There’s no doubleheader in primetime this week, but Monday Night Football sees the Kansas City Chiefs duke it out against the Washington Commanders on the national stage. This Week 8 affair puts every one of Patrick Mahomes’ pass catchers in position to succeed, with Xavier Worthy now seeing less defensive attention thanks to Rashee Rice’s return to the field. Can the speedster break a big play tonight?
Here are the best Xavier Worthy prop bets for Chiefs vs. Commanders on Monday Night Football in Week 8.
Best Xavier Worthy prop bets on DraftKings Sportsbook
Xavier Worthy hasn’t had the best season for the Chiefs, but that’s certainly not all his fault. The former first-round pick suffered a dislocated shoulder early in Week 1 and missed two games after that, so he wasn’t fully healthy for a significant chunk of the campaign thus far. When he did return in Week 4, he hauled in 5-of-8 targets for 83 yards before catching 6-of-9 looks for 42 yards in Week 5. However, the last two weeks have seen Worthy’s workload shrink rather significantly. While he logged 73% and 59% of snaps over those two games, Worthy saw just four targets in each contest with receiving lines of 2-20-1 and 3-35-0. However, the Chiefs’ offense is absolutely rolling with one of the NFL’s highest pass rates over expectation, meaning Patrick Mahomes keeps airing the ball out often regardless of game script. What gives?
Kansas City throws the ball at one of the league’s highest rates with the ninth-most pass attempts per game. Here’s the deal though — the introduction of Rashee Rice last week meant that Worthy no longer saw as many opportunities to work in the short game as. Rice garnered a 29.4% target share with 10 total opportunities in Week 7’s contest despite a low snap share of just 41%. That shows just how much of an emphasis Andy Reid places on scheming up looks for the Chiefs’ top wideout, which comes both at the benefit and detriment for teammates like Worthy.
On one hand, the presence of an elite zone-coverage beater like Rice who can create plays underneath means opponents have to focus a little bit more on stopping him, taking some defensive pressure off Worthy. The speedster will likely use that opportunity to break open for some long downfield chances, so betting on his longest reception prop could make a lot of sense in most games. For Week 8 against the Commanders, that line comes in at 21.5 yards. However, Rice’s return also means fewer targets for Worthy as the former commands genuine WR1 usage as the clear-cut top option for this passing game. With that in mind, chances for receptions and yardage may become a little bit more rare compared to when Worthy saw better target volume when he returned from his injury.
The 22-year-old does see the benefit of a tasty matchup this evening. The Commanders rank 21st in defensive EPA/pass and total passing yards allowed, but a little bit more digging shows some encouraging signs for a longest reception prop bet here. With an NFL-worst 8.3 yards per pass and the sixth-highest ADOT of 8.86 yards, Washington’s secondary remains vulnerable to giving up some deeper passes. The Commanders have given up 22 passes of 20+ yards this season, tied for seventh-most of any defense as well. That’s something to capitalize on with Worthy’s prop bet options tonight, so a longest reception over 21.5 yards looks like the way to go.
Best Bet: Xavier Worthy longest reception over 21.5 yards (-115)
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