KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Attrition has hammered the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive roster hard already during the 2024 season.
Wide receivers Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice are likely lost for the season and veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster aggravated a hamstring injury, while running backs Isiah Pacheco and Clyde Edwards-Helaire have missed significant time in the first six weeks of the season, too.
The Chiefs’ defense remains without defensive end Charles Omenihu, who suffered a torn ACL in last season’s AFC Championship Game, and fellow defensive end Mike Danna has missed two of the last three games, but they’d been spared long-term losses this season — until now, it seems.
Cornerback Jaylen Watson, who has established himself as Kansas City’s No. 2 boundary corner, left Sunday’s game in San Francisco with cramps. On the first play after he returned, Watson suffered an ankle injury, which coach Andy Reid said after the game may sideline him long-term.
“We’ll see what the MRI says, but I don’t think that’s going to be great news,” Reid said.
The Athletic’s Nate Taylor said Watson left Levi’s Stadium on crutches with his left ankle and foot in a cast.
If there’s any good news, two rookie defensive backs for Kansas City — undrafted cornerback Chris Roland-Wallace and safety Jaden Hicks, a third-round pick — stepped up and snagged their first career interceptions to help cement a 28-18 win against the 49ers.
Roland-Wallace, who played four seasons at Arizona and one at USC in college, snuffed out a possible go-ahead drive for San Francisco midway in the third quarter with a toe-tap pick along the home sideline — a play that shifted momentum permanently the Chiefs’ way.
“He’s a good football player and he’s been like that since training camp,” Mahomes said. “You can see it. Some guys just have it. You can see it from day one. He’s gotten better and better. You can tell he really listens to Spags (defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo), (defensive backs) coach (Dave) Merritt — to all the coaches and the players. He sits there and listens to (fellow cornerback) Trent (McDuffie) talk. He’s gotten better and better each and every week. He stepped up today when his number was called.”
Roland-Wallace made the roster primarily as a special-teams contributor. He’d played only one defensive snap in the season’s first five games, but Kansas City is bullish on his future.
“He’s a real smart kid,” Reid said. “We saw that in training camp. He picks things up easy and has a great feel for the game. He had that in college and was able to transfer that in camp.”
Patrick Mahomes made sure San Francisco paid for Roland-Wallace’s interception, making two key plays with his legs on the ensuing touchdown drive.
That set the stage for Hicks’ interception, snagging an errant Brock Purdy pass in the end zone to essentially ice Kansas City’s 12th straight win overall, including the playoffs.
“It’s everything we’ve seen in training camp and the preseason,” veteran safety Justin Reid, who also intercepted Purdy on Sunday, said. “Those guys were making plays then — consistent players, humble, very hungry, willing to learn. They show up ready to go. They never know when their number is going to be called, but they’re always ready to go. They got to make two big-time plays when we needed them to, so we’re going to need them down the stretch even more.”
After watching the Chiefs’ offense adjust without making excuses, now it’s the defense’s turn — and they did Sunday in a Super Bowl LVIII rematch.
“It’s a unity that we have — not just in our room, but across our whole defense,” Justin Reid said. “We have a team that truly prepares the next man.”
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