The Kansas City Chiefs are coming off their bye and right into a Super Bowl rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday Night Football in Week 11. Down the stretch of the 2023 season, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs need the team’s wide receivers to play better if they hope to reach the Big Game again, and the KC QB thinks the group — which includes Rashee Rice, Justin Watson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling — is trending in the right direction.

“I’ve always felt like throughout the season, the chemistry gets better and better. Obviously, everybody wants the receivers to blow up and everything like that. I think guys have gotten better as the season has gone on. They’ll continue to get better,” Mahomes said in a press conference, per Pro Football Talk. “We’re making strides in the right direction, and I think we’ll keep doing that as the season goes and hopefully carry that into the playoffs.”

The Chiefs' wide receivers need to step up

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Tight end Travis Kelce is, by far, the team’s leading pass-catcher this season, with 72 targets, 57 catches, 597 yards, and four touchdowns. Rookie WR Rashee Rice is a distant second with 41 targets, 32 catches, 378 yards, and four TDs. WRs Justin Watson and Marquez Valdes-Scantling are behind Rice with 14 catches each for 276 and 249 yards, respectively.

The Chiefs have failed to find a go-to wideout since trading superstar Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins two offseasons ago. However, they go-to enough from JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kadarius Toney last season to win it all.

If Rice continues to improve at the rate he currently is and Watson and Valdes-Scantling can get just a little better — as Patrick Mahomes seems to think they all can — then the Chiefs should once again have just enough production from their wide receivers to make another championship run.