Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe has a lot at stake this weekend and beyond

The most important thing is that Dwayne Bowe is engaged. That’s where it all starts with him. That’s where it’s always started with him.

If his mind wanders, he’s lost. If he loses focus, the Chiefs are like a man with the flu trying to finish a race. Bowe needs to feel involved. He needs to feel wanted. He needs to feel valued. He needs to feel like there is something to prove.

“It’s a mind-set with Dwayne,” Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson says.

This is Bowe’s gift and this is Bowe’s curse. It is part of what he used to become one of the NFL’s best receivers, and, after he signed a contract befitting that status, this mind-set is part of what dragged him back down.

Bowe is at a critical spot. He has made well over $30 million, so he should be financially set for life, and no matter what happens from here, he is a Pro Bowl player who once led the league in touchdown catches. He will retire as the Chiefs’ career receptions leader among wide receivers.

But if there is to be any real depth to Bowe’s career, he is at the beginning of one of his most important stretches as a professional.

Other than Justin Houston, there probably isn’t anyone on the team with more personally at stake this season than Bowe. His one-game suspension this year apparently voided his base-salary guarantees this year and next. The Chiefs pursued Emmanuel Sanders in the offseason, and have every motivation imaginable to improve at receiver and re-evaluate Bowe’s contract after this season.

He is, in essence, playing for that negotiation.

Bowe had season highs of eight catches and 93 yards in a win at Buffalo last week, and now he faces the NFL’s best secondary in a home game with the Seahawks on Sunday.

This is the beginning of the finishing kick in a season that will be used by the Chiefs — and, depending on their answer, perhaps other teams — to determine how much he’s worth.

Bowe turned 30 in September, and by his own doing is known as much for his screw-ups, like last year’s arrest on marijuana possession and the “exporting” silliness of a few years ago, as he is for his play.

Those are harmless mistakes, but there remains a thought in football circles that they point to what NFL people consider a real flaw — lack of focus.

Few things frustrate football people more than when a lack of focus translates into a lack of production. Last year, Bowe had the worst season of his career. He was out of shape, not always fully engaged. Logically, that’s seen as a victory lap of sorts after signing a life-changing contract that put him among the league’s highest paid receivers.

That he played so well in the Chiefs’ playoff collapse against the Colts — eight catches for 150 yards and a touchdown — only reinforced the notion that he picks his spots.

After the 2013 season, it was made clear to Bowe that the Chiefs can get out of that contract at the end of the 2014 season, which is at least partly why he hired a personal trainer and cook.

The results show on the field. He looks a little quicker, and his numbers are roughly in line with 2012 — not the standard he set with three 1,000-yard seasons from 2008-11, but also not the overweight disappointment of 2013.

The frustration comes with the pervasive thought that Bowe would be better now if he hadn’t let his focus lapse, and that he should be better now playing with the best quarterback, and for the best coach, he’s had his career.

Bowe has an opportunity here to win back the benefit of the doubt. Some of that is circumstance, because the Chiefs — with the Sanders deal falling through and no receiver taken in the draft — have an entirely underwhelming group of receivers.

Last year’s disappointment means Bowe would’ve had to go all 2010 to keep the Chiefs from likely breaking his contract after this season, and playing overweight the season after signing means the Chiefs and any other team will be hesitant to make another multi-year commitment.

But there are signs that Bowe can still be a good receiver. Pro Football Focus ranks him 17th overall among receivers, and he’s made catches on 72.2 percent of his targets, also 17th.

Playing against the Seahawks is a particularly intriguing challenge for Bowe. He prides himself on being physical, on using his big body to post up defensive backs and make tough catches. The Seahawks have a well-earned reputation as one of the league’s toughest teams, and despite rules changes put in place largely because of them, their so-called Legion of Boom secondary is being penalized at roughly the same rate as a year ago.

It’s a great defense, but receivers have had big days against it. Just this season, Sanders and DeSean Jackson have gone for 149 and 157 yards, respectively.

Physical receivers Odell Beckham (seven catches for 108 yards last weekend), Kelvin Benjamin (four catches for 94 yards last month) and Anquan Boldin (six catches for 93 yards last year) have done well, too. If we can consider Andre Johnson more of a physical receiver than a speedster in recent seasons, he went for nine catches and 110 yards against the Seahawks last year.

Bowe has always been well-liked by his teammates, and there is no sense of selfishness from him. He gives every indication of being happy for Travis Kelce’s emergence as one of the league’s best pass-catching tight ends, for instance, and in a season he knows is critical for his future earnings hasn’t complained about his targets or lack of touchdowns.

But he also knows that his career can go in one of two very different directions after this season. He knows that after what many in football view as a pseudo-vacation last season after signing the big contract, even eight years into his professional career there remains a lot to prove.

Like Pederson says, it’s a mind-set with Bowe. He can help his team, and himself, with a finishing kick to this season that begins Sunday against the most famous secondary in the NFL.

This story was originally published November 14, 2014 at 7:12 PM with the headline "Chiefs receiver Dwayne Bowe has a lot at stake this weekend and beyond."