For the Kansas City Chiefs, this was supposed to be the year Patrick Mahomes finally got some help. And the year - not just coincidentally - that the NFL finally saw its first three-peat Super Bowl champion.
At 9-1, everything is still on the table. But, also, something feels amiss.
Most notably, despite his team's success Mahomes is suffering through a career-worst season.
Not everything has gone to plan, obviously. Added receiving weapon Marquise Brown suffered an injury in the preseason and hasn't played a single snap. Starting running back Isiah Pacheco has been out since Week 2, further diluting the offensive weapons. And left tackle continues to be an alarming problem, with rookie Kingsley Suamataia going from the starter early in the season to being inactive and replaced by Wanya Marris in last week's loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Mahomes has won three Super Bowls and two MVPs by elevating less-than-elite offensive skill players. But this year he's alarmingly playing down to his surroundings.
Entering Sunday's game at the Carolina Panthers, he is producing career-worst numbers in passer rating 903. (20th among NFL quarterbacks), passing yards per game 240 (12th), passing yards per attempt 7.0 (22nd), touchdown percentage 4.4 (19th) and interception percentage 3.2 (28th).
No one has thrown more than Mahomes' 11 interceptions, and he was picked off on both Kansas City's first and last drives in the loss to the Bills. During his MVP season in 2022, by comparison, he threw 41 interceptions to only 12 interceptions.
Because of some good fortune in multiple games and a Top 5 defense, the Chiefs still have the inside track to home-field advantage throughout the AFC Playoffs. But to get where they want to go, their best player simply has to play better.
