The football season has barely begun, and Patrick Mahomes and his Kansas City Chiefs are already backed into a corner. It started with Marquise Brown’s shoulder injury in the preseason and then escalated to Isaiah Pacheco sustaining a fractured ankle against the Cincinnati Bengals. The onus is now on Rashee Rice, Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce.

But Chiefs fans, there’s some good news that the 3x Super Bowl winner has come up with. The Chiefs have another ace in the hole that they will rely on until Isaiah Pacheco and Marquise Brown are back. The QB spoke to Carrington Harrison of the 610 Sports Radio and revealed what the Chiefs have in store for their future opponents.

So, what are the ramifications of Hollywood Brown possibly sitting out for the whole season because of his banged-up shoulder? As Mahomes put it, “Yeah, I think guys got to step up. I mean, obviously, the hope is that he’s able to make it by the end of the year and we can use that momentum into the playoffs. But we’ve got to step up in the meantime. I think Brett Veach did a great job of putting a lot of receivers in that room.”

He mentioned on the 610 Sports Radio how Rashee Rice, Noah Gray, Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce must step it up in the meantime. The real concern here is Travis Kelce, who put up a mere 39 yards in the last two games and hasn’t scored a touchdown yet. However, the Chiefs might be using Kelce for blocking and not as an offensive piece. The KC team have won their last two games by a hair’s length so clearly, they are struggling with a few things in their offense.

Coming back to Marquise Brown, he has successfully undergone a shoulder surgery and posted an update on X saying, “Surgery was a success ✅⏰.” However, sources suggest that he won’t be back till playoffs. As said earlier, there’s another variable in the equation that might be detrimental to the Chiefs’ 3-peat success. That’s Isaiah Pacheco’s absence. But wait, the Chiefs have a fix for that too.

Patrick Mahomes opens further on the struggling Chiefs roster

The Kansas City Chiefs running back got folded like a lawn chair in the game against the Cincinnati Bengals. A video on X shows a defender grabbing on to Pacheco’s leg as he takes a backward fall. If that wasn’t enough, another defender fell on him. He appears to have broken his fibula and was later seen in crutches and walking boots. This happened towards the end of the game in the fourth quarter. Before leaving the game, Pacheco accounted for 90 yards over 19 carries and no touchdowns.

via Imago

When Mahomes was asked about Pacheco’s absence, he noted, “He brings the energy into every single play. Evert time he gets hit; he pops right back up and I think that just kind of inspires the team that we’re going to go out there and get it.” Again, Mahomes mentioned that his teammates must step up and assume a bigger role to help their team succeed.

The RB responsibility now falls on Carson Steele, the fullback, and Mahomes thinks he’ll improve in time. However, the Chiefs are also counting on their other RBs Samaje Perine and Clyde Edwards-Helaire to elevate their run game too. If Isaiah Pacheco undergoes a surgery, it would take a couple of months for him to get back too.

Can the Chiefs continue their win streak with Pacheco and Hollywood Brown missing? What do you think?