Wide receiver Xavier Worthy was the Chiefs‘ first-round pick because they thought he could be a playmaker in their offense and it didn’t take long for Worthy to prove the team right in his debut.
Worthy scored on a 21-yard run in the first quarter to tie the game 7-7 and then struck again in the fourth quarter. Worthy got behind the Ravens defense for a 35-yard touchdown catch on a pass from Patrick Mahomes that put the Chiefs up 27-17 and put them on their way to a 27-20 home win to kick off the 2024 season.
After the game, Mahomes said that Worthy’s presence “opens up stuff” because of the attention defenses have to pay to his speed and lauded the rookie’s ability to handle being in the spotlight.
“He’s so cool, calm and collected all the time,” Mahomes said, via Adam Teicher of ESPN.com. “You never even see the excitement on him, but he goes out there and makes plays. Obviously, we want to continue to use him more and more, but I thought he had a great day today, making big plays and big moments.”
According to NFL Media, Worthy is the fifth receiver to catch a touchdown of 30+ yards and run for a score of 20+ yards in the same game. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has been involved in four of them — DeSean Jackson did it twice with the Eagles and Tyreek Hill did it once with the Chiefs — and Worthy’s likely going to get chances to add to that total given how quickly he’s made himself at home in the Chiefs offense.
