Winners and Losers from the Chiefs' Week 3 Victory Over the Falcons

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**Winners and Losers from the Chiefs' Week 3 Victory Over the Falcons**

In their Week 3 win over the Atlanta Falcons, the Kansas City Chiefs had multiple players stand out for good and bad reasons alike.

The Chiefs played with fire once again, but ultimately emerged with a victory to open their 2024-25 campaign. The defense was the unit that sealed the win, and as a result, Kansas City is now 3-0 and has plenty of momentum heading into their Week 4 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers.

With that in mind, let's take a look at some of the Chiefs' biggest winners and losers from the third week of the regular season.

**Winner: Rashee Rice**

Rashee Rice has been excellent so far this season, and Sunday's win was no exception. He topped the 100-yard mark for the third time in three games, with 75 yards after the catch. According to Next Gen Stats, Rice leads all NFL pass catchers in post-catch yardage and is tops among all wideouts in missed tackles forced with nine. His volume is partly due to necessity, but he's making the most of increased opportunities.

**Loser: Xavier Worthy**

Some expected Week 3 to be a breakout opportunity for rookie Xavier Worthy, but instead, he flew under the radar. In addition to his three carries for 13 yards, he had just two grabs for 17 yards in the passing game. It wasn't a bad game by any stretch, but it still felt like a bit of a letdown. On Kansas City's final drive, Worthy slowed down on a crossing route and quarterback Patrick Mahomes didn't appear to expect that. The rookie is still finding his way early in his young NFL career.

**Winner: Carson Steele**

In the Chiefs' first game without Isiah Pacheco, Carson Steele was a huge part of the offense's success in the run game. He gained 72 yards on the ground and moved the chains on multiple occasions. Some chunk runs helped balance out his average, and a critical pass protection pickup paved the way for a 27-yard completion from Mahomes to Rice. While Steele was far from perfect, it was a promising starting debut for the undrafted free agent.

**Loser: Justin Reid**

Justin Reid is already banged up to begin this season, and his play through three weeks has fluctuated regardless of whether the two are related. Man coverage remains a sore spot in his profile, and it reared its ugly head on a 50-yard connection to Kyle Pitts in the second quarter as well as a Drake London reception late. That combined with an offsides penalty on that same late drive piled up more bad than good for Reid.

**Winner: Tershawn Wharton**

Defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton might be the biggest unsung hero on the Chiefs' roster right now. He's playing plenty of snaps and taking advantage of them, looking like the best version of himself in his age-26 season. He had a quality run stuff on Sunday, also factoring into a Kirk Cousins interception near halftime and forcing a field goal with a critical pressure in the fourth quarter. Wharton's blend of motor, skill, and finishing ability shouldn't go unnoticed.

**Loser: Patrick Mahomes**

Since his excellent season debut, Patrick Mahomes hasn't been able to find that form again. He looked like anything but an NFL top signal-caller in Week 3, missing multiple semi-routine throws and not giving his receivers chances to make plays. One throw he did lob up got intercepted, serving as another example of poor decision making. Mahomes tossed two touchdowns and seemed to improve in the second half, but he knows he needs to be better if the Chiefs want to sustain this run.