Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes took the podium at mandatory minicamp on June 18, and the two-time NFL MVP was asked about KC’s dips in offensive production in recent years.
His answer, however, quickly turned into a Super Bowl admission.
“Yeah, I mean, [having a top-ranked offense is] the goal,” Mahomes told the media. “You want to be the top offense in the league when you step in the building every single day. But at the end of the day, you want to win the Super Bowl.”
“For me, I wasn’t as disappointed in not being the top offense as I was at losing the Super Bowl last year, the way we lost it,” the Chiefs QB expressed. “Our goal is to do whatever we can to win the football game, and hopefully for us, that’s being the top offense to go along with the great defense that we have.”
It’s true, Mahomes’ past two years have paled in comparison to previous campaigns from 2018 through 2022 in terms of passing yards per game.
2024 was actually the worst mark of his career in that regard, with just 245.5 passing yards per game. A regression from the 261.4 passing YPG average in 2023, which had been his previous career low by about 23 passing yards per game.
Mahomes will never let that bother him, though, at least not publicly. At the podium, all the perennial winner has ever talked about is reaching and coming out victorious in the championship game.
The Super Bowl loss is another story. Similar to his thoughts on his previous championship defeat versus Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the blowout loss to the Philadelphia Eagles appears to have stuck with Mahomes much more than any offensive woes.
Patrick Mahomes Reflects on Super Bowl Loss to Eagles at Chiefs Minicamp
After a follow-up question on the Super Bowl defeat and how he reflects on the 2024 campaign as a whole after another AFC title. Mahomes said that he “appreciates” the season because at the end of his career, he’ll “look back and remember those times with that team.”
Having said that, he was quick to add that “the ultimate goal is a Super Bowl ring.”
“You appreciate it because you know what you did with that team,” the Chiefs signal-caller reiterated, “but it’s a reminder for you to go out there and be even better.”
Despite all that, Mahomes claimed that he hasn’t rewatched the Super Bowl “too many times,” with a laugh.
“We did some film study [on it] and you do scheme stuff,” he explained. “But you watch it after the game, and you see it in the scheme and stuff like that. Take away the positives, but obviously you’ve got to learn from the negatives.”
“Philadelphia’s defense had stuff on us with Coach [Vic] Fangio [where] they did a great job of taking away our best [plays],” Mahomes went on. Concluding: “[We’ll] learn from that, have stuff to counteract that, and be ready to go this next season.”
Chiefs’ Travis Kelce Seconds Mahomes’ Super Bowl Regret
Superstar tight end and long-time partner in crime, Travis Kelce, addressed the media at Chiefs’ minicamp right after Mahomes on June 18.
As you’d expect, Kelce had a similar take on the Super Bowl loss to the Eagles.
“Last year, I think I failed, especially in that last game, in being a leader and being the one that can step up and make plays,” Kelce said on Wednesday. “So, setting the bar even higher for myself this year than I have in the past.”
Later, the future Hall of Famer elaborated on that quote, voicing that “I didn’t make the plays that I thought I should have made.” That included getting open, blocking, attention to detail and leading teammates, per Kelce.
“Unfortunately, for me, I’m only interested in Super Bowl rings,” Kelce replied when asked about winning the AFC title, similar to Mahomes. “I know what the AFC championship means to this organization and the [Hunt] family, and the 15 wins and everything is something special, [but] I let everybody else be happy with [all that]. Last year wasn’t a success for me, and I’m motivated to make sure that we get that other ring this year.”
