Patrick

Mahomes

According to The Kansas City Star’s Sam McDowell, Rice was unable to participate in today’s voluntary organized team activities (OTAs) “because of an illness, not due to his injury,” adding that Rice is “progressing well.” This week’s OTAs are the first since the team hosted a one-off event on April 21. The next session is scheduled for next week, from June 2-5. Assuming Rice’s ailment is behind him come Monday, the event should help us confirm whether Rice really is the new Mr. Unlimited. On April 1, Reid told reporters that Rice was “on track to be ready” for training camp.

The NFL’s trickle of 2025 schedule news includes a Super Bowl rematch in Kansas City, where Patrick Mahomes and company will look for a little revenge after getting bulldozed by the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX, 40-22. Philadelphia’s elite defense held Mahomes to a mere 226 yards on 32 pass attempts, with much of that production coming in fourth quarter garbage time. Jalen Hurts threw for two scores and ran in another as Saquon Barkley was held in check to the tune of 57 scoreless yards on 23 carries. If the Chiefs are to get back at the Eagles in Week 2, they’ll have to do a far better job of protecting Mahomes.

The Week 13 matchup will bring Patrick Mahomes and the AFC champion Chiefs to Dallas for the day’s late afternoon game. It could be a shootout if key players on both sides are healthy. Dak Prescott heads into the season with George Pickens as a legit WR2 behind CeeDee Lamb, and Mahomes — who has talked this offseason about more explosive plays for the KC offense — will have Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce, Rashee Rice, and Hollywood Brown at his disposal. Mahomes has faced Dallas once in his NFL career, a Week 11 win in 2021 in which he threw for 260 scoreless yards. The hope for both the league and fantasy managers is that the Cowboys are still in postseason contention by the end of November.

Per Fisher, the NFL is “closing in” on a deal with YouTube, which would allow users to stream the contest for free worldwide. Setting some sort of streaming record is undoubtedly the intent, as the NFL aggressively pursues its global viewership goals. Lining up a free showdown between Justin Herbert and Patrick Mahomes is a smart way for the NFL to convert new viewers into eager NFL Game Pass International subscribers. The game is scheduled for Friday, September 5, so fantasy managers must make note of the kickoff time when announced.

Football fans around the world are praying to see this happen in 2025. The Chiefs were without Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown for most of last year and Xavier Worthy was slow to find his footing in the NFL, killing any hopes of the Chiefs’ offense being fun. Between legal issues and his season-ending knee injury, Rice’s status for Week 1 is murky, but Brown is back and healthy. Worthy also started to break out at the end of his rookie campaign, notably going for 157 yards and two touchdowns in the Super Bowl. While defenses are never going to let Mahomes have free rein on deep shots, some extra juice from the receivers should boost Mahomes’ aDOT beyond the near-league-low mark of 6.9 that it sat at in 2024.

The move, according to ESPN’s Field Yates, will save $49.4 million against the salary cap in 2025. The team redid Mahomes’ deal after splurging in free agency on LT Jaylon Moore and CB Kristian Fulton, among other players. Mahomes had been slated to count as a $66 million cap hit in 2025. Mahomes, who turns 30 in September, is signed through the 2031 season.

“I’m gonna take some time to figure it out,” Kelce, 35, said Tuesday on his New Heights podcast. “And I think I owe it to my teammates that if I do come back that it’s gonna be a wholehearted decision and I’m not half-assing it, and I’m fully here for them.” In 2024, Kelce saw big drop offs in production and efficiency, finishing the season with the lowest yards per route run of his NFL career. He averaged 3.9 yards after the catch per reception, the lowest mark of his illustrious career with KC. Even so, Kelce trailed only Brock Bowers and Trey McBride in tight end catches last season. “I think I can play, it’s just whether or not I’m motivated or it’s the best decision for me as a man, as a human, as a person to take on all that responsibility,” Kelce said. If he steps away, the Chiefs would likely reconfigure their passing attack around Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice.

Mahomes was hammered for six sacks as the Chiefs’ protection completely collapsed, a la their Super Bowl LV loss to the Bucs. Besieged Mahomes didn’t help matters with two awful picks, one of which was housed for a pick-six. It had the feeling of a duct tape and glue production no longer “getting away with it.” As for the regular season, Mahomes’ statistical “slump” continued even as he led the Chiefs to a 15-1 record during his starts. He failed to eclipse 4,000 yards passing for the first time in seven years as starter and matched a career low with 26 aerial scores. Mahomes’ previous 26-TD campaign came when he was limited to 14 starts in 2019 by a knee injury. A painfully low average depth of target was accompanied by a career-worst 6.8 YPA. With any other quarterback, we would be talking about a drop-off, but weekly Chiefs observers know the deal. This is a super limited supporting cast, and Mahomes and company have opted for ruthless short-area efficiency over deep-game pyrotechnics. It’s an ongoing bummer for fantasy managers, but obviously the right call for Kansas City as it awaits for passing-game reinforcements. Once again limited to non-premium draft position ahead of a typically barren receiver free agent market, the Chiefs could look to add a front-line wideout via trade.

The theme of this dominance was: “Ope, let me just scooch on by you.” Mahomes took a first-and-goal from the 10 and ran it in without even being hit hard to put the Chiefs up 29-22 early in the fourth quarter. His first rushing touchdown came just after the two-minute warning in the first half, and he found Xavier Worthy in the air the drive before that to push the Chiefs to a 21-16 halftime lead. The Bills rallied to tie the game at 29, and sacked Mahomes on first-and-goal with 4:28 when Jordan Phillips picked up left guard Mike Caliendo and deposited him in Mahomes’ lap. But the Chiefs kicked a successful field goal to take the lead, stopped Allen on fourth down on their last drive, and Mahomes was able to drain the rest of the clock with a pair of flat passes to running backs Isiah Pacheco and Samaje Perine. Mahomes is dominant despite never appearing physically dominant. It makes him feel more unflappable than inevitable. He just knows too much about how to win an NFL football game, and really your team wasn’t that interested in winning anyway, right? The Chiefs will take on the Eagles in Super Bowl LIX two Sundays from now with a chance to become the NFL’s first franchise to win three titles in a row since the 1965-67 Packers.

And with that, the Chiefs have now made the AFC title tilt all seven years Mahomes has been starter. Stupefying. As was the case all season, it wasn’t necessarily a “convincing” win. It was also never really in doubt. Regardless of who wins Baltimore/Buffalo’s heavyweight fight Sunday, the talk all week will focus on the Chiefs’ supposed vulnerability. It’s just that, the next time we see it this season will be the first. Giddy up for what should be another classic.