The Kansas City Chiefs entering Week 2 with one tick in the loss column is not what most NFL fans expected for the team coming off its Super Bowl victory in February. Defending champs are always worth watching for a consecutive playoff run, and though some pieces did depart in the offseason, the core is still intact.
So the upstart Detroit Lions stealing a win was a surprise, to be sure.
The Chiefs were without both defensive tackle Chris Jones (contract holdout) and Travis Kelce (bone bruise) in the contest. The absences were notable, but not enough to make the Chiefs the underdogs.
Next up is the Jacksonville Jaguars. A division rivalry game in Week 2 with Kansas City 0-1 puts pressure on the team to come out and make sure they get things back on track with a win. The entire team should be feeling the need to win and perform.
Perhaps more than others, though, these three players need to show up and show out. If they don't, their role on the team could be greatly diminished, if not axed altogether once the Chiefs find suitable replacements.
Tershawn Wharton won't have as many opportunities with Chris Jones back
Chris Jones is returning to the lineup this week after agreeing to a restructured one-year deal with Kansas City shortly after the Chiefs' Week 1 loss. He's an important player to get back in the lineup for Kansas City, but his return takes the spotlight off of other defensive tackles who were positioned for more play time.
Tershawn Wharton, who went undrafted and has been with the Chiefs since 2020, started out decently in his rookie season with a 66.2 Pro Football Focus grade but followed that up with a 43.2 and 55.2. In his 29 snaps in Week 1, he received a 54.1.
As of late, injuries have been a concern, too.
With him entering undrafted free agency this winter, it represents a time where Wharton needs to make an impression, and fast because the Chiefs will likely feel more inclined to spend money on retaining Chris Jones or getting younger at the position in the draft.
Wharton is a tackle who hasn't shown the ability to get past the backup designation, and with limited opportunity to prove his worth now that Jones will be eating up snaps, expect him to be playing for his job. He brings reliable, but replaceable depth. Any opportunity he has now is his resume for his upcoming free agency whether to campaign for a return to Kansas City or a new team.
Skyy Moore might have been asked to do too much, too fast
Maybe the entire Chiefs receiving corps should be on notice, but for now, let's hone in on two specific players. First, Skyy Moore.
While Moore's struggles were masked by the more egregious mistakes Kadarius Toney was making, he still far from lived up to the hype as the WR1 some expected him to be out of the gates this season.
Arrowhead Addict suggests alarm bells should be ringing for Moore, and it's tough to do anything but agree. Here's what Josh Fann had to say:
"Yet, in week one versus the Detroit Lions Moore had zero catches for zero yards. a complete non-factor. He was targeted several times throughout the night and struggled to corral the ball. This is a receiving corps that is begging for someone to step up and the organization is propping up Moore to be a big contributor."
Moore had several opportunities to get himself on the box score, but simply couldn't. Some of his plays, like this one, had the chance to be electric, game-changing moments, but he faltered in the spotlight in Week 1.
The idea of Moore being a go-to for Mahomes rather than a situational receiver at this point, might be too quick an advancement for the sophomore receiver. Especially with Kelce back in the fold, his role could quickly whither away.
Kadarius Toney continues to be far from what his ceiling is
We don't need to spend too much time discussing Week 1 for Kadarius Toney. Quite simply, his performance was bad, and his multiple dropped passes -- including one that deflected off his hands, winding up as an interception on Patrick Mahomes' record -- have been plastered all over for the last week.
Were it just for one poor performance, there might not be as much pressure on Toney to turn things around, and quickly. But he also missed the mark with the Giants in part due to a lack of playing time and targets. The Chiefs brought him in as a reclamation project in a trade last year, set to prove that he was underused in the Giants system.
Now, though, Toney is getting targets and still showing a relative lack of readiness. Patrick Mahomes and Co. have hyped him up as one of the top receivers this season, so one has to think there's more there... But if Mahomes can't make Toney look good, can anyone?
While Toney technically has a fully guaranteed contract this year and next, the Chiefs may look at reducing his role or trying to find a new role for him if his performance doesn't shape up. With a full training camp with the team after being acquired in a trade midseason last year, the speedy receiver was expected to take a significant step forward with his receiving duties.
One wrinkle for the Chiefs to consider is Toney's abilities in a special teams role. Toney returned 10 punts last year and was electric in that role as a Florida Gator. He also set the record for the longest punt return in Super Bowl history just months ago.
Even just to give Toney some confidence, giving him some special teams reps could make sense.
Week 2 should say a lot about Week 1 and whether or not his historically poor performance was a fluke or not. If struggles continue, expect his targets to plummet and his role to be in question entirely.
