Why playoff intensity proved no problem for Chiefs rookie receiver Rashee Rice
Rashee Rice sensed something different about the Chiefs’ game against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday, besides the weather.
“One hundred percent,” Rice said. “When we started practice, we had a jog-through. It wasn’t a jog-through. We were going full speed.”
Which was about the velocity of Rice and the Chiefs throughout their 26-7 triumph in the Wild Card Round in record cold at GEHA Field at Arrowhead.
The conditions — the game kicked off at minus-4 degrees and a wind chill of minus-27 — didn’t slow Rice. The rookie wide receiver opened his playoff career with eight receptions for 130 yards.
The yardage is a season-best for the Chiefs’ top wideout, and the most by a Chiefs rookie in a playoff game. The only other Chiefs rookie to surpass 100 receiving yards in a postseason game was Elmo Wright, who finished with 104 yards in a playoff loss to the Dolphins in 1971.
That was the only postseason game of Wright’s career. Rice will have at least one more, and he figures to be a center of attention once again.
On Saturday, four other Chiefs wide receivers got a total of nine targets. Rice had 12.
“It’s hard to believe he’s a rookie,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
The regular season ended with Rice owning the franchise records for receptions (79) and touchdowns (seven) by a rookie. He finished second to Dwayne Bowe in receiving yards (938), and he likely would have broken that mark had he played in the regular-season finale against the Los Angeles Chargers. But the team chose to rest him.
“You go out there to get the win, and everything that comes with it,” said Rice, who was selected in the second round from SMU. “I look forward to putting my name down in the (record) book as much as I can.”
Rice made an impact from the outset against the Dolphins. The Chiefs had the ball first and drove for a touchdown with Rice dragging across the middle from left to right. He reached up to make a nice grab from Patrick Mahomes and ran untouched 11 yards for the score.
He would have had a second touchdown after taking a screen pass into the end zone. But tackle Jawaan Taylor was penalized for pushing in the back and the Chiefs settled for a field goal.
Rice had receptions of 39, 28 and 23 yards and the Chiefs scored on each of those possessions.
“He’s getting better and better every single week,” Mahomes said. “Some of those guys hit a rookie wall. It seems like he just pushed right through it.”
Just as he pushed through what appeared to be an ankle injury in the third quarter. As he was running out of bounds after a 10-yard gain, Rice came up hobbling.
He took a knee before exiting the field. But he later returned to the game.
“I’m fine,” Rice said. “I just kind of tweaked it. There was a lot of dirt over there, and it was hard because of the cold weather. It’s all good.”
This story was originally published January 14, 2024 at 12:43 AM.