“Patrick Mahomes Had a Lousy Regular Season”: Skip Bayless Justifies Chiefs QB’s Omission From the Pro Bowl Team

The NFL announced the 2025 Pro Bowl rosters on Thursday. Many of the players selected, including Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels, were not surprises. However, there was a notable omission on the AFC side: Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl champion and six-time Pro Bowler, hadn’t failed to earn an invite to the exhibition event since his rookie season (2017), where he predominantly served as a backup. Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow received bids in Mahomes’ place this year. In Skip Bayless’ opinion, this was the right decision.

“I’ve been saying this for a month now… by his standards, Patrick Mahomes had a lousy regular season. His second straight lousy regular season. No way, this time, did Patrick Mahomes belong on the Pro Bowl team. No way this time did he have a better regular season than Josh Allen, or Lamar Jackson, or Joe Burrow.”

Mahomes has thrown for 3,928 yards and 26 touchdown passes this season. Both those figures, and his 6.8 yards per pass attempt, are career-lows. His biggest advantage over Burrow (8-8), Allen (13-3) and Jackson (11-5) is his team’s record (15-1). However, Bayless attributes Kansas City’s gaudy win total to something other than Mahomes: his defense.

Skip Bayless: Kansas City’s defense is the “real reason” the Chiefs are 15-1

Anyone who has watched the NFL this year knows the 2024-25 Chiefs aren’t the most dominant bunch of the Patrick Mahomes Era. They’ve been playing better football down the stretch, but still have not scored 30 points in a game this season. They’re one of three franchises to have not reached that mark this season. Their record, unsurprisingly, is much better than that of the other two teams.

• Kansas City Chiefs: 15-1
• Las Vegas Raiders: 4-12
• New England Patriots: 3-13

Prior to Week 17, the New York Giants (3-13) also had not cracked 30 points. Kansas City’s impressive winning ability is no doubt part of the culture Mahomes and Andy Reid have established, but that duo isn’t the primary factor in their success this season. That, at least, is how Bayless feels.

“Let’s look at Kansas City’s defense, which is the real reason Kansas City is 15-1… [the defense] ranks second in points allowed in the entire NFL… Josh Allen’s Buffalo defense is 11th in points allowed. Lamar’s Ravens defense is 13th in points allowed. And Joe Burrow’s Cincinnati defense is near the bottom, at 29th in points allowed… that’s really all you need to know.”

Pro Bowl honors obviously have more to do with individual production than team performance. As mentioned, the 2024 campaign hasn’t been Mahomes’ most prolific professional season. However, as Bayless noted, even his offense’s overall level of efficiency is lacking when compared to his Pro Bowl peers’ units.

“Josh Allen’s offense has scored the second-most points in the NFL. That’s shocking. No Stefon Diggs, no problem. Lamar’s offense has scored the third-most points… I’m not surprised by that. Joe Burrow’s offense has scored the sixth-most points with little-to-no running game. And Mahomes’ offense has scored the 11th-most points.”

For better or worse, the NFL world wasn’t going to pat the Chiefs on the back forever. They picked Mahomes for the Pro Bowl in 2023 with career-low numbers. This year, he has failed to reach even those lower thresholds. At the same time, Jackson, Burrow, and Allen have been exceptional.

It’s no slight to Mahomes that he wasn’t chosen this go-round. However, that doesn’t mean he can’t use the supposed diss as fuel for a third straight Super Bowl run. And if he does, the rest of the league may end up regretting the decision, despite it being the right move.