Arrowhead Pride
There are nine games in the books — with eight more to go. The Kansas City Chiefs are taking their bye week in Week 10, so it’s time to dish out some midseason awards.
For the first time, we have co-winners!
For both of these guys, you could almost argue that proof of their value is in what the team looked like when they weren’t on the field. For Worthy, it was a Week 1 shoulder injury. Rice began the season sidelined with a six-game NFL suspension for his role in a street racing incident.
With both Worthy and Rice out of the lineup, the Chiefs averaged just 15.6 points per game. But in Worthy’s first game back against the Baltimore Ravens, Kansas City scored 37 points. Rice rejoined the mix three weeks later when the Chiefs defeated the Las Vegas Raiders in a 31-0 blowout — a score that would have been higher if Kansas City head coach Andy Reid hadn’t instituted the mercy rule, pulling his starters at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Since Week 4, the Chiefs’ offense has averaged 30.3 points per game. What’s distinctive about this duo is that while Worthy and Rice play the same position, they are drastically different players — a prototypical “Thunder and Lightning” duo.
Despite recording the fastest 40-yard dash time in NFL Combine history, Worthy is much more than a deep threat. He has developed his route tree since last season, using his speed to get open on short to intermediate routes as much as on deep shots. Reid loves to send his speedster on long crossing patterns and slants across the field, forcing defenders to cover him over as much area as possible.
Since defenses have to respect Worthy’s speed, they often cheat to the deeper side of his routes, leaving underneath comeback routes and curl patterns open. This makes Worthy an effective option all over the field.
His 256 receiving yards rank fifth on the team — and he plays bigger than his 5-foot-11, 165-pound frame might suggest. Perhaps the most exciting aspect of Worthy’s game is that he still has room to develop — and get better in areas where he has already excelled.
Let’s be real: the only reason Rice didn’t run away with this award is because he’s only played three games this season — but in that short time, he has amassed 233 yards from scrimmage and scored four touchdowns.
Rice’s biggest strength is… well… his strength. He is a thick-bodied wide receiver who is a menace coming off the line of scrimmage. Due to his playing strength, he wins fast and often — which is why over half of his receiving yards (113) come after the catch.
Rice isn’t going to win any footraces,...
