Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs are in an interesting place. It could be considered a crossroads. Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league. No sane person would take any other over him based on performance and talent. But after winning a Super Bowl last year, KC's braintrust thought they could enter this season without any additions to the wide receiver room unless you consider swapping out vet JuJu Smith-Schuster for rookie Rashee Rice an upgrade.
The thinking was that Mahomes and Andy Reid could maximize and develop what they had in the room and, eventually, make it work like it always has. Guess what? Right now, it's not happening. Why? Part of this is a lack of trust in the offensive line (where have I heard that before?). Part of it is Travis Kelce no longer being the player you remember, even if the player he is now still requires a lot of attention. But mostly, this is about the lack of talent and/or experience at wideout and how it's sucking the life out of Mahomes.
In Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Justin Watson, Skyy Moore, Kadarius Toney, Richie James, and Mecole Hardman, the Chiefs are struggling to find the big plays that have been a constant in their offense. And when Mahomes does make something happen, there's no guarantee those guys make the plays. Toney has been a disaster, with drops and mental errors (!) marring his 2023-24 season (which should be no surprise to anyone who's paid attention to him dating back to his college days). Moore hasn't built off his rookie year either and has seen his snap counts rise and recede like the tide. The rest are what they are at this point - either low-ceiling vets or reclamation projects.
So what the Chiefs are getting right now is a quarterback trying to do too much too often, even if he's capable of so much to begin with. In the breakdown, I grabbed a handful of plays from KC's loss to Green Bay to show you video examples of what has been happening and what could happen Sunday if the Patriots do what they're capable of defensively. They'll likely make it difficult on Mahomes because they have extra prep time, and this time, they won't have to worry about Tyreek Hill alongside Kelce. Without a wide receiver who requires extra attention, they can present even more junked-up looks for the tight end and force Mahomes to go other places, which he doesn't want to do when it's third down or in the red zone. This has the potential to be a fun chess match in a season that's been missing most of the former.