The Kansas City Chiefs played with fire again in Week 3, but the two-time Super Bowl champions escaped with another win to open the 2024-25 season.

Sunday night’s win over the Atlanta Falcons had a little bit of everything. Both sides had their moments, but the defense was the unit that ultimately sealed the win. Kansas City is now 3-0 and has plenty of momentum heading into its Week 4 game in Los Angeles against the Chargers.

With that in mind, we want to highlight some of the Chiefs’ biggest winners and losers in Week 3 of the regular season.

There isn’t much to say about Rashee Rice that hasn’t already been made known this season. He has been excellent. Three games into his second season, the former second-round pick has 24 receptions on 29 targets for 288 yards and two touchdowns. In Sunday’s win, he again surpassed the 100-yard mark and had 75 yards after the catch. According to Next generation statisticsRice leads all NFL pass catchers in post-catch yardage and is the best among wideouts with nine missed tackles. Some of his running is necessary, but that shouldn’t stop Rice from making the most of the opportunities that come his way.

Some expected Week 3 to be a good opportunity for rookie Xavier Worthy, but instead the first-round pick went unnoticed. In addition to his three runs for 13 yards, he had just two catches for 17 yards in the passing game. It wasn’t a bad game by any means, but it still felt a little disappointing. On Kansas City’s final drive, Worthy slowed down on a crossing route and quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn’t seem to be expecting it. The rookie is still finding his way in his young NFL career.

In the Chiefs’ first game of the season without Isiah Pacheco, the offense did quite well in the running game. Carson Steele played a big part in that success, gaining 72 yards on the ground and moving the chains several times. A few chunk runs helped balance out his average, and a key pass protection paved the way for a 27-yard pass from Mahomes to Rice. Even though Steele was far from perfect, it was a promising starting debut for the undrafted free agent.

After an abbreviated training camp and no preseason due to injury, Justin Reid is already banged up to start this season. His play over the past three weeks has been inconsistent, regardless of whether the two factors are related. Man coverage, which has been common throughout his tenure with the Chiefs, remains a sore spot on his profile. That was evident on a 50-yard pass to Kyle Pitts in the second quarter and a pass reception from Drake London at the end. That, along with an offside penalty on the same late drive, piled up the bad bits more than the good bits on Sunday.

Defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton may be the biggest unsung hero on the Chiefs’ roster right now. The veteran pass rusher plays a lot of snaps and takes advantage of them. He looks like the best version of himself in his 26th season. He had a good yardage on Sunday, also being involved in a Kirk Cousins ​​interception just before halftime and forcing a field goal under critical pressure in the fourth quarter. Wharton’s blend of motor, skill and finishing ability shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Since his outstanding season debut, Patrick Mahomes has not found his form again. The NFL’s best signal-caller looked anything but good in Week 3, missing several semi-routine throws and giving his receivers no chance to make plays. A throw he did Lob was intercepted, which was another example of poor decision making. Mahomes threw two touchdowns and seemed to get better in the second half, but he knows he has to get better if the Chiefs want to keep this run going.

Read more: The Chiefs’ ability to trust the work of defense paved the way for the Week 3 win