KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A 36-year-old future Hall of Fame tight end, the most prolific receiver in his organization’s history, walked onto the football field for the second half Monday night and searched for a teammate.

He had a specific message.

Over the previous 10 minutes, the Kansas City Chiefs’ position groups had nestled into their respective corners of the locker room, the aftermath of an uninspiring first half on national TV. The offensive line absorbed an instruction to play with some more physicality. The green-dot linebacker took ownership of some defensive miscommunications. The quarterback reminded himself to be patient enough to look for some secondary reads.

But after all that, Travis Kelce had something extra for Rashee Rice. A five-word sentence did the trick.

You have to get going.

Translation: You have to get us going.

The Chiefs turned that spiritless first half into a 28-7 blowout Monday night against the Washington Commanders, opening the second half with touchdown drives of 80, 75 and 94 yards.

You heard the adjustments. The physicality, the secondary reads, the communication. But the most prominent feature mixed into all of that was the guy on the other end of the Hall of Fame message.

Rice had seven catches for 87 yards and a touchdown after halftime, with one catch symbolic of the talk that started it.

Lined up in the right slot, Rice had an option route that asked him to post up a couple of yards past the line of scrimmage. He tried that first, but then he spotted his quarterback’s eyes. Plus, he saw some open space.

Mahomes had his head turned toward the opposite side of the field, so Rice sprinted into a shallow cross to meet him there — long enough to finally lock eyes. The pass came better late than never after Mahomes stepped up in the pocket, and Rice hauled it in and took it the final 11 yards into the end zone.

“I was just running, running as fast as I could to get in front of his eyesight,” Rice said. “If he was running to the sideline, I probably would’ve run to the sideline with him.”

That story should sound familiar.

There’s a Chiefs player who has made a living out of those adjustment plays.

Kelce.

But really, all nine of Rice’s catches in the game are worth spotlighting, not just that one touchdown, because all nine came on what Next Gen Stats calls open targets — meaning Rice generated at least three yards of separation on all nine of them.

You know, the Chiefs long employed a guy who got open with that kind of frequency, whether on the initial route or a mid-play option.

Kelce.

He has long been the star here, leading the team in yards each of the last four seasons and six of the past seven. There has never been a better receiving weapon in this city’s history. It’s been his show, no player better suited for it.

But this game — that talk — is indicative of the bigger Chiefs offensive picture.

They’ve passed the torch.

He passed the torch.

Isn’t that part something? For all he’s accomplished, three Super Bowls, 10 Pro Bowls, four All-Pro seasons, Kelce knew the player best positioned to jumpstart the offense Monday night wore a different number. And those motivational words, which Rice shared with us, came on a day, mind you, when Kelce had 99 receiving yards, his most in a regular season game in nearly a year.

It’s a transition — Kelce to Rice — more than a year in the making in Kansas City, halted by a season-ending knee injury last year and a six-game suspension this year for a foolish offseason mistake.

It’s here, at last, a new era of the Chiefs.

If you’re curious what this whole thing might look like when Kelce is gone, well, you’re seeing it now. Rice and Mahomes have played two games together over the past 393 days, yet it’s crystal clear that’s the path on which this offense will ride. To be fair, it was that way a year ago before the knee injury.

A week ago, Mahomes made his first back shoulder throw of the entire season, a 3-yard pitch to Rice for a touchdown. He fired a no-look throw his way earlier in the same drive. We haven’t seen those plays this year, but apparently only because we hadn’t seen that player this year.

In the encore against the Commanders, five of Rice’s final six catches either moved the sticks or changed the scoreboard. The Chiefs turned Rice into the focal point, and turned back the clock on their production. Mahomes was 17 of 19 for 210 yards and three touchdowns in the second half. The Chiefs have scored 28 or more points in four straight games for the first time in four years.

Heck, they finally made field position and penalties irrelevant again. On one drive, they actually put up 119 yards of offense, sidestepping two penalties on, ahem, Rice.

He swears he was trying to flip that football to the referee, by the way, and still spent time explaining that to head coach Andy Reid in the locker room after the game.

Reid responded with a hug.

“You gotta love it,” Rice replied.

Shortly after, Rice approached the same set of double doors exiting the locker room that had preempted the talk from Kelce.

He entered the post-game press room.

“I’m kind of going off of everybody’s energy right now,” he said.

Sure.

But more so? Vice versa.

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