Just when the rest of the football world was starting to count them out, the Kansas City Chiefs are officially back after winning two straight games.
Following Kansas City's 37-20 beatdown of the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead Stadium, and a little bit of help from their division rivals, Patrick Mahomes and the defending AFC champions are 2-2 on the season and, more importantly, sitting in second place in the AFC West.
With the Los Angeles Chargers inexplicably losing to the New York Giants, and the Las Vegas Raiders blowing the gift-wrapped opportunity at a win in the final minute that the Chicago Bears provided them, the Chiefs took full advantage of their division rivals suffering upset losses.
Chiefs Take Full Advantage of Losses by Chargers and Raiders in Week 4
While Sunday's results certainly helped Kansas City's hopes of making the playoffs after an 0-2 start to the season in more ways than one, the best of this Chiefs team that fans will see this season is yet to come.
The return of Xavier Worthy was felt in several ways as he not only led the team in receiving with 83 yards on five receptions, but also led the team in rushing with 38 yards on two carries. The speedster being back in the lineup opens up opportunities that aren't otherwise available to the offense. That was on full display with Worthy's contributions in the running and passing game.
It is no coincidence that Worthy's return also synced up with the best performance of the season from Mahomes. The All-Pro signal-caller was locked in against Baltimore's defense and lit up the scoreboard by completing over 67% of his 37 pass attempts for 270 yards and four touchdowns. Kansas City's offense had desperately needed a threat to stretch the field on any given snap. Worthy does that as well as anyone in the NFL, and it clearly made a difference in a game the Chiefs desperately needed to win.
With Rashee Rice set to return from his suspension in Week 7, the offense should only get better from here on out as Mahomes adds weapons to distribute the ball to. That should be enough to give opposing defensive coordinators nightmares when they see Kansas City on the schedule.
It will be imperative for the Chiefs to build on the momentum from Week 4, as they move on to next week's road matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Between now and Kansas City's bye in Week 10, the combined record of their next five opponents is 13-7. If there is a silver lining to their upcoming matchups against the Jaguars, Detroit Lions, Las Vegas Raiders, Washington Commanders, and Buffalo Bills, it is that three of those games will come on the Chiefs' home field.
As long as Kansas City brings the same effort in those upcoming games as they did on Sunday against the Ravens, the Chiefs should have every opportunity to improve upon the 2-2 record they currently own. Any help their division rivals want to give along the way by losing games they have no business losing will be welcomed with open arms, too.