Some fine tuning can help Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs reach Super Bowl standards, says Dan Orlovsky

Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense need a bit more work to get back to their Super Bowl levels.

Some fine tuning can help Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs reach Super Bowl standards, says Dan Orlovsky

Dan Orlovsky feels Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs offense are just a few catches away from being elite (Image via Imago)

The Kansas City Chiefs lead the league with a 11-1 record. But their play so far has been inconsistent and not befitting the standards of their Super Bowl winning runs in the past two seasons. Patrick Mahomes particularly has looked pedestrian, and the franchise is still figuring out its offense.

That has been the most important question football fans and analysts have been debating over the past thirteen weeks. They saw how initially the offense struggled to get the ball moving down the field, then to lose receivers to injury. Furthermore, they also saw how the offensive line and running back problems kept creeping up.

However, off late, Mahomes has been throwing better and connecting with his rejigged receiving core. Travis Kelce has also played a lot better than his early season bombs. But they are still not anywhere close to being the team their offseason projections made out to be.

They are marginally scraping away wins and are yet to face the full brunt of a standout defense. But even then, ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky feels the situation is shaping up to be better for the franchise as the regular season winds down.

A lot of the conversation around the Chiefs offense has been wildly negative. I feel that last couple of weeks, they are close. It’s fair to say they haven’t performed up to the Super Bowl standards. But they are not as far off as maybe the narrative has been all season.

Dan Orlovsky said on NFL Live

The former quarterback feels the Kansas City Chiefs are a throw or two away from returning to their usual standards. If they can dial out those misses, then it will be difficult to stop a team that is elite the rest of the way.

Patrick Mahomes and Chiefs to face stud Chargers defense

As mentioned above, this iteration of the back-to-back Super Bowl champions have not faced a standout defense so far. In their only loss to the Buffalo Bills, they showed signs of difficulties when facing a team that has both a tough defense and a decent offense.

Kansas City Chiefs will face their first real test against a standout Los Angeles Chargers defense this week
Kansas City Chiefs will face their first real test against a standout Los Angeles Chargers defense this week (Image via Imago)

Their Week 14 Sunday Night Football matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers will be that first test for Patrick Mahomes. The two have battled before, but back in week 4, the Chargers were not the Chargers of now.

The defense, in particular, was still getting to terms of Jim Harbaugh‘s style of play. Now, they are one of the best in the league and have helped the team leap into playoff contention ever since that Chiefs loss. In fact, since that loss, the Chargers have lost two games, both being a one score game.

The offense might not scare the equally standout Kansas City Chiefs‘ defense. But if Mahomes and his offense struggle again, they might be staring at their first loss at home this season. However, if they can turn it up and win, Dan Orlovsky’s theory will come to fruition.

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