Why the KC Chiefs can't win a Super Bowl with their current offense

The Kansas City Chiefs dropped to 7-3 on the season on Monday night, blowing a 10-point second-half lead and going scoreless in the entire second half. A theme that has been far too common in the Chiefs' losses this year, the offense has simply been inept and the wide receiver play is continuing to kill this team in every way.

Offensively, the Chiefs have struggled pretty much all year going back to Week 1 versus the Detroit Lions when nobody could catch a pass or get open consistently. Fast forward to last night and the same issues arose. The most alarming part about the team's offensive performance, though, is that it came after the bye week. We're 11 weeks into the NFL season and it's almost the month of December. Nothing has changed, and it doesn't look like anything will.

So far this season, the Chiefs lead the league in dropped passes with 26. That stat was epitomized in one play on Monday when Marquez Valdes-Scantling dropped a wide-open pass with just over a minute left that would've been a touchdown and given the Chiefs the lead. The wide receiver play is simply costing the Chiefs games and it may even cost them a run at the Super Bowl.

Optimists will point out the fact that this team is 7-3 and still in the hunt for the top seed in the AFC. However, something feels different this time around when it comes to addressing the Chiefs' issues on offense. In the past, there were always reasons to be optimistic that the Chiefs would clean up their mistakes. Yes, the organization has earned the benefit of the doubt over the years, but it is getting extremely difficult to still believe the offense will figure out these issues.

Chiefs' talent concerns are real

Again, we're more than halfway through the season and there's been essentially zero growth from the wide receiver room. The Chiefs are averaging a negative EPA per play on dropbacks since Week 8 and the offense still looks the same in the sense that they struggle to sustain any sort of flow, Mahomes is pressing because nobody is getting open, and any time this team gets a first down, it seems like it's because Mahomes ran for a first down or completed some miracle to Justin Watson. That's the offense.

What reason is there to believe this will get any better? There's a very clear talent deficiency. There isn't anyone on the horizon coming in to improve that. This is the group that they're going to ride it out with. The most frustrating part is that a lot of fans saw this coming in the offseason. Chiefs Kingdom was clamoring for the team to bring in a veteran wide receiver and Brett Veach and Co. had the opportunity to add one that would raise the floor of the position group but they just chose not to. Sorry, but Mecole Hardman isn't fixing any problems.

Now, you're getting the worst-case scenario with this group that you decided to trot out there, and there is no veteran who creates a safe floor or understands how to play with Mahomes. Tight end Travis Kelce doesn't look quite the same in '23, and recent reports of him mulling retirement aren't very encouraging. It was always going to be irresponsible to lay this much responsibility on a 34-year-old tight end to begin with, but it really doesn't help when Kadarius Toney was supposed to be the team's No. 1. (That's at least what the Chiefs said all offseason.) Skyy Moore has also been a bust through a season and a half. The team has backed themselves into a corner with this group.

Can the defense carry this load?

Let's talk a little bit more about why this offense could be the demise of the Kansas City Chiefs, though. Some people are going to point to the defense and say, "They don't need to score a bunch of points!" While that is true to an extent, you're still going to have to put up some points. Do the Chiefs need to put up 30 or 40 points a game like old times? Absolutely not. What about 24 points a game, though? Is that seriously asking too much of this team? Nobody is asking them to put up crazy numbers, but it's been a struggle for this team to crack 20 points all season, and going scoreless in the second half for consecutive weeks is not going to make anyone feel good.

To make an analogy, right now the Chiefs are operating like a baseball team that is asking its starting pitcher to go scoreless for eight innings with its defense and then blaming the pitcher when they lose 2-1 because the offense offered no run support. You can't ask the defense to pitch a shutout every single week. It's not going to work.

In the postseason, you're going to see more teams like the Eagles who can put up points and you're going to have to be able to match the output to have a chance to win. This current offense isn't giving the Chiefs a chance to make any sort of postseason run. They will get embarrassed. Sure, you can still escape with a win like this team did against Miami a couple of weeks ago because the defense plays lights out and actually scores one of your touchdowns for you, but Miami was given chance after chance to take that game and they just couldn't convert. If they did, is there anyone who would've been confident that the Chiefs offense could answer back?

Against Philadelphia, that's what we saw unfold. The Chiefs clung onto that 10-point lead for dear life until the Eagles finally got in front and the offense was incapable of putting together a drive. That model of winning games just isn't going to hold once the competition starts getting better in the postseason.

There are other issues outside of wide receiver that are holding the Chiefs back as well, such as turnovers and tackle play, but I can give Travis Kelce the benefit of the doubt that he's not going to keep fumbling. Kelce fumbling isn't something that has happened all season long. Do you know what has gone on all season long? Bad wide receiver play. I can give Mahomes the benefit of the doubt that the dumb interceptions won't continue. I can't say the same for the wide receivers.

The most frustrating part about the mismanagement of the wide receiver room is that the AFC is wide-open. The Bills are having a terrible year, Joe Burrow is out for the season and the Bengals aren't a factor. The path to the Super Bowl is pretty easy relatively speaking. Not only that, but this team really should've blown the Eagles last night. They don't look like the juggernaut from last year. The Detroit Lions aren't unbeatable. The Super Bowl is easily attainable, but the Kansas City Chiefs are running out of time to figure out an offense capable of winning one.