The Kansas City Chiefs just suffered their first loss of the 2024 season, a pretty remarkable feat all things considered. Everyone gives the Chiefs their best game every week, and the Chiefs have lost just one game since last Christmas (against the Las Vegas Raiders).

Pretty impressive, to say the least.

But along with that expectation of winning comes an expectation of consistent performance. The Chiefs have had several players stepping up this season due to injuries on the roster, and a handful of those players are set to return shortly.

Given what’s at stake for the Chiefs in the coming weeks/months, which players could be benched if they don’t do their part?

1. JuJu Smith-Schuster/Mecole Hardman

The Kansas City Chiefs have had a lot of moving parts at the wide receiver position this year, but they might suddenly find themselves with an embarrassment of riches.

The Chiefs lost Rashee Rice to injury and we don’t know exactly when he will or could be coming back. Rice’s loss prompted the Chiefs to bring in the likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster after he was cut by the Patriots and then traded for DeAndre Hopkins, who has been a nice fit for them so far.

One player we have yet to see on the field for a regular season game is Hollywood Brown, who was hurt on the first play of the preseason. Brown could be making his way back onto the field in December, and if that’s the case, then the guys who are getting reps for the Chiefs at receiver right now need to take advantage of every opportunity.

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— Hollywood Brown (@Primetime_jet) November 19, 2024

Hardman and Smith-Schuster have already taken a backseat to a lot of other players in the Kansas City offensive arsenal. But they must continue proving their worth before Brown returns to the fold.

2. Clyde Edwards-Helaire

At this stage, football is really on the backburner a bit for Clyde Edwards-Helaire. The former first-round pick out of LSU is trying to make sure he gets right off the field before he gets back to work on it.

The support the Chiefs have given to Edwards-Helaire is extremely admirable. The way they have rallied around him has been tremendous. There’s no doubt that he’s also been an asset to the team in the past, both as a runner and receiver and he’s been a crucial piece of a couple of Super Bowls.

With that being said, the Chiefs are about to get into an interesting numbers game at the running back position that has to be acknowledged at some point. Edwards-Helaire is in a backfield shared with Kareem Hunt, Samaje Perine, Carson Steele, and soon the returning Isiah Pacheco.

The Chiefs could find a way to keep all the backs on their roster but they won’t likely be able to find ways to split carries and touches between them.

If Edwards-Helaire is ready to get back to football work, it’s entirely possible that we would see the Chiefs let him hit waivers and try to get an opportunity elsewhere. At this stage of the season, there are honestly a lot of teams that could use the help at running back if Edwards-Helaire is physically and mentally ready to contribute.

Of course, that is the primary priority here — not playing football. With Pacheco returning from IR, the Chiefs will have to make some interesting decisions soon.

3. The Edge Rushers

The Chiefs have not had a great presence off the edge this season, though not for lack of trying, right?

George Karlaftis leads the team with four sacks this season, but he and the great Chris Jones are the only ones on the roster with more than six quarterback hits going into Week 12. The Chiefs have spent a first-round pick on Karlaftis, drafted Felix Anudike-Uzomah in the first round, and made trades for Cameron Thomas and Josh Uche.

The Chiefs are trying to find answers and solutions. Our friends over at Arrowhead Addict did a great job of pointing out just how dismal things have been this season for the Chiefs off the edge:

“”The Chiefs were second in sacks in 2023. Their 57 sacks on the season were second only to the Baltimore Ravens. This season, they are tied for 27th in sacks with 19 and are on pace for 32.3 sacks. That would be over a 40% drop in sacks from last year. A big part of that is the abysmal 6 sacks from their edge players through the first 10 games.

Six sacks from edge players in 10 games is pitiful. In fact, there are only two teams in the NFL with worse sack production off the edge. Those teams are the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers. That is not the company you want to be in when it comes to outside pass rush.””

Kansas City needs the guys they’ve invested in to step up down the stretch of this season. Pass rushers, like great hitters in baseball or shooters in basketball, can get white hot at any point in time.

They are holding out hope that at least one of these guys can heat up as we close out November and get into December. Having productivity off the edge will allow Jones to get favorable matchups on the interior.