Rashee Rice's stats paint pretty picture of how WR could be pivotal in Chiefs vs Bills
Rashee Rice was among the only people who enjoyed the cold night at Arrowhead in the wild card round. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs advanced into the divisional as the Chiefs now aim for a sixth consecutive AFC Championship game appearance.
The Buffalo Bills beat the Chiefs in the 2023 regular season primarily because of KC's wide receivers but that is not the same issue a few months later.
Rice had 8 catches for 130 yards and a touchdown in the 26-7 win versus the Miami Dolphins. The rest of the wide receivers only put up 35 yards as Travis Kelce had one of his better games this season.
Rashee Rice set his career high in yards (127) in the division-sealing win against the Cincinnati Bengals, but bettered that in his playoff debut.
There was a massive gap between Rice, Kelce, and pretty much everyone else. Rashee Rice never experienced constant drops like Marques Valdez-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, or Skyy Moore. Rice had the same number of yards after the catch (653) as Tyreek Hill, who led the NFL in receiving yards this season.
Patrick Mahomes managed to bring a Super Bowl last year with a lackluster receiving room. On paper, the 2023 WR group is much stronger with the addition of Rice. Playoff Mahomes is almost unstoppable and always seems to find a way to win. Expect Rashee Rice to have a big game in Buffalo.
Stricken Bills defense could struggle against Rashee Rice and Travis Kelce
In perhaps the greatest NFL game ever played, the Chiefs beat the Buffalo Bills in overtime in the 2021 divisional round. Travis Kelce was picked out in the corner of the endzone to end the classic and the Chiefs ended the Bills season for the second year running.
However, this weekend's divisional game is at Orchard Park, and an aggressive Bills home crowd will be after Mahomes. The issues for the Bills stem from an injury crisis.
Tre'Davious White and Matt Milano, two cornerstones of the Bills' defense, are done for the season. Taylor Rapp and Rasul Douglas are also questionable to play against the Chiefs as the threat of KC's offense grows. The Buffalo pass-rush must get to Mahomes or the Bills will suffer a similar fate to the Dolphins, who gave Mahomes far too much time.
Travis Kelce is the second-best receiving yard target in playoff history, behind Jerry Rice. The Bills will double Kelce pretty much every play allowing the rest of the Chiefs receivers plenty of room. No drops on Sunday under any circumstances will be a requirement for not just the Chiefs but also the Bills.