{"id":197057,"date":"2024-10-28T16:30:50","date_gmt":"2024-10-28T20:30:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=197057"},"modified":"2024-10-28T15:46:29","modified_gmt":"2024-10-28T19:46:29","slug":"hopkins-message-critics-chiefs-raiders-titans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/10\/28\/hopkins-message-critics-chiefs-raiders-titans\/","title":{"rendered":"DeAndre Hopkins Sends 3-Word Message to Proving Critics Wrong in Chiefs Debut"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It was but one game, but it was a successful showing for DeAndre Hopkins in his Kansas City Chiefs debut. He only had two receptions, tallying 29 scoreless yards in the Chiefs\u2019 27-20 victory over the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/raiders\/\" target=\"_self\">Las Vegas Raiders<\/a> in Week 8. However, that is a significant change for Hopkins coming from the 1-6 <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/titans\" target=\"_self\">Tennessee Titans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The five-time Pro Bowler also had a message after a play highlighting his ability to separate.<\/p>\n<h2>DeAndre Hopkins &#8216;Just Getting Started&#8217; After Chiefs Debut<\/h2>\n<h3>Chiefs Land Grateful, Motivated DeAndre Hopkins<\/h3>\n<p>\u201c&#8230;just getting started,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DeAndreHopkins\/status\/1850892257051697330\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Hopkins posted<\/a> on X on October 28.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mahomes to Hopkins! Their first <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Chiefs?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@Chiefs<\/a> connection.<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udcfa: <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/KCvsLV?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#KCvsLV<\/a> on CBS\/Paramount+<br \/>\ud83d\udcf1: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/waVpO909ge\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/waVpO909ge<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gh98YNIGxd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/gh98YNIGxd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; NFL (@NFL) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NFL\/status\/1850636078656651425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 27, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Hopkins has also sent a message about his ability to separate, which had <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fantasy\/fantasy-fans-shouldnt-expect-much-deandre-hopkins-kansas-city-chiefs-01jawnhcg2q4\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">become a talking point<\/a>. But Hopkins deleted that, perhaps in better judgment in favor of the more forward-focused message he has left up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I can\u2019t get separation anymore,\u201d Hopkins said in the now-deleted post.<\/p>\n<p>It was <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealMNchiefsfan\/status\/1850905670855557198\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">not just that play<\/a>, either. But Sports Illustrated\u2019s fantasy analyst Michael Fabiano highlighted many stats that would seem to underscore that negative narrative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHopkins, 32, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/fantasy\/fantasy-fans-shouldnt-expect-much-deandre-hopkins-kansas-city-chiefs-01jawnhcg2q4\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">simply isn\u2019t the same superstar<\/a> he was during his time in Houston and Arizona,\u201d Fabiano wrote on October 23. \u201cBased on NextGen Stats data, his Receiving Expected Points Added is -4.9. That\u2019s one of the worst in the league among offensive players. His Average Target Separation is 3.2, and he\u2019s 60th in Yards After Contact Over Expected. He\u2019s also 55th in Catch Rate Over Expected.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>Teammates React to DeAndre Hopkins&#8217; Chiefs Debut<\/h3>\n<p>To that end, however, Chiefs star Patrick Mahomes is <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2024\/08\/03\/chiefs-mahomes-top-100-list-jones-kelce\/\" target=\"_self\">nothing like any other QB<\/a> Hopkins has played with.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust the start,\u201d Mahomes captioned an image of himself and Hopkins that he shared to his Instagram stories.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"zxx\" dir=\"ltr\"><a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/JsYMiBENzd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/JsYMiBENzd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Josh Buckhalter (@JoshGBuck) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoshGBuck\/status\/1850975235182338200?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">October 28, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Hopkins had initially shared the image, captioning it \u201cChiefs Kingdom.\u201d He also drew some reactions from his Chiefs teammates in the comments.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust getting started,\u201d Hollywood Brown posted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYessirrrr!!\u201d Travis Kelce said.<\/p>\n<p>The most meaningful message, though, may have come from Justin Reid, who was Hopkins\u2019 teammate for two years (2018 and 2019) on the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/texans\/\" target=\"_self\">Houston Texans<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWinning here is a familiar feeling\u201d Reid posted along with a reel of pictures, including one of him and Hopkins standing side-by-side.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack at it,\u201d Hopkins replied.<\/p>\n<blockquote data-instgrm-captioned=\"\" data-instgrm-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DBq3uEOJrQ5\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" data-instgrm-version=\"14\">\n<div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>View this post on Instagram<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DBq3uEOJrQ5\/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A post shared by Justin Reid (@justinqreid)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>The two are reunited after five seasons.<\/p>\n<h3>De\u2019Andre Hopkins Sends Heartfelt Thank You to Nashville<\/h3>\n<p>Hopkins was only in Tennessee for two seasons, spending three seasons with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/cardinals\/\" target=\"_self\">Arizona Cardinals<\/a> after leaving Houston via trade in 2019. He still took a moment to show appreciation for his second stint in the AFC South.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RealMNchiefsfan\/status\/1850905670855557198\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thank you Nashville<\/a> for bringing joy on and off the field,\u201d Hopkins posted on X on October 24. Nashville will forever be home!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hopkins will face one of his former teams, the Texans, in Week 16 of this season. He will face them again, as well as the Titans, in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>For the Chiefs, who trade for <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/patriots\" target=\"_self\">New England Patriots<\/a> pass rusher Josh Uche with the trade deadline just over one week away, adding Hopkins only bolsters their position as the Super Bowl favorite through eight weeks. The Chiefs are the NFL&#8217;s lone unbeaten team and are chasing history.<\/p>\n<p>They are operating accordingly.\u00a0 We will see if their rather uncharacteristic in-season splash moves pay off with that third straight title at the end of the season.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>De&#8217;Andre Hopkins is happy to be a Chief.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2879,"featured_media":197059,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[7811,582,32896,3788,7466,7326,1576,339],"class_list":["post-197057","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chiefs","tag-chiefs-featured","tag-deandre-hopkins","tag-hollywood-brown","tag-justin-reid","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-roster","tag-patrick-mahomes","tag-travis-kelce"],"modified_by":"Josh Buckhalter","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2879"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=197057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/197057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/197059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=197057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=197057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=197057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}