Just a handful of months ago, the Kansas City Chiefs walked off the field for the final time of the 2024-25 campaign. Suffering a blowout Super Bowl LIX loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, it was one of the most embarrassing moments of the Patrick Mahomes era.
Since February, every subsequent moment has clashed with vengeance as the end goal. The Chiefs want to get back to the big game this time around and win it. Having such strong leadership in place made that obvious this offseason.
Mahomes himself certainly isn’t shying away from it.
Patrick Mahomes Being ‘Built Different’ Will Help Chiefs After Super Bowl Loss
In a story for USA Today, Mahomes discussed the aforementioned championship defeat with Jarrett Bell. Not that he needed it, but suffering such a brutal loss made this offseason even more fruitful. Having the hurt of a high-stakes failure provided extra fuel.
It’s clear that Mahomes is fired up for another shot at contention.
“It just gives you a little extra in some of the workouts and those film sessions, to try to find the little things to get even better,” Mahomes said, per Bell. “You try to do that when you have success, but at the same time when you have success you can sometimes be complacent. Obviously, you don’t want to lose the game, but it can give you a little bit more motivation to be even better.”
In the story by Bell, Mahomes admitted he left some plays on the field last year. That’s certainly backed up by the numbers. In 16 regular-season games, the two-time MVP threw for 3,928 yards with 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. His yards per attempt (6.8) marked a new low.
That, combined with no Super Bowl ring on his finger, created a beast for this year. Speaking to the media following an August 5 training camp practice, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy praised Mahomes’ competitive drive.
“Yeah, that burn to win is at the highest level of probably any player in the NFL,” Nagy said. “He’s built different that way, and I think when you have that it goes on to these other players on the team, offensive, defense, special teams, and us as coaches. You want to make sure you are doing everything possible. He’s a competitor. So, every game is going to be close. When you have him on your side, you know he’s going to give you a great chance. That’s where he’s at. So, when we lost that Super Bowl, it was the very next day and he was ready to go and we just know that it’s a great, high standard that we all have and coach [Andy] Reid is at the top of that. So, it’s been good.”
This year is personal for Mahomes.
Kansas City Offense Eying Return to Form in 2025-26
It isn’t that the Chiefs’ offense was bad last season. It was fine. The issue, however, is it didn’t live up to the hype of a Mahomes-Reid pairing. Kansas City ranked 15th in scoring during the regular season and slotted in at 16th in yards. According to SumerSports data, they sat at 11th in EPA/play. The only saving grace came on late downs (No. 5 EPA/play rank).
Those struggles can be chalked up to a multitude of things. Sure, Mahomes himself wasn’t as sharp as usual. It’s hard to blame him too much, though, given the circumstances. The Chiefs’ absence of a dependable left tackle, as well as the continued decline of tight end Travis Kelce and wideout Rashee Rice‘s serious knee injury, made life challenging. Kansas City played the game with the difficulty sliders ramped way up.
Now, health is mostly on the Chiefs’ side. At some point in the season, Mahomes is expected to have a full complement of talent at his disposal. Only an unforeseen ailment or a suspension for Rice can alter that. At left tackle, rookie Josh Simmons is making a name for himself already. He’s a projected starter and has no shortage of hype. Improvement very well could be on the horizon.
Mahomes, hungry as ever, is at the head of the pack.
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