Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.
Since being activated from injured reserve on November 18, Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Richie James‘s involvement on offense has been minimal. After playing just two snaps against the New England Patriots in Week 15, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid admitted he needs to get James more involved.
“He’s gotta play more than two snaps,” Reid said during his press conference on Monday, December 18. “That’s my responsibility on that, I didn’t have him in enough on stuff. He’s a good football player though.”
Since being activated, James has played a total of 9, 4, 11, and 2 snaps respectively in the four games since, per Pro Football Reference. That is not a lot of snaps for a player that could provide a spark to an offense dealing with a crisis at receiver currently.
In six games played during his first season in Kansas City, James has registered 4 catches on 8 targets for 39 yards and has played just 13% of the team’s total offensive snaps.
Chiefs WRs Continue to Struggle vs. Patriots
Kansas City’s outing against New England brought much of the same from the Chiefs’ receivers room: Inconsistent separation downfield, ball-security issues, and drops.
Rookie receiver Rashee Rice led the receiver room with 9 catches on 9 targets for 91 yards and 1 touchdown. But even he had a fumble during the 27-17 victory that could have become a turnover had he not recovered the ball. Tight end Travis Kelce (5-28) had a drop in the end zone for what could have been a touchdown. Receiver Kadarius Toney dropped a pass in the fourth quarter that resulted in quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘s second interception of the day. Skyy Moore also fumbled a ball that was recovered by New England, but it was negated due to a penalty on the defense.
Despite the continuous mental errors by Toney, Reid still has confidence in the young receiver and has no intention of benching him at this point.
“We’ll see how things go. I’m not down on Toney. He does some good things, man, so we’ve just got to keep – he’s a young guy, so we’re not talking about somebody that has been in this league a long time,” Reid said during his postgame press conference on December 17.
Chiefs End Losing Skid in Week 15
The Chiefs (9-5) ended their two-game losing skid by defeating the Patriots (3-11) on the road in Week 15.
Mahomes completed 27-of-37 pass attempts for 305 yards, 2 touchdowns, and threw 2 interceptions. Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire started in place of Isiah Pacheco and ran the ball 13 times for 37 yards — 2.8 yards per attempt — and also had 4 receptions for 64 yards and 1 touchdown.
Kansas City’s defense overall had a successful day against New England; the unit allowed just 206 yards of total offense, sacked Patriots starting QB Bailey Zappe 4 times, and had 1 turnover (interception). The Chiefs’ defense also dominated on 3rd-down, allowing New England to convert on just 2 of its 12 third-down attempts.
Kicker Harrison Butker made 2-of-3 field goal attempts and all 3 point after attempts.
With three games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Chiefs are currently the No. 3 seed in the AFC and still have a chance to leapfrog the Miami Dolphins (10-4) and Baltimore Ravens (11-3) for the No. 1 seed in the conference.