An emergency Chiefs-Titans trade as Rashee Rice injury threatens to derail offense

The Kansas City Chiefs were dealt a rather brutal loss on Sunday when Patrick Mahomes dove errantly into Rashee Rice's legs on an attempted tackle. Mahomes was attempting to make a play after throwing an interception, but it did not go as planned.

At halftime, Andy Reid told CBS Sports' Tracy Wolfson "it's not good" when asked about the severity of Rice's injury. We should learn more in the hours and days to come, but any time a player has their knee bent awkwardly from a diving tackle, the risk is fairly substantial. This was obviously a simple miscalculation from Mahomes, but it could have a profoundly negative impact on the Kansas City offense moving forward.

Hidden behind their winning record is the fact that we haven't seen much from the Chiefs' offense this season. It has been the defense leading the way to victory through four weeks, with Mahomes doing the bare minimum to elevate his team to four straight victories. Kansas City hasn't had an easy schedule necessarily, but the timing of certain matchups has been favorable.

Mahomes can get the job done with just about anyone in the WR room, but with Travis Kelce aging, there is more pressure than ever on a pretty mediocre group. Now both Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown, arguably Kansas City's best wideouts, are expected to miss significant time. We don't know for sure on the Rice front, but Hollywood is already done for the season.

In the meantime, Mahomes will depend more on boom-or-bust rookie Xavier Worthy and the likes of Justin Watson or JuJu Smith-Schuster. It's time for the Chiefs to call in reinforcements.

Look no further than the 0-3 Tennessee Titans, who are rapidly approaching catastrophic levels of down bad.

Chiefs-Titans trade to pair DeAndre Hopkins with Patrick Mahomes for late-career resurgence

The Chiefs have an extra fourth-round pick after the L'Jarius Sneed trade, which happened to involve the Titans. Why not send that pick back for DeAndre Hopkins, a postseason-proven veteran who could give the Chiefs' offense an immediate facelift?

It has been slow-moving for Hopkins out of the gate this season. He had one catch in each of the Titans' first two games before breaking through with six catches for 73 yards in their Week 3 loss to Green Bay. Tennessee's offense is a complete mess, despite hiring Brian Callahan to run the show. Will Levis, after promising flashes as a rookie, has been utterly incompetent at the controls, one-upping his own boneheaded mistakes on a weekly basis.

Odds are Hopkins has lost a step or two at 32 years old, but the resume speaks for itself, and it's fair to expect more from him in a better situation. The Chiefs' offense, for all its warts, is an Andy Reid scheme led by Patrick Mahomes. Hopkins would immediately sit near the front of the line for targets, giving Mahomes a big, physical red zone target with a history of winning 50-50 balls. Kansas City's current WR corps is geared toward speed and quickness, almost to a fault. Hopkins is a nice counterweight.

Even last season was a noticeable step back for Hopkins, but he still netted 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns. There's reason to believe he's better than the early 2024 numbers suggest, and if any team can unlock that old magic, it's Kansas City.

The price (at least in terms of trade ammo) shouldn't be too steep at this point. As long as Kansas CIty can stomach the contract, Hopkins would make for a great addition in a time of need. The Titans certainly don't need a disgruntled vet hanging around, mucking up the locker room.