Patrick Mahomes Takes Blame for KC Chiefs’ Inconsistent Offense
The Kansas City Chiefs' offense has had its fair share of elite moments in 2023, but it's also struggled at times through the club's first four games of the year. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, despite being the reigning league MVP, is taking a good chunk of the blame for the inconsistent output.
In the team's most recent outing, a Week 4 game against the New York Jets, Mahomes completed 18 of his 30 passes for 203 yards and a touchdown. That in and of itself would be a very pedestrian stat line for the consensus best signal-caller in the sport, but there was also a pair of interceptions attached. Mahomes made two uncharacteristic mistakes on throws he was trying to lob in over defenders, giving the Jets new life in a game that seemed over early on. Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Mahomes explained what went wrong.
“I didn’t play very well, it happens," Mahomes said. "Two of the interceptions, just underthrew five to ten yards. I missed my opportunities throughout the game, and so I just got to put us in better positions and making better decisions so the guys could go out there and work for me and make plays down the field.”
Roughly a quarter of the way through the season, Mahomes is posting career-low marks in completion percentage (64.3), passing success rate (49.0%), yards per attempt (7.0), yards per completion (10.9), yards per game (251.5) and passer rating (92.0) while also boasting the highest interception rate (2.8%) of his full-season career. He's fourth in the league in QBR and EPA per play, cementing his status as someone who's still one of the best even amid some struggles, but this hasn't been the Mahomes the Chiefs have grown to love in recent seasons.
If the 2022 campaign forced Mahomes to take what opposing defenses gave him, the 2023 campaign has forced him to simply take anything. That means checking down to running backs, hitting wide receivers for shorter-than-desired gains and trusting their abilities to extend plays, as well as spreading the ball around to just about everyone. The 28-year-old says his judgment hasn't been good in Weeks 1-4, and it's a balancing act he always has to work on fine-tuning.
“It’s something that I have to continue at to get better and better at throughout my career," Mahomes said. "Sometimes when stuff may not be going well or if I want to get that deep shot going, I’ll try to force it. Whereas there’s just times where I have to just throw the ball away or take the check down. It goes against my nature, but it’s something that you have to do at this quarterback position in order to have success. Obviously, I made two throws in the game where I – really three throws if you count the one to MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling) on 3rd-and-long that I really got greedy and tried to throw it down the field instead of just taking the under stuff. That’s just stuff that I have to manage because I want to have that aggressive nature but at the same time, take what’s there.”
Of course, Mahomes isn't the only member of the Chiefs' offense not living up to the standard outlined before the season. Tight end Travis Kelce is still finding his way back after missing Week 1 with a bone bruise in his knee, and Kansas City's wide receiver group has largely underwhelmed through four games. Head coach Andy Reid said on Wednesday that an external addition isn't needed, and Mahomes remains confident in the group he has right now. As he looks to improve his level of play, he believes it will do the same for those around him.
“I just haven’t played very good to start the season, so I think if I start playing better, everybody will start playing better."
