If you can believe it, Patrick Mahomes is about to get even better in 2024

For one last time, the Kansas City Chiefs celebrated their 2023 season as a team. 

The Chiefs gathered inside the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art on Thursday night to receive their Super Bowl rings. For the third time in the last five seasons, quarterback Patrick Mahomes put a diamond-encrusted Super Bowl ring on his finger.

This ring, however, was not earned as easily as the last two championships. There was no high-flying offense or no acrobatic throws downfield. In fact, Kansas City never scored more than one touchdown in a single quarter during their postseason run.

Instead, the Chiefs offense was forced to take a backseat as the defense did the driving. Mahomes was relegated to mere managerial duties, and he was only asked to make plays when it was time to clinch games.

For Mahomes, that resulted in a pedestrian statistical output. The two-time NFL MVP recorded the worst per-game marks of his career in passing yards (261.4), touchdowns (1.69), and interceptions (0.88).

Patrick Mahomes and Co. seem ready for a rebound campaign

CBS Sports’ Garrett Podell recently listed Mahomes among the quarterbacks who are "most likely to improve" in 2024. 

Every position group on the Chiefs offense struggled last season. The edge protection from the offensive tackles was subpar, at best, and it limited head coach Andy Reid’s ability to draw up long-developing plays with five- or seven-step drops. Left to win on talent alone, Mahomes and Co. couldn’t get it done. 

As Podell mentions, the Chiefs wide receivers were plagued with dropped passes throughout the season.

"Much of that decline can be blamed on his supporting cast," Podell wrote. "The Chiefs' wide receivers had the most drops (28) and the highest drop rate (12%) in the entire league in 2023, per Sportrader. As a result, Mahomes averaged a career-low 7.7 yards per pass attempt when targeting wide receivers in 2023 and had the worst touchdown to interception ratio in the NFL when throwing to wide receivers that were 10 or more yards downfield, just one touchdown to six interceptions.”

The statistics rarely ever paint a compete picture, of course. Mahomes’ potential for improvement is largest in the mental aspects of the game. 

It took a while for Kansas City to understand that their only path to victory was to take a defensive approach in 2023. Much like the late era of the New England Patriots dynasty, the Chiefs beat more talented opponents in the postseason by playing with more discipline.

That experience as a conservative passer will serve Mahomes well. In the past, Mahomes has compounded mistakes by resorting to a gunslinger mentality when things haven’t gone his way.

The Chiefs don’t want to follow that same defensive recipe in 2024, and understandably so — after all, they have a $500 million quarterback under center. Chiefs general manager Brett Veach spent the offseason bolstering the offense, especially at the wide receiver position. Kansas City signed wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown in free agency and selected Texas wide receiver Xavier Worthy with the No. 28 overall pick on the 2024 NFL Draft.

“With those two on board in 2024, Mahomes' deep passing game should return, leading to plenty of improvement,” Podell wrote. 

While the statistical improvement will surely come, Mahomes’ long-term improvement and growth as a quarterback will come from the struggles and adaptation he experienced in 2023. Typically, those lessons are learned the hard way, but Kansas City’s defense helped Mahomes learn those lessons while putting another ring on his finger.