The Kansas City Chiefs have an 8-4 record and a strong chance of getting to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
However, getting there isn’t good enough for a team with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback — they need to win the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
Their big issue this season has been their lack of a consistent and reliable threat at wide receiver, and it has been the type of issue that has been clearly evident in crunch time more than once.
One of their wideouts who has been struggling is Richie James, and per Aaron Ladd, he said he and his teammates need to simply continue to build chemistry with Mahomes.
Richie James on mindset in #Chiefs wideout room: “Keep working on the chemistry building with Pat… keep working our craft. We know we’re good enough, we know what we can do.” @KSHB41 pic.twitter.com/L7vnaC8Eku
— Aaron Ladd (@aaronladdtv) December 7, 2023
In the past, Kansas City could call on Tyreek Hill, but they traded him to the Miami Dolphins prior to last season, and he has seemingly raised his game even more since then.
Last season, JuJu Smith-Schuster was productive enough to help the Chiefs win their second world championship of the Mahomes era, but he left during the offseason to join the New England Patriots.
This situation has put lots of pressure on Travis Kelce, who is widely considered the best tight end in the NFL, to produce, but it has also made the Chiefs too predictable.
They have hoped rookie Rashee Rice, who has 591 yards and five touchdowns through 12 games, will become that new threat at wide receiver, but he isn’t quite there, at least not yet.
Other than Rice and Kelce, no one on Kansas City’s roster has reached 350 receiving yards this season.
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Patrick Mahomes Explains His Mentality After Losing To Packers