If there's one team in the NFL that resides in the spotlight more than any other, it's the Kansas City Chiefs.
They carved out their place among high-profile clubs by creating an explosive offense around quarterback Patrick Mahomes and rode it to a Super Bowl triumph in the 2019 season. They've been in the Super Bowl on a near-annual basis since then, falling short of the game's biggest stage just once over the last six seasons. But their paths back to the Super Bowl have adopted different appearances over the years, leading many to criticize their lack of big plays.
That might change soon, according to Xavier Worthy.
“Coach Reid told us during OTAs Phase 1, ‘When you come back, get your hamstrings ready,’ ” Worthy told Kay Adams during an appearance on FanDuel TV's "Up and Adams" show. “So, we kind of knew that we were going to be going a little deep during practice. We kind of got our bodies and our minds ready for what we’re going to be doing in practice.”
Chiefs fans will welcome the change, because if anybody is tired of hearing about Kansas City's lack of offensive punch, it's them. Despite lacking the signature explosive plays of years past, the Chiefs remain consistent winners.
The claims, however, aren't unfounded. Since logging a career-high average depth of target (aDOT) of 9.7 yards in 2018, Mahomes has landed below eight yards in each of the last four seasons, per Pro Football Focus. His last two seasons have hovered at or below seven yards, proving Kansas City's offense has indeed been less explosive, especially without Tyreek Hill.
But many expected that to change when the Chiefs traded up to select Worthy -- the Texas speedster who set a record in the 40-yard dash at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine -- in the first round of the 2024 draft. That didn't happen -- at least, not until late in the season. However, Worthy feels encouraged by what he and Mahomes were able to produce down the stretch last season.
“I feel like they started using me a lot underneath,” Worthy said, “and I can get started over the top because me and Pat are building that rapport together. We’re going to build it in training camp. We got it going at the end of the Super Bowl a little bit, so that was a great feeling to be able to connect deep towards the end of the year.”
Producing highlight-reel plays isn't simply a matter of lining up and sprinting downfield. As Worthy described it, in order to maximize his potential in Kansas City's offense, he has to know what Mahomes wants from him.
Last season offered him a chance to figure that out over the course of 17 regular-season games and a run to the Super Bowl.
“He really just wants you to get open,” Worthy said of Mahomes. “But it’s really about understanding the route and what freedom you have in the route. Sometimes, you have a route that you don’t have freedom, and you have to run as is. Or, you have a little bit of freedom, but you have to stay on a little bit of timing.”
Kansas City also couldn't consistently look downfield last season because Mahomes didn't have much reason to trust his offensive line would hold up long enough to afford him the time to go deep. It was a frequent issue that became a fatal problem in Super Bowl LIX, in which the Chiefs were overwhelmed by Philadelphia's pass rush and their offense crumbled in the blowout loss.
That defeat is now behind the Chiefs, who enter 2025 not as the hunted, but as a hungry team looking to avenge its demise. If the Chiefs are to achieve this goal, Worthy will have to play a key role. He's ready for it, even if that requires him to return some punts, telling Adams "every time I touch the ball, I'm liable to score."
Most importantly, though, Worthy wants nothing more than for the Chiefs to finish on the winning side of the scoreboard -- especially after walking off the field in New Orleans while green and white, not red and yellow, confetti fell from above in February.
“I’m a winner,” he said. “A loss is general. I hate losing more than I like winning. As a competitor, I feel like that’s how it should be. You really don’t have another chance to redeem yourself. You have to wait until next year.
“So, all that built-up tension -- all that built-up anger -- is just carried over until next year. Either you’re going to stack on it, or you’re going to carry over the loss.”