What Andy Reid thinks was biggest lesson Patrick Mahomes learned during bumpy 2023 season

Although the Chiefs finished the season the same way they have multiple times in recent memory, with a Super Bowl, the journey there this season was bumpier than in years past.

Kansas City saw a lot of turnover at the skill positions, wide receiver in particular, and with that came some growing pains. Dropped passes and penalties crushed the Chiefs periodically throughout the year, and it wasn’t really until after an embarrassing loss on Christmas to the Raiders that they began putting things together.

Put differently, it was probably the most adversity Patrick Mahomes has faced in a season since taking over as the Chiefs starter.

With time, things improved. The emergence of Rashee Rice proved to be a godsend, as he became a true No. 1 receiver and helped ease some of the burden on Travis Kelce. Once Rice cut back on the drops, things really took off.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was asked Wednesday in an appearance on Fescoe in the Morning what he thinks Mahomes was able to take from the tumultuous campaign.

“That was a new thing for him. But that was something that will help him the rest of his career,” Reid said. “We weren’t No. 1 offensively, but we were pretty good defensively and the defense, it really kept the offense in the game, as you’d say. And then special teams did some nice things.

‘But Patrick I think what he’ll take from this is that my positive attitude can affect everybody, and guys can grow around me. You always hear the term that great quarterbacks make everybody around them better – and he did that. He made Rashee Rice better, he worked through the drops that we had with the receivers. Rashee Rice helped Kelce be more productive.

‘It wasn’t that Kelce had lost his legs or was old or this or that, it was that he was going after two defenders at one time. And so once you put Rashee in there who grew at doing the similar things Kelce can do, then they can’t double Kelce, they’ve got to take care of both these guys, and that's a big load for a defense. … It all kind of worked together and got better as we went on in the playoffs.”