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When will Rashee Rice return? Latest updates for Chiefs WR Award-winning Broadway actor from 'Nightmare Before Christmas' dies

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Patrick Mahomes may have scored the Kansas City Chiefs' best chance at a third straight Super Bowl and his fourth Lombardi Trophy overall.

The Chiefs will apparently have to do without leading receiver Rashee Rice, who suffered a feared injury to his right knee at the end of the season. Rice was reportedly exploring multiple options for the injury after Mahomes collided with him while diving toward a player returning an interception.

Kansas City defeated the Los Angeles Chargers to get off to a 4-0 start, but hopes of a three-peat and four titles in six years look bleak after the first month of the season.

Rice entered Sunday with 24 catches, three times as many as star tight end Travis Kelce had before the win. It's clear that he became a central part of the offense in his second season.

Now Rice joins receiver Hollywood Brown (who is out this season with a shoulder injury) and running back Isiah Pacheco (who could return from leg surgery in the second half of the season) on the sidelines. Those are three major injuries that limit the Chiefs' offensive options, even if Mahomes is great.

The Chiefs still have plenty of time to either fail or overcome the odds. It would be foolish to underestimate Mahomes, future Hall of Fame coach Andy Reid and the Chiefs' vaunted defense under Steve Spagnuolo. And they have won at least one Super Bowl (2023) with fewer receivers.

Still, we're going to overreact and say that the three-peat seems out of reach.

Here are some more NFL overreactions from Week 4:

The fairytale is over in the land of the jets

Sean Payton got the last laugh after the Denver Broncos handed Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets a 10-9 home loss last week.

The loss led to Rodgers dismissing Jets coach Robert Saleh's postgame comment that Rodgers' cadence was a problem on offense. And let's not forget that Rodgers turned down a hug from Saleh earlier this season. The fairytale is over in the land of the jets.

Remember, Payton criticized Nathaniel Hackett for “one of the worst coaching jobs in NFL history” after he took over the Broncos last year. Rodgers and Saleh defended Hackett, who became the Jets' offensive coordinator.

Sure, it was a miserable day offensively as there was some rain. But star running back Breece Hall is expected to be much better than his 10-carry, 4-yard rushing performance. The Jets also had 13 penalties in the loss. It was an incredible disappointment after the 2-1 start.

Commanders are a favorite to win the NFC East

You read that correctly. The Washington Commanders are favorites to win the NFC East this season after getting off to an incredible 3-1 start behind No. 2 draft pick Jayden Daniels.

New Commanders owner Josh Harris hired the right, experienced trainer, Dan Quinn. Kliff Kingsbury was Quinn's right addition as offensive coordinator. And the decision to let Daniels, who won the Heisman Trophy at LSU, run a college-style offense was another great decision.

Daniels is an early MVP candidate with this telling statistic as a rookie: He led more scoring drives (23) than he threw incompletions (19).

Daniels leads the NFL with a completion percentage of 82.1, ranks fifth with a QBR of 73.4 and scored four of the team's league-leading 10 rushing touchdowns. The Commanders are third in the NFL scoring 30.3 points per game and show no signs of slowing down.

Bills offense is not ready for prime time yet

Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills' offense faltered on Sunday Night Football against the Baltimore Ravens – showing that their offense needs more time to grow and is ultimately missing big-play receiver Stefon Diggs.

It didn't help Buffalo to play from behind after Derrick Henry opened the game with an 87-yard run for Buffalo. The Bills were only able to score one touchdown against the Ravens after burning their first three losing opponents this season for 13 touchdowns.

Allen was shaken after a strip fumble, suffered a bad fall in the third quarter and finished the game 16 of 29 for 180 yards.

The Bills weren't ready for the Ravens. Because of their stars, they will likely face the Chiefs again in the NFL's best rivalry. The 49ers and Lions could also pose problems later this season. And they need to figure out their fixes quickly because next week they could be overtaken again by CJ Stroud and the Texans.

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(This story has been updated because an earlier version contained an inaccuracy.)

On By John Fenwick

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