NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky doesn’t hold back in his assessment of how the Chiefs’ offense has done Patrick Mahomes zero favors
The Chiefs have to fix their offense in 2026 for Patrick Mahomes.
Last season’s offense was brutal, as the Kansas City Chiefs failed to make the postseason for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era, mainly because of how poor they were on that side of the ball. There were numerous issues, but the offense was the biggest.
Over the last few years, the defense has carried the offense. The offensive side of the ball has not been what we’ve all come to know from head coach Andy Reid. This unit has become far too stagnant and relies too much on Mahomes to save the day. He carries the weight of the entire offense. In a way, it’s the reason his play has gone down as well.
Orlovsky talks about Patrick Mahomes’ down year in 2025
“It’s like a slow fade with Patrick in Kansas City, where over the past two-and-a-half years, he has been asked to do more and more,” said ESPN analyst and former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky. “It’s easy to say, ‘You’re Patrick Mahomes, you can do it,’ but just because he can doesn’t mean he should carry that load for most of an 18-game season and playoffs.
“And so I’ve been outspoken that there are a lot of scheme things that I still think are lacking. Go under center more, put bigger bodies in. I still think he’s going to be at the highest. He just doesn’t have to do it 45 snaps a game, and I think it helps everybody else. Patrick is still the most talented player at that position. Are guys playing better than him this past year? Yes, but that doesn’t mean they are; it’s just maybe they’re in a slightly healthier situation where they’re not asked to do as much. I’ll be interested to see with EB coming back, how they evolve.”
When the season ended, Reid held his end-of-season press conference and said the Chiefs had a top-five offense before Mahomes’ injury. He wasn’t talking about the torn ACL, but when Mahomes really hurt his knee and kept playing through it. Even then, it certainly didn’t feel like a top offense, and it certainly didn’t feel like anything that took pressure off of Mahomes.
Coaches are supposed to make things easier for Mahomes. Instead, as Orlovsky noted, he continues to bear the full burden. In recent years, everything around him was just slightly better than it was this past year. When Mahomes is out, the team struggles heavily, possibly becoming the league’s worst. He has masked many flaws. Bringing Eric Bieniemy back won’t fix these issues in itself.
It will help bring attention to the things that need fixing and offer a different voice than the one they’ve had for the last few years. Not only is this a guy that Mahomes wanted, and a guy they also had previous offensive success with, not just Super Bowl success with. Time will tell how this hire works out.
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