The Chiefs offensive never fully lived up to its potential, as seen by their disappointing 15th-place result in points scored—the lowest of the Patrick Mahomes era—despite winning the Super Bowl in 2023.
Even though the club won the Super Bowl, Mahomes said that the offense wasn’t playing as well as it could have throughout the season.
With only 13% of Mahomes’ passes going 20 yards or more—the lowest percentage of his career—the Chiefs’ inability to produce explosive plays downfield was a result of their dependence on short, intermediate throws.
How Mahomes’ playing style and the new receivers’ complementary roles work together
The Chiefs made big offseason acquisitions to bolster their receiving corps’ explosiveness and speed in order to address this problem.
Mahomes has new optimism thanks to the addition of Marquise “Hollywood” Brown and the pick of rookie Xavier Worthy, as well as the return of a healthy Rashee Rice (assuming he plays in his next suspension).
Tyreek Hill’s loss was somewhat mitigated by the emergence of Rashee Rice as a trustworthy target in the 2023 draft, but Hill’s steady downfield threat was still absent from the attack.
Recently, Mahomes stated that the squad wants to reclaim its explosive potential:
We want to return to having that component of the attack as well, even though I believe we’ve done a terrific job perfecting the intermediate and short things. We’re being pushed hard to move the ball down the field by Coach Reid. We are making an effort to overcome our defense, even though it is difficult.
After battling injuries throughout his career, Brown now has the chance to succeed next to the best quarterback in the NFL. With a 4.21 40-yard dash, Worthy, a dynamic playmaker from Texas, set a new NFL Combine record and gives the Chiefs’ offense a new facet.
Chiefs Offense Comparison: 2023 Compared. Previous Years
The 2023 Chiefs offense was not as successful as it had been in prior years with Mahomes and Andy Reid.
Despite winning the Super Bowl, Mahomes said the squad “didn’t play our best football” and that the offensive line’s patchy play made the season “wasn’t a lot of fun”:
Indeed, the outcome was undoubtedly fantastic, but I believe that many of us are still left with a bad taste in our mouths as we didn’t play football the way we wanted to all season. It was not enjoyable. It wasn’t really enjoyable to try to grow better every single week when the results weren’t coming in the way you wanted.
They finished 9th and 15th in 2023, respectively, with their lowest averages of yards per game (357.9) and points per game (22.2) of the Mahomes era.
Statistically speaking, Mahomes had a “down” year as well, with career lows in yards per attempt to wide receivers (7.7), overall yards per attempt (7.0), touchdown rate (4.5), yards per game (261.4), and passer rating (92.6). In addition, he racked up a career-high 14 interceptions.
In 2023, the Chiefs had more drops than any other team in the league (44), fumbles, interceptions, and problems with pass protection. The club struggled with 11 fumbles lost and 17 interceptions, and their wide receivers had the highest drop percentage in the league. The offensive line struggled as well, ranking 20th with a pressure rate of 36.4%.
Causes of the Offensive Conflicts
The Chiefs’ offensive totals for 2023 were the lowest of the Reid-Mahomes era as a result of their offensive struggles. These difficulties were caused by a number of factors:
Lack of Explosiveness: The Chiefs’ inability to produce explosive plays downfield was hampered by their reliance on short throws. Only 13% of Mahomes’ passes went 20 yards or more, the lowest proportion of his career. More than half of his passes traveled less than five yards from the line of scrimmage.
Drops: The Chiefs’ receiving group was plagued by drops during the regular season, topping the NFL with 44 total drops and the highest drop percentage in the league at 6.9%. This had a major negative effect on their offense. The wide receivers’ mental errors—such as running the incorrect routes, drawing needless penalties, and failing to return to the ball—exacerbated this problem.
Quarterback Pressure: The offensive line performed poorly, ranking 20th in the NFL with a 36.4% quarterback pressure rate allowed. Mahomes’ ability to make plays downfield was hampered by this pressure, which also added to his poor efficiency and high interception percentage.
Rashee Rice was the lone wide receiver who consistently performed well amidst an inconsistent wide receiver group that failed to live up to expectations. The offense was also hampered by the team’s incapacity to find and keep difference-makers at the wide receiver position.
All these things added up to the Chiefs’ 2023 offensive woes even after winning the Super Bowl.
Can the Chiefs Regain Their Superiority on Offense?
But in the postseason, the Chiefs’ offense really got going and produced some thrilling wins. In the postseason, Mahomes’ percentage of plays with a favorable grade of 29.1% increased from 23.7% during the regular season. This implies that throughout the postseason, Reid and Travis Kelce had “dialed it up”.
In 2024, the Chiefs are committed to reviving their explosive offensive. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes is determined to bring back the team’s explosive downfield throwing attack after 2023 was devoid of it.
The Chiefs will hope that the addition of quick wide outs Brown and Worthy will give them the playmaking ability and speed they lacked in the previous season, when their passing approach struggled with drops and a lack of deep completions.
The Chiefs are set to have one of the most explosive attacks in the NFL once again thanks to Mahomes’ exceptional arm skills and enhanced skill position talent. The squad, led by head coach Reid and quarterback Mahomes, “wants to get back” to the explosive, downfield passing style that has made them a consistent Super Bowl contender.
They still need to overcome the formidable AFC, so it’s unclear if that will be sufficient to win the Super Bowl again.
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