Adam Teicher, ESPN Staff Writer January 14, 2024, 1:36 a.m. ET
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- Covered Chiefs for 20 seasons for Kansas City Star
- Joined ESPN in 2013
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice is a Dallas native who attended SMU. As a result, he has never played a game in weather that even remotely resembled the weather that marked the Kansas City Chiefs' wild-card playoff game Saturday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
Rice looked like a natural as the temperature was minus 4 degrees at kickoff, the fourth coldest playoff game in NFL history. Rice had 130 receiving yards, the sixth-most by a rookie in the playoffs, and a touchdown on eight catches as the Chiefs advanced to next week's divisional round with a 26-7 victory over the Miami Dolphins.
“Honestly, I feel like it was a completely different game,” Rice said. “Everyone out here was playing for each other, so it was like we just ignored the weather and knew our opponents didn't. “I want to be out here in that cold as much as we didn't .”
The Chiefs, who led the league in dropped passes and were among the leaders in turnovers during the regular season, played a relatively clean game given the circumstances. They had a few drops but were able to overcome them every time. They didn't commit a turnover until running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire made a mistake in the final minutes when the Chiefs were just trying to kill time.
Patrick Mahomes was 23 of 41 for 262 yards and had an 11-yard scoring throw to Rice, who ran a shallow cross route, caught the short pass and ran untouched to the end zone.
“The guys accepted the challenge,” Mahomes said. “We could throw the ball, we could run the ball.” … I thought [offensive] line did a great job and we had the mindset all week that we were going to go out and play football. “We know it’s cold, but we’re going to go out and play football and see what happens.”
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The Dolphins tried to complicate that effort by attacking Mahomes to a degree rarely seen. He faced six or more pass rushers 14 times, the most of his career. He saw five or more rushers on 51.2% of his dropbacks, which was the highest rate of his career.
But Mahomes wasn't sacked and he didn't commit a turnover.
“I don’t think they expected us to throw the ball as much as we did, but we were able to come out and sling it,” coach Andy Reid said. “A lot of quarterbacks can't do that, huh.” “He did that in this weather.”
Rice was by far the Chiefs' leading wide receiver during the regular season. He improved as the season progressed, passing for more than 100 yards twice in his last six games.
“Some of these guys hit the rookie wall and it seems like he just battled through it and got better and better and is a great player,” Mahomes said. “He has the right mentality. “He comes to work every day and made a lot of great plays for us today that helped us win the football game.”
The rest of the Chiefs' wide receivers struggled for most of the season. They expected significant performance from Kadarius Toney, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Skyy Moore, but didn't get it from any of them, so Rice's emergence was crucial.
Tight end Travis Kelce caught seven passes against the Dolphins. Otherwise, none of their receivers had more than two catches.
“It’s hard to believe he’s a freshman,” Reid said of Rice. “The best thing about him is that he just keeps working.” He is relentless and has a good relationship [with Mahomes]. He has Pat's respect and wants to do it right.
“He’s getting better every week and I think we’ve seen that in the last four or five games.”