Patrick Mahomes acknowledges harsh challenges of playing for 2023 Chiefs

A year ago, Kansas City Chiefs’ signal-caller Patrick Mahomes became the first player to lead pro football in passing yards and win the Super Bowl the same season.

That obviously won’t be the case in 2023 as his 4,183 yards ranked sixth this year. That’s a far cry from 2022, when he threw for 5,250 yards and 41 scorers. Mahomes finished with 27 TD passes this season in 16 outings, his lowest total since throwing for 26 scores in 2019 when he missed two games.

Patrick Mahomes wins in spite on 2023 Chiefs

Despite the fact that the Andy Reid’s team lost twice as many games this year (6) as they did a year ago, the team is in the AFC title game for the sixth straight season. It’s safe to say it’s been a different kind of season for the seven-year pro.

“I would say it’s just challenging in the fact that I had to deal with a lot of adversity, not having the success that I’ve had in the past,” explained the two-time Super Bowl champion (via Dave Skretta of the Associated Press). “Knock on wood, I haven’t had to deal with the injuries I have had before, but at the same time, being able to not win all the games and go out there and have big stats and all that kind of stuff has been different.”

Last season, the Chiefs led the NFL in scoring with 496 points. That number dipped to 371 this season, but the team won an eighth straight AFC West title. This is a resourceful team that has often scraped and clawed its way to an 11-6 regular-season record, and two more victories in the playoffs.

“It’s taught me how to win in different ways, though, and become the best quarterback for our team,” said Mahomes. “Not necessarily the best quarterback for stats and stuff like that, but the best quarterback for us to go out there and get wins.”

The Chiefs are underdogs at Baltimore on Sunday afternoon, but don’t expect anything less than a big effort from this proven champion.

“At the end of the day, we want to compete,” said the six-time Pro Bowler and two-time NFL MVP. “We want to win. We don’t care if we have a lot of yards, a lot of touchdowns. We want to win. It’s about everyone’s success…When you have a bunch of guys that want to win no matter what it takes, and nobody wants the shine, that’s when you have great football teams.”

Mahomes is learning new ways to win, which should scare the rest of the NFL.