What can you take away from a win against a broken team? It’s something I’ve been mulling over this week after Kansas City’s dominant win over Baltimore.
The Chiefs turned in what could be considered their best performance in years last Sunday, demolishing a depleted Ravens team 37-20. But given the scale of Baltimore’s injury crisis, how much value can you put into a win over a team that was missing so many of its star players?
Is Kansas City’s offense finally cooking with gas, or did the Chiefs’ success simply come because of how undermanned the Ravens were on defense? Can we expect to see that offensive potency carry forward?
I think we can.
Banged up Baltimore
There’s no sugarcoating it: Baltimore has been awful on defense this year. They rank last in points per game (33.3), tied for last in touchdowns allowed (16), and 31st in total defense, allowing 406.8 yards per game.
Heading into the game against Kansas City, they were already without linebacker Kyle Van Noy, defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, and defensive end Broderick Jones. When linebacker Roquan Smith, cornerback Marlon Humphrey, and cornerback Nate Wiggins were sidelined by injury during the game as well, any lingering defensive resilience the Ravens had vanished.
Those injuries undoubtedly contributed to the lopsided scoreline. Arrowhead Addict’s Matt Conner translated the situation Baltimore faced into Chiefs terms to emphasize how big their injury crisis was.
Serious question: Imagine the Chiefs without Chris Jones, Mike Danna, Drue Tranquill, and George Karlaftis to start the game. Then losing Jaylen Watson and Nick Bolton during it. If the Ravens put up 37, how would we frame it?
— Matt Conner (@MattConnerAA) September 29, 2025
The Chiefs’ offense put up their highest point total in more than two years, while Patrick Mahomes had his first four-touchdown game since Week 7 of the 2023 season. But how much hype can you put on those figures given how banged up Baltimore’s defense was?
To put it simply—a lot.
The hype is real
For me, what we saw from the offense and the points scored are vital because we got to see all the elements of what we hoped this offense would look like during training camp, and I think that is more important than who that showing came against.
Kansas City’s offense had looked slow, unimaginative, and disjointed for large chunks of the opening three weeks of the season. But one caveat had been the idea that things would improve when Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice returned from injury. Sunday showed that idea isn’t just hopeful thinking—it’s the truth.
Worthy changed the entire look and feel offensively. Suddenly, speed became a serious threat, the deep ball came into play, short and intermediate routes opened up, and even the run game looked more effective.
Xavier Worthy still fast confirmed pic.twitter.com/qOmtdYOhmf
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) September 28, 2025
We saw the types of plays that Worthy could make with the ball in his hands—the deep pass down the sideline for 37 yards and the end-around that went for 35. But we also saw his presence create opportunities for Hollywood Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Tyquan Thornton, and even Travis Kelce, who had his most effective game of the season.
The offensive line looked great too. Josh Simmons continued to look like a rock, Kingsley Suamataia had his best pass protection game of the season, and Jawaan Taylor held down the right side without a single penalty.
More than anything, this was proof of concept—actual evidence in a competitive regular-season game of what Kansas City’s offense could look like when all its pieces are on the field together, and how potent it can be.
A sign of things to come
Of course, other teams will defend the Chiefs better than Baltimore was able to. But this game will also change the way those opponents have to game plan for Kansas City too.
Kansas City showed its speed at WR, as well as the ability to move the ball effectively in different ways with end-arounds, screens, and quick passes. Now that they’ve actually hit some deep passes, teams will have to respect that too, which opens more things up again.
If Worthy had come back and the sluggishness on offense had continued, and things had still looked disjointed, that would have been a huge concern. But the fact that it looked so fluid and dynamic is the key.
All offseason and throughout training camp, we hoped that Kansas City’s offense would look something like what we saw against the Ravens on Sunday: a solid offensive line that can give Mahomes the time he needs, and different weapons with varying skill sets that can beat defenses in multiple ways.
What we saw on Sunday was a glimpse of what’s to come, and that’s before their top wide receiver, Rashee Rice, is back on the field, too. The hype is real.