WR Xavier Worthy proved just how far he's come by making improbable play during Chiefs' AFC Championship Game win over Bills
Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy has taken a predominant role within the Kansas City Chiefs' offense over the last couple of months. He has been critical to the Chiefs making it to their third consecutive Super Bowl. With fellow receivers Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown missing huge chunks of the season with injuries, Worthy answered […]
Rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy has taken a predominant role within the Kansas City Chiefs' offense over the last couple of months.
He has been critical to the Chiefs making it to their third consecutive Super Bowl. With fellow receivers Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown missing huge chunks of the season with injuries, Worthy answered the challenge of becoming Kansas City's most lethal playmaker.
He proved that again against the Buffalo Bills in the AFC Championship Game. As Kansas City's offense was driving late in the second half, quarterback Patrick Mahomes put a prayer ball up to Worthy, who was covered by multiple Buffalo defenders. The pass initially hit the hands of Bills safety Cole Bishop, but Worthy was able to wrestle it away from him and secure the catch.
According to Next Gen Stats, that throw had only a 12.4% completion probability. As A to Z Sports' own Justin Churchill pointed out on X, that was the most improbable completion in the postseason since 2021.
That goes to show that Worthy is much more than a one-dimensional speed player. He can go up and make tough, contested catches, and his route running has become very polished over the course of the season. The other half of that post regarding the amount of times Worthy went into pre-snap motion shows how much he affects the defense before the play even begins.
Here's what Chiefs coach Andy Reid had to say about Worthy's development while speaking to the media on Monday.
“The kid every week has just gotten better and better, and he’s really put together a nice half of the season (in) the second half here. Not that he didn’t have good plays in the first half, but you can see he was learning in the first half and that the quarterback (Mahomes) was kind of learning where he was going to be and how he was going to get there and then against all these different coverages that teams throw at you. It looks like they’re on the same page and they’ll have a big challenge this week or this next – in two weeks with the (Philadelphia) Eagles. They have a real good secondary there too.”
If the Chiefs are going to beat the Eagles to win their third straight Super Bowl, they'll need Worthy to come through like he did against the Bills when he caught six passes for 85 yards and one touchdown. Reid will certainly scheme things up for Worthy to have success, and Worthy's game changing ability could be the difference maker in the game.
