For the last few years, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs have often dominated with ease on the offensive side of the football, and their offensive excellence has earned them two Super Bowl championships in the previous four seasons.
But this season, multiple cracks have appeared in their red and gold armor.
They lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 21-17, on Monday in a rematch of last season’s Super Bowl, and while their defense kept them in the game and gave them a chance to win, their offense prevented them from winning.
A couple of drops by Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson late sealed their fate, and now there are real reasons for concern in Kansas City.
Chris Broussard said on FS1’s “First Things First” that it was perhaps the first time he felt a Mahomes-led Chiefs team wouldn’t end up scoring on a late-game drive in order to secure a victory.
“This was the first time, since Patrick Mahomes became Patrick Mahomes, when I thought ‘the Chiefs aren’t going to score.'”
— @Chris_Broussard is worried about KC’s offense: pic.twitter.com/p3rilxlrYq
— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) November 22, 2023
In past years, Kansas City had speedster wide receiver Tyreek Hill making big catches and plays downfield and stretching opposing defenses vertically.
Even last season, after Hill was traded to the Miami Dolphins, JuJu Smith-Schuster provided just enough production at wide receiver to allow the Chiefs to win their second world championship of the Mahomes era.
But in 2023, they lack any reliable playmakers through the air other than star tight end Travis Kelce.
Their most productive wide receiver is rookie Rashee Rice, who has 420 yards through 10 games, and it is something that could prevent them from reaching the Super Bowl for the fourth time since the 2019 campaign.
