Patrick Mahomes is on a mission.
As the Kansas City Chiefs arrive for training camp, beginning their defense of a second consecutive Super Bowl championship and quest for a record-setting third straight season capped by hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, Mahomes made a strong admission about the 2023 campaign while offering a mission statement for the upcoming 2024 season.
“Even though we won the Super Bowl last year,” Mahomes told reporters. “We didn’t feel like we played our best football … It wasn’t fun.”
It’s easy to see why Mahomes may have added motivation to put 2023 behind him and the Chiefs, even after Kansas City won the third Super Bowl of his career, in four appearances on Super Sunday.
After all, Chiefs wide receivers led the league in dropped passes, Kansas City finished ninth in total offense and 15th in scoring offense, while Mahomes’ 4,183 passing yards represent the second-lowest total of his six seasons as a starting quarterback.
Why 2024 Could Be Different for Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
This offseason, general manager Brett Veach and the Chiefs set out to overhaul Mahomes’ supporting cast by rebuilding the receiving corps both via free agency and the NFL Draft.
When the 2024 campaign kicks off, Marquise “Hollywood” Brown will sit atop the depth chart at wide receiver, perhaps as the most prolific player Mahomes has had at his disposal at the position since Tyreek Hill’s departure, and, doubled down by selecting speedster Xavier Worthy in the first round of the NFL Draft.
A motivated Mahomes, believing that he’s entering the season with something to prove having already won a pair of NFL MVP awards and three Super Bowl MVPs is quite the shot across the bow to the rest of the NFL.
There’s a chance that this year’s Chiefs offense might be the most well-rounded of Mahomes’ career. If that turns out to be the case, few quarterbacks in the league are better built to make the players around him better.
“Patrick has all the arm strength you could ask for,” an NFL Defensive coach recently told me. “But, he’s creative vertically and horizontally. Him and Andy [Reid] aren’t the least bit afraid to evolve as the season unfolds. He also has an elite football IQ, and rare mobility.”
