KANSAS CITY, Mo. — As tight end Travis Kelce watched wide receiver Hollywood Brown catch passes at practice shortly after his return from injury, he saw the piece that could get the Kansas City Chiefs’ passing game back to a potent level.
“That’s it, that’s the guy,” Kelce said of Brown, who sat out the season’s first 14 games because of a sternoclavicular joint injury but returned to play in the past two. “We missed that guy. It’s just been fun having him. His energy’s up. He’s a guy that fuels you throughout the week and he’s one of those guys that you could feel his presence when you’re out there on the field with him.”
Maybe it’s coincidence, maybe not, but the Chiefs have had two of their best offensive games of the season with the sixth-year receiver in the lineup. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes passed for 320 yards, his second-highest total of the season, in the Chiefs’ 29-10 win against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Christmas Day.
The Chiefs had 375 yards of total offense, their fifth-best total, in a 27-19 win over the Houston Texans in Week 16. And whether or not Mahomes and the rest of the starters end up playing in Week 18 against the Denver Broncos (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS, Sunday), this stretch has the QB thinking the Chiefs have solved some of the problems that were limiting their passing game.
“That’s what you want to do,” Mahomes said. “We feel like we can continue to get better and better, but obviously we’re playing, especially offensively, our best football at the end of the year and getting guys healthy and we’re excited for it. We’re going to keep working.
“This isn’t the end. This is just the beginning and we will continue to work to get even better as we go into the playoffs.”
Statistically, Brown hasn’t made a huge difference. He has nine receptions for 91 yards in the two games.
But his presence, combined with an expanding role for rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy, appears to be forcing defenses into some difficult decisions. Mahomes pointed to a 49-yard pass to wide receiver Justin Watson against the Steelers as evidence. Pittsburgh shifted coverage to Worthy and Brown, leaving Watson 1-on-1.
“The play was actually called to those two guys,” Mahomes said. “I went through my reads [and] I stepped up and I was looking at Xavier and Hollywood and you could feel the safety push. I kind of give a peek out to [Watson] and he had [beaten] his corner and I put it out there and let him make a play.”
The Chiefs began training camp hoping their passing game would return to its past glory. That’s why they signed Brown as a free agent, drafted Worthy in the first round and teamed them with Rashee Rice, who had a big rookie season last year.
Those plans were put on hold when Brown was injured on the first play of the preseason. Then Rice injured his knee in Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers and hasn’t played since. He won’t be back this season, but the Chiefs held out hope Brown would return, even after he had surgery.
The Chiefs wasted no time in getting Brown involved. Mahomes has thrown more passes to Brown (15) than any other wide receiver except Worthy (20) in the past two games.
Brown’s nine catches are also second over the two-game span among wide receivers to Worthy’s 15.
“Hollywood’s doing a great job,” coach Andy Reid said. “We’re trying to ease him back in and it’s like holding the horse back. He wants to get back in every time we take him out, which is a positive thing.
“To have both those guys in there is a plus for sure. I think they’re all doing well. They’re all playing good football right now. They all complement each other a certain way, so I hate to just pick two of them out, but they’re doing a good job.”
Mahomes had his best QBR of the season against the Steelers (90.2). By that measure, he had his third-best game of the season against the Texans with an 85.3 QBR. He also unloaded the ball faster in the past two games. He took an average of 2.34 seconds to throw against Pittsburgh and 2.50 seconds against Houston, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Both were his quickest times of the season.
More is going into an improved passing game than the return of Brown and improved play from Worthy. But those two certainly help. And it couldn’t be coming at a better time after having locked up the No. 1 AFC playoff seed.
“We built up to the perfect spot,” Mahomes said. “We’ve gotten better and better before Hollywood got here. Xavier started playing better, being more confident. I got a better chemistry with him. Other guys that stepped up started making plays and then you throw Hollywood in there and it kind of sets everybody perfectly in their roles.”
