Patrick Mahomes needs one thing to change to help the Chiefs win the Super Bowl again

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When you come off an MVP season, your expectations are through the roof.

To this stage of the 2023 season, the Kansas City Chiefs offense has underperformed for the most part.

While few are blaming quarterback Patrick Mahomes, his numbers are not blowing off the charts.

Mahomes’ Career Stats after 13 Games

When you look at Mahomes’ body of work at this stage of the season, it’s on par with his statistics from previous campaigns.

The problem is it’s more in line with what he put up during his first 13 games in 2021.

That year, Mahomes had 3,642 yards through the air with 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions after 13 encounters.

After getting through the baker’s dozen this season, he has 3,398 yards passing, the fewest for him in any of his previous campaigns, while also tossing 23 TDs, fewer than in any previous year.

Despite all of the drops made by his wide receivers in 2023, Mahomes has a completion percentage of 66.9, the second-highest after 13 contests in his NFL career, slightly behind his mark from 2020 (68.4).

That is remarkably good and shows that people are not giving Mahomes the credit he actually deserves this season. He just needs his receivers to step up.

The 30 drops made by Chief wide receivers this season are the most in the NFL, contributing to 21% of Mahomes’ incompletions.

Mahomes is averaging 261.4 passing yards per game, which if he can maintain between now and the end of the season, would give him 4,443.6 yards, the second-lowest of his NFL career.

His 11 interceptions this season are the same amount after 13 contests a year ago.

It is relatively on par with his career numbers, with Mahomes only tossing fewer picks after 13 weeks in 2019 (four) and 2020 (five).

Silver Lining

For as rough a season as it’s been offensively, the Chiefs still have a decent shot at getting back to the Super Bowl.

One of the reasons being that the AFC is a gigantic cluster of unpredictability right now.

Virtually every team in the conference is going through key injury issues, from Tyreek Hill going down for Miami, while Joe Burrow, Deshaun Watson and Anthony Richardson all out for the season, while C.J. Stroud is in concussion protocol.

Kansas City is one of the few AFC playoff teams who’ve remained healthy offensively and know all about the postseason grind.

Secondly, as uninspiring as Mahomes and the Chiefs offense has been this season, they are still in virtually every game.

Only one of their five defeats has been by more than a single score (24-9 versus the Denver Broncos).

Playoff Mahomes meanwhile is even better than what he usually shows us in the regular season, as he has the best career postseason passer rating with a minimum of 150 attempts in NFL history (107.4).

In the 2022 playoffs, he didn’t throw a single interception, while getting sacked fewer times than in any previous postseason campaign despite playing with a high-ankle sprain.

His 2023 numbers may be below his incredibly high standards, but he’s not making poor decisions, and his throws are mainly on the money.

If his receivers change the trend of their season and catch passing instead of dropping them, Mahomes can still deliver this team another Lombardi Trophy.