Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes turned in a solid fantasy outing in the Week 1 loss to the Chargers, throwing for 258 yards and a score and running for 57 yards and another TD. But it was a worrisome outing for his fantasy value going forward. The Chiefs' passing game looked a lot like it did last year: Every yard looked hard. Mahomes averaged just 6.6 yards per attempt -- and that was with a well-designed 37-yard TD to TE Travis Kelce and a blown coverage by the Chargers that left WR Marquise Brown wide open for a 49-yard reception. Outside of those two plays, Mahomes averaged 4.6 yards per attempt with just one other completion of more than 16 yards.
2025 Fantasy Football Impact
The biggest question in Kansas City coming out of Week 1 is how long WR Xavier Worthy will miss with the shoulder injury that knocked him out of this game on the first possession. We should get an update on his status over the next 48 hours.
But we know WR Rashee Rice is out another five games. And this pass-catching corps is rather life-less without those two guys.
WR Marquise Brown was fed 16 targets in the opener. He finished with 99 yards -- but nearly half of that production came on the aforementioned 49-yarder. Outside of that play, he averaged 3.3 yards per target. JuJu Smith-Schuster and Tyquan Thornton were left as the Chiefs' No. 2 and 3 WRs after Worthy exited.
And TE Travis Kelce was invisible for much of the night. Besides the 37-yard score, he caught just two of three targets for 10 yards.
Mahomes at least reminded us that he can still produce with his legs. But we're obviously not counting on these rushing numbers going forward.
It's going to be tough sledding for this passing game as long as Worthy and Rice remain out.
The schedule won't do Mahomes any favors, either. He gets the Eagles in Week 2, a fierce Giants pass rush in Week 3, and the Ravens in Week 4. Consider him no better than a fringe QB1 for those three games, unless he gets Worthy back.