Kansas City Chiefs’ three-peat hopes suffer major dent after Patrick Mahomes accidentally injures key offensive weapon

The Kansas City Chiefs are not having it all their own way this season so far - although they remain perfect.

Rashee Rice was carted off the field in the first quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday after sustaining a knee injury.

The injury occurred after Rice, 24, appeared to collide with Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes while attempting to tackle Kristian Fulton on an interception return.

Rice was subsequently carted off to the locker room with NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reporting he was out for the remainder game.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was asked on CBS about Rice's knee injury:

"It's not good," Big Red worryingly said, and later reports emerged of a suspected torn ACL.

"I feel terrible for Rashee," he said after the game. "We will hope for the best."

Rice has emerged as the Chiefs top pass-catching option in recent weeks amid Travis Kelce's ongoing struggles.

Rice has racked up 288 receiving yards and two touchdowns through three games so far this season. He's also been Mahomes' favorite target, picking up 24 receptions on 29 targets.

Kelce assumed the heavy lifting on Sunday as the Chiefs battled back from a 10-0 deficit to stay perfect (4-0) for the season, with the superstar tight end more than doubling his receiving yards.

WRs Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Skyy Moore and Mecole Hardman are still available to Kansas City, but injuries are becoming a major issue for the reigning Super Bowl champions after recently losing running back Isiah Pacheco.

Pacheco was injured in the Chiefs' 26-25 win over the Cincinnati Bengals last week and is now facing an extended spell on the sidelines.

It comes after offseason signing Marquise 'Hollywood' Brown was ruled out for the regular season with a shoulder injury, damaging the wide receiver room even further.

Former Chiefs star Kareem Hunt was added to the practise squad, returning to the franchise that drafted him in the third round in 2017.

Hunt's first season with the Chiefs saw him lead the NFL in rushing with 1,327 yards and eight touchdowns, with an added 455 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

He was released in November 2018 before being picked up by the Cleveland Browns in 2019, where he has failed to hit the heights of his rookie season.

Through three games, Kelce had eight receptions for for 69 yards and zero touchdowns - on Sunday, against the Chargers he had seven receptions for 89 yards, and set a new franchise record for total receptions.

He overtook Tony Gonzalez (915), having already surpassed the Chiefs legend for total yards last season.

However, the Chiefs are still racking up wins, something former NFL pro Jason Bell says is 'frightening'.

"This is when you look at great teams, players, coaches and organizations that know how to win," Bell said.

"They get these kinds of games, it doesn't look great, the best player says he's not playing at his highest levels, that is Patrick Mahomes, but they’re stacking wins.

"And it's because that defense is playing well. They are up to the challenge every single week. They carried this team last year when they won the Super Bowl.

"So now, if they continue to do that and the offense continues to evolve when you have Patrick Mahomes you know you're going to be in the championship round and playing well because if there’s one thing this team knows how to do, it knows how to meet a challenge, especially later in the season."