3 Chiefs on Thin Ice After Wild Week 7 Win vs. Chargers

Kansas City utilized a dominant second half to pull away from the Chargers yesterday and win 31-17 for the Chiefs' 13th consecutive AFC West victory.

While Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce's historic connection is the main takeaway, some sloppy play in the first half kept the game close. Joshua Kelley ripped off a 49-yard touchdown run and Joshua Palmer finished with 133 yards, so not all was peachy.

Three players, in particular, struggled mightily and find themselves on thin ice headed to Denver for a Week 8 rematch.

3 Chiefs on Thin Ice After Week 7 Win vs. Chargers

1. Kadarius Toney

I firmly believed that reacquiring Mecole Hardman would eat into Skyy Moore's snaps and not Toney's, but that theory looks foolish through one game.

Toney played just 19% of snaps, his second-lowest total of the season, while Moore played 60%. The former first-round pick managed just one catch on one target for 13 yards, playing only two more offensive snaps than Hardman despite the latter just getting to town a few days ago.

It's worth noting that this touchdown pass to Kelce easily could have gone to Toney as well, but his involvement was discouraging considering he was targeted six times in each of his previous two games.

Rashee Rice continues to look like Kansas City's best receiver and Marquez Valdes-Scantling had his best game of the season. If Toney is behind those two AND falls behind Moore with Hardman eating into his gadget plays, the draft capital the Chiefs surrendered to bring Toney in will quickly look like an overpay.

Perhaps the worst indicator? Even Justyn Ross managed 25% of the snaps. Toney was fifth on the pecking order and needs to find ways to get involved against the Broncos in Week 8.

I'm still optimistic about Toney's role in the offense, but yesterday was a discouraging sign moving forward.

While Toney can still produce for the Chiefs, this other former first-rounder should be on the first flight out of town.