The Kansas City Chiefs might be 9-5 and in pole position to win the AFC West again, but that masks how difficult the 2023 season has been for the reigning Super Bowl champions. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes hasn’t had the benefit of a bonafide #1 receiver this year, which has led to drops and inexplicable offensive flameouts.

The Chiefs on Sunday got back on track courtesy of a 27-17 win over the lowly New England Patriots, but the game was close at halftime and Kansas City had to pull away in the second half to leave the result beyond doubt. On Monday, Mahomes told ProFootballTalk that he will continue to keep the faith in the Chiefs’ beleaguered receiving corps — especially with the postseason just around the corner — in the hopes that the win at Gillette Stadium could be a turning point.

Mahomes: “I’m gonna keep firing the ball to the open guy”

Mahomes is pursing the third Super Bowl title of his seven-year career, but the quest has been complicated by the two-time MVP’s unconvincing receiver group. Mahomes has tied his career high of 13 interceptions because of drops like the one Kadarius Toney made on Sunday — a pass that bounced off his hands and into the waiting arms of Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai.

“All you can do is work at it, and the guys know that I’m going to keep firing the ball,” Mahomes said Monday, in reference to the uncharacteristic errors from his pass-catchers. “I’m gonna keep firing the ball to the open guy and letting them go out there and try to make plays.”

Mahomes did indeed keep firing, and he finished Sunday’s win with 305 passing yards while completing 27 of his 37 pass attempts. Rookie receiver Rashee Rice is quickly becoming a Mahomes favorite — he has been targeted at least nine times in each of the past four games and has touchdowns in three of those games. Mahomes is hoping someone else steps up for the final regular season games.

“The guys gotta have the confidence to know that I’m gonna keep throwing it back to them and they gotta make the plays happen,” Mahomes said. “It’s part of football. Obviously, been too big of a part this year for us, but I trust the guys. I know how hard they’re working at it. They’re going to go out there and be the best players they can be.”

A league-worst 34 drops

Chiefs receivers have dropped more passes than any other receiving group in the NFL, averaging more than two per contest. The plague of drops has even extended to Travis Kelce, who let a touchdown pass from Mahomes slip through his fingers early in the third quarter.

Still, Mahomes’ confidence remains high in players like Toney, Rice, Justin Watson, and Marquez Valdes-Scantling, and the two-time Super Bowl MVP hopes they will make enough plays to defeat the Las Vegas Raiders in week 16.

“I think that those guys can catch the football. I’ve seen some of those guys make the best catches I think I’ve ever seen,” Mahomes said. “So I think it’s just going out there playing confident, being them, and if they do that, that stuff will kind of help itself.”