Most of the 128 million viewers were no longer viewing. Patrick Mahomes was still tuned in, though.
Down 40-14 late in the Super Bowl, Mahomes hit Xavier Worthy in perfect stride down the left hash on a 50-yard touchdown. Mahomes rifled the ball 67 yards through the air and beat two Eagles defenders into a tight window. Worthy flashed the enticing speed everyone knows he has.
Everyone also knows that if the Chiefs can’t evolve Worthy into more of a multi-dimensional threat, defenses will easily take away those explosive touchdowns. That was the subject of the exit interview Worthy and his wide receivers coach, Connor Embree, had following the Super Bowl.
“I think he did a good job in the offseason, especially the summer, of working on the stuff we were talking about,” Embree said after Tuesday’s practice. “I think it shows on the field. He’s not just a straight-line, go-route guy. He can run multiple routes, so I really like what he did. Came back in great shape and then, like you said, he’s gotten better at route-running.”
Part of getting better at route-running is establishing his own identity. And passing game coordinator Joe Bleymaier sees Worthy as a great example of what the Chiefs’ offense is trying to become.
In-house competition is elite
Worthy also benefits from one-on-one competition against the individual many consider the best cornerback in the NFL, Trent McDuffie. Worthy wants to improve so badly, he seeks out McDuffie in practice.
“And often times,” Bleymaier said, “he’s going to run the same routes over and over against Trent, so really sharpening his fastball, his main pitch. And then from there, being able to say, ‘Alright, here’s how I can complement that, and here’s the other moves and the routes that can work off that.’
“So, he’s like a microcosm of the offense in general. In Year 2, he’s trying to establish that identity of here’s what I can do against anybody in the league, and then if they start taking it away, here’s how I can complement that.”
What separates Chiefs wide receivers
Complementing that obviously depends on Worthy’s teammates. When Rashee Rice is available, Embree said he’s like a running back with the ball in his hands. The coach also said the room as a whole, even deeper on the depth chart with Tyquan Thornton, overflows with one specific element.
“Yeah, it’s fast,” Embree said. “It’s like a track team out there, 4×1 team. It’s next man up. They all can run. That’s kind of what our offense is based off of is just speed, speed, speed, speed. And then, just like you said, we got a lot of guys that can run. So, I like the depth of our room and the speed of it.”
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