Four games, four wins, and a roster that appears to be shedding pass-catchers faster than Patrick Mahomes can learn their names.

Kansas City beat Las Vegas 30-27 to reach 4-0, a record that sounds like a coronation and reads like a three-point survival. In the same week, receiver Tyquan Thornton was ruled out with a dislocated left ankle, 12 to 16 weeks according to sources who spoke to NFL Network. Yahoo's headline for it was "Receiver Crisis Deepens," and for once the headline writer was not being dramatic.

So the Chiefs did what a franchise with a bye week and a hole does. NFL insider Michael Silver reported they "reached out" to Tyreek Hill, the All-Pro who caught Mahomes passes in Kansas City before he left.

Picture the phone call. A team that is unbeaten, defending a decade of October habits, dialing a former star because the current depth chart has run out of chairs. Nobody calls Hill for depth. You call Hill when the room is empty and the season is long.

We wrote in September that the Chiefs' Week 1 blowout of the Chargers made parity look quaint. Three weeks later the margins have shrunk to a field goal, and the offense is asking for help it used to supply for others.

Reaching out is not signing, and Silver's report says no more than that. But a 4-0 team does not make that call for sentiment.

Week 5 is the bye. Kansas City will spend it either with Hill's number or with an offense that has to explain itself in Week 6.