense — even before they could gain a first down — a major part of their game plan was removed from the field.
Less than two minutes into their 27-21 season-opening loss to the Los Angeles Chargers on Friday, the Chiefs experienced their first significant injury when Xavier Worthy, their fastest receiver, suffered a right shoulder injury on the third snap of the season.
Worthy ran a crossing route to gain separation against the Chargers’ man-to-man coverage. Instead of finishing his route, Worthy collided with his teammate, tight end Travis Kelce, who was also running a crossing route but in the opposite direction. The play ended with quarterback Patrick Mahomes throwing an incompletion because Worthy, a second-year player, fell to the turf in pain.
A few minutes later, after the Chiefs punted, Worthy walked back to the locker room with a towel over his head. Before halftime, the Chiefs ruled Worthy out for the remainder of the game.
“That’s someone that’s a huge part of our game plan,” Mahomes said of Worthy. “He’s someone that we’re counting on to go make plays against some of the man coverages that they played. I thought guys did a good job stepping up in those roles, but you could tell it took us a little bit to get going.”
Coach Andy Reid said the Chiefs’ training and medical staff would know more about Worthy’s status Saturday evening once the team returned to Kansas City and after an MRI at the training facility. The Chiefs will face the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2.
Without Worthy, the Chiefs ended their first three possessions with punts Friday night, just the third time that has happened since Mahomes became the starting quarterback in 2018. In the first quarter, Mahomes completed just one of his six passes for 6 yards when targeting a receiver.
“When you play a team a lot, they know what you’re good at, and I thought they did a good job of taking away some of our quick throws,” Mahomes said. “We adjusted well in the second half, but if I can hit some of those throws early, it kind of loosens up the defense. … If I can make some of those throws early in the game, I think it would’ve been a different result.”
The Chiefs fell behind by 10 points early in the second quarter, which forced Mahomes to finish Friday’s game with 39 passing attempts. Many of Mahomes’ 14 pass attempts in the second quarter showed how much the Chiefs’ offense changed without Worthy. Mahomes completed 10 of those passes, but his average depth of target was just 4.1 yards, a clear contrast to his averaging 15 air yards per pass attempt in the first quarter.
In addition to Worthy’s injury, Reid said he was frustrated that his players didn’t perform with the proper energy, enthusiasm and focus in the first half.
“We were a little flat that first half, and that cost us,” Reid said. “I’ve got to make sure we come out with better emotion. It’s a nice, big stage for us against a good team. They made a couple plays early, got going and we weren’t able to do that.
“I expect the players to fly around and do the things that I’ve seen us do. That’s my responsibility to get them in that frame of mind, whether you have an injury, a turnover or whatever it is. You fight through that and you make yourself better, whatever situation you’re in.”
The Chiefs played Friday without their No. 1 receiver Rashee Rice, who began serving a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy. Mahomes still targeted receivers on 27 passing attempts, more than he had in any game in the past two seasons.
In the second half, Mahomes was once again asked to carry his offense and gave the Chiefs an opportunity in the fourth quarter. He scrambled for five first downs, which tied for his most in a game in his career (Week 5 of the 2021 season against the Buffalo Bills). Mahomes’ performance in the second half, when he totaled 160 passing yards and another 42 yards on the ground, ignited the Chiefs’ offense after a lackluster start.
When Mahomes ran in the third quarter, he trucked cornerback Donte Jackson before going out of bounds, a decision he said was intentional because he, too, could notice that his teammates needed to be inspired by his aggression.
“More than anything, sometimes you’ve got to do something to jump-start the team,” Mahomes said. “I was not in the mood to be running out of bounds. I wanted to try to do something to get us going. We kind of got going on offense in the second half, but it takes everybody, and we’ve got to start faster.”
