The Chiefs wide receivers are playing their best football when it matters most.
After struggling mightily with drops for much of the regular season, Kansas City's pass-catchers are playing mistake-free in the playoffs.
Per Pro Football Reference, the Chiefs led the NFL this season in dropped passes (44) and drop percentage (6.9%). On more than one occasion, wide receivers' inability to reel in perfect passes led to gut-wrenching losses for Kansas City — namely against the Lions in Week 1 and Eagles in Week 11.
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Yet in the postseason, QB Patrick Mahomes' top targets are playing like a top-tier unit.
Rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice has been targeted 14 times in the playoffs and has zero drops, per PFF. His 177 receiving yards rank fifth-best in the NFL, with Lions' Amon-Ra St. Brown (187 yards) being the only player who's ahead of him and still in the playoffs.
Wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling, meanwhile, was integral in the Chiefs' 27-24 win over the Bills in the divisional round. The 29-year-old made two massive 30+ yard catches that kickstarted touchdown drives, including a beautiful back-shoulder reception to begin the second half. He was subsequently named PFF's highest-graded WR from the divisional-round games ( 82.0).
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With more trust in his wide receivers, Mahomes is becoming even more dangerous in the deep passing game. Per Next Gen Stats, the star signal-caller completed all three of his deep passes for 84 yards against the Bills, marking his most deep completions in a game this season.
Since trading Tyreek Hill to the Dolphins in March 2022, the Chiefs have lacked a reliable deep threat to complement tight end Travis Kelce. When the speedster wideout was on the team from 2018 to 2021, Mahomes completed 3+ deep passes in 23 of 73 (31.5%) games, compared to just two contests since 2022.
If Kelce — who's seven catches away from passing Jerry Rice as the all-time leader in postseason receptions — and Kansas City's wide receivers are able to continue playing at a high level, the Ravens will have their hands full trying to slow down Andy Reid's offense in the AFC Championship Game.
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