KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Officially, DeAndre Hopkins only joined the Kansas City Chiefs four days ago, but it’s a union that feels like it’s been years in the making.
Making his debut against the rival Raiders on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, a place where the Chiefs have never lost, Hopkins made an immediate impact with his new team in a 27-20 victory.
He played a limited number of snaps, finishing with two catches for 29 yards in a tantalizing taste of how Hopkins can help transform Kansas City’s offense.
“I thought it was good,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “He wanted to be in there, which is a positive and I understand. He’ll get more chances in the next game.”
Hopkins remained on the sideline for the first two offensive snaps, but he trotted onto the field for third-and-7 on the game’s opening drive.
Initially lining up in the slot of a three-receiver stack to the left of the formation, Hopkins motioned to the outside of the bunch. He delayed his release behind two other receivers, drove up the seam then broke outside into a gap between two Raiders defenders.
Mahomes threw a dart to Hopkins for a 13-yard gain and a first down that lit the fuse on a game-opening 70-yard touchdown drive.
“He has good body language when he runs routes, so you can tell what he’s going to do before he does it,” quarterback Patrick Mahomes said. “We had only practiced that play once, maybe twice. For third down in that situation, for him to run it and be in the right position, it shows that he’s going to fit in perfectly in this offense.”
Hopkins is a 12-year veteran and he’s played with three teams and more than a dozen quarterbacks, so it’s no surprise that he managed to pick up some of the offense in a matter of days.
Entering the game, Hopkins was the NFL’s active leader in receptions, but he’s now tied for that distinction with new teammate Travis Kelce. Both have 945 career catches after Kelce’s 10-reception performance.
It’s the first time since Jerry Rice and Tim Brown shared the field with the then-Oakland Raiders that the NFL’s active leaders in receptions are on the same team, but it also helps explain why the addition of Hopkins felt seamless.
“It’s high-level stuff,” Mahomes said. “It was zone coverage and they were in the right spot. He pulled up in the right window. It’s stuff you see Trav do a lot, you see (veteran wide receiver) JuJu (Smith-Schuster) do a lot.”
On the second drive, Mahomes targeted Hopkins on an intermediate corner route, but the pass sailed high and incomplete. After a sack on the next snap, the Chiefs were forced to punt.
“He did a great job,” Mahomes said. “Obviously, third down he had the big catch early in the game then a couple other big plays. I missed him on the one corner route early, but he still got open.”
When tight end Travis Kelce scored the go-ahead touchdown on the first play out of the two-minute warning before halftime, it was Hopkins who was the first to greet him — bear-hugging him from behind and beating his fists on his chest from behind as Kelce barked toward the Allegiant Stadium crowd.
“As I looked back at the tablet, there’s a couple times where in man coverage that he’s working and winning,” Mahomes said. “Even the touchdown to Trav I threw, if you look back on his side, he’s open for a touchdown there.”
Hopkins’ next target came in the closing seconds before halftime.
Mahomes’ who was hobbled a bit after an awkward QB hit twisted his ankle, fired a deep out to Hopkins for a 16-yard pickup, which set up Harrison Butker for a 42-yard field goal and a 17-10 halftime lead.
“Obviously, I know the type of player he is, but when you see that on the field, it shows that, if they’re going to play man coverage against him, he’s going to get open and I have to give him the chances to go out there and make plays,” Mahomes said.
With the second completion to Mahomes, Mahomes topped 30,000 career passing yards — and he got there faster than any quarterback in NFL history (103 games).
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