Matt Nagy Reveals When Things Clicked for Rashee Rice

The Kansas City Chiefs' offense was a major contributor in last weekend's Wild Card Weekend win over the Miami Dolphins. Despite being far from perfect, head coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Matt Nagy's unit did enough to score 26 points and cruise to the Divisional Round of the playoffs.

Rookie wide receiver Rashee Rice, once again, played a significant role in that success.

Targeted 12 times in the passing game, Rice hauled in eight passes for 130 yards and a touchdown. Setting a franchise record for receiving yards by a rookie in a postseason game, the second-round pick continued to build his case as one of the better breakout first-year players in the entire league. This marked Rice's second game in a row either reaching or getting close to the 130-yard mark. In Week 17's win over the Cincinnati Bengals, he had five catches for 127 yards.

Ironically, the moment the proverbial light bulb turned on for Rice may have been against that same Dolphins team. Speaking to the media on Thursday, Nagy explained when he noticed Rice was beginning to pick things up quickly. 

“It’s on the field in the game is when you see it," Nagy said. "Specifically, I feel like against the Dolphins — for whatever reason, I don’t know why, I can’t give you an exact reason. I just feel like around that time you could really feel like, ‘Okay, it’s starting to click with him.’ Whether it’s in practice, the tempo, him getting in and out of the huddle. We were talking about in training camp getting in and out of the huddle and getting lined up and just trying to run the play the right way. He’s way past that now. Now he gets up to the line of scrimmage, he’s seeing what the defense does and now he can let his natural ability take over. 

Nagy picked an interesting game that stood out, as Rice tied his season-low in receptions with two and had his lowest total of yards (17) against Miami in Week 9. He did manage to score a touchdown, though. That mid-season stretch did mark a time in which Rice began to see an uptick in snaps and more of a role on offense. Targets and raw box score stats don't always directly reflect the progression of a player. 

One of the positive things the Chiefs constantly bring up regarding Rice is his willingness to learn. By all accounts, he's extremely coachable and eager to soak up as much knowledge as he can. He's said it, quarterback Patrick Mahomes has said it, his coaches have said it and tight end Travis Kelce brought it up earlier this week. Nagy doubled down on Rice's growth on Thursday. 

"Probably mid-season, around that time is when I felt like it clicked," Nagy said. "The beauty is that he wants to be coached, he wants more. I think the other thing too is — it’s hard for everybody who’s not in the building to see it — but these other players around him are helping him out too, that wide receiver group. You see guys in there, the veteran guys, that are really helping him, becoming coaches themselves. Which is great, you need that. Everybody all in all, he knows he’s got a lot of room to grow, but he’s done a great job.”

While Kelce is still likely Kansas City's best offensive weapon, Rice was the one who produced like it down the stretch. Coming out of the bye week and through the end of the regular season, the rookie was targeted 61 times and had 47 receptions for 560 yards and three touchdowns. Kelce's totals: 49, 36, 387 and one, respectively. 

As the Chiefs' playoff run continues, Rice will be counted on to produce. Regardless of whether that span of play ends this weekend, next weekend or in Super Bowl LVIII, the SMU product must remain one of the leaders on offense if Kansas City wants to have its best chance at contending for a championship. Despite his recent success, he's still adapting on the fly and learning more as the year goes on. He doesn't make it look that way, but as Nagy noted, he's only a couple of months removed from an Aha! moment or two.