So Kansas City dismantled Miami last night, and there were standouts on both sides of the ball. The offense moved the ball at will, and the defense made Miami look like it didn't show up -- one big play all game. Most impressive was rookie wideout Rashee Rice.
Rice was making plays from the get-go, giving Kansas City the kind of excellence it hasn't had from a wide receiver since letting Tyreek Hill go. He caught an early touchdown, and then had another score erased by a penalty that didn't really affect the play, so his game could have been even bigger. It was one of the best playoff games by a wideout for the team this century.
Using the search tools at pro-football-reference, I pulled the best playoff performances by a wide receiver for Kansas City since 2000. One of the top ones (receiving yards) was by Dwayne Bowe, in a wild 45-44 shootout loss with Andrew Luck and the Colts 10 years ago. Two others were by Hill (the only wideout with more catches in a playoff game). And then Rice.
| TOP PLAYOFF GAMES BY KC WIDE RECEIVERS, 2000-PRESENT | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Year | Opp | Tgt | Rec | Yds | Y/R | TD |
| Tyreek Hill | 2020 | Buff. | 11 | 9 | 172 | 19.1 | 0 |
| Dwayne Bowe | 2013 | at Ind. | 13 | 8 | 150 | 18.8 | 1 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2021 | Buff. | 13 | 11 | 150 | 13.6 | 1 |
| Rashee Rice | 2023 | Mia. | 12 | 8 | 130 | 16.3 | 1 |
| Marquez Valdes-Scantling | 2022 | Cin. | 8 | 6 | 116 | 19.3 | 1 |
| Sammy Watkins | 2019 | Tenn. | 10 | 7 | 114 | 16.3 | 1 |
| Sammy Watkins | 2018 | N.E. | 8 | 4 | 114 | 28.5 | 0 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2020 | Clev. | 10 | 8 | 110 | 13.8 | 0 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2019 | S.F. | 16 | 9 | 105 | 11.7 | 0 |
| Sammy Watkins | 2019 | S.F. | 6 | 5 | 98 | 19.6 | 0 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2017 | Tenn. | 11 | 7 | 87 | 12.4 | 0 |
| Donnie Avery | 2013 | at Ind. | 3 | 1 | 79 | 79 | 1 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2021 | Cin. | 10 | 7 | 78 | 11.1 | 1 |
| Sammy Watkins | 2019 | Hou. | 2 | 2 | 76 | 38 | 0 |
| Demarcus Robinson | 2021 | Pitt. | 5 | 4 | 76 | 19 | 0 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2020 | T.B. | 10 | 7 | 73 | 10.4 | 0 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2018 | Ind. | 13 | 8 | 72 | 9 | 0 |
| Jason Avant | 2015 | at N.E. | 5 | 4 | 69 | 17.3 | 0 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2019 | Tenn. | 7 | 5 | 67 | 13.4 | 2 |
| Sammy Watkins | 2018 | Ind. | 8 | 6 | 62 | 10.3 | 0 |
| Mecole Hardman | 2020 | Clev. | 4 | 4 | 58 | 14.5 | 0 |
| Tyreek Hill | 2021 | Pitt. | 5 | 5 | 57 | 11.4 | 1 |
| Demarcus Robinson | 2017 | Tenn. | 4 | 4 | 57 | 14.3 | 1 |
| Albert Wilson | 2015 | at N.E. | 11 | 5 | 57 | 11.4 | 1 |
| JuJu Smith-Schuster | 2022 | Phil. | 9 | 7 | 53 | 7.6 | 0 |
| Mecole Hardman | 2021 | Cin. | 4 | 3 | 52 | 17.3 | 1 |
| Dexter McCluster | 2013 | at Ind. | 8 | 7 | 52 | 7.4 | 0 |
| Eddie Kennison | 2003 | Ind. | 6 | 3 | 50 | 16.7 | 0 |
Early to imagine that Rice will one day show up as often on this list as Tyreek, but maybe not too early to say the team has found it's No. 1 wide receiver for the next few years. Will be interesting to see how early he's selected in 2024 fantasy drafts.
--Andy Richardson