The Chiefs are very familiar with the team coming to Kansas City this week. Hear Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid discuss Sunday's Super Bowl rematch vs. the Philadelphia Eagles. By Dominick Williams
By now, Patrick Mahomes can’t say for sure exactly how many times he’s rewatched the Super Bowl LIX debacle against Philadelphia. Safe to say it’s been more than a few, though, particularly as the Chiefs are scrutinizing it anew in preparation for a rematch with the visiting Eagles on Sunday.
Never mind that it’s now a more analytical exercise in the moment than it was in the immediate aftermath that propelled the Chiefs into the offseason.
Especially for Mahomes, who seized ownership of the loss in the distinct way great leaders do even if it goes well beyond them.
Following the 40-22 unraveling that made smithereens of becoming the first team to win three straight Super Bowls, Mahomes called it “the worst feeling in the world.” And, like the 31-9 clobbering by Tampa Bay in Super Bowl LV, he called it one that will “stick with you the rest of your career.”
Those losses, he’d add that night, “hurt probably more than the wins feel good” and would motivate him even more. Then he took to X (Twitter) to apologize for letting “y’all down today” and to declare, “We will be back.”
So pursuing that mission underscored the offseason, with Mahomes a few months ago alluding to the bad taste of that game as “something in the back of your mind” that helped push through exhaustion in training.
And yet ...
As much as all that might have animated the offseason for the Chiefs, their lackluster 27-21 opening loss to the Chargers in Brazil didn’t reflect any such thing.
Or dispel the looming question of whether the loss to the Eagles marked the abrupt end of an era of dominance or was merely a bad day to have a bad day.
While you could say that the worrisome defeat by the Chargers takes some shine off this encore, what’s certainly true is how much more urgency it lends to the game for the Chiefs.
There are plenty of historically problematic ramifications to starting an NFL season 0-2. But perhaps the most salient one for a team that’s played five of the last six Super Bowls is that only three teams have started 0-2 and won the so-called ultimate game.
So this makes for a rather early inflection point.
The Chiefs can either reboot with a momentous win or suffer their first 0-2 start since 2014 — and the first three-game losing streak since Mahomes became QB1 in 2018.
“What better challenge,” Mahomes said, “than playing the reigning Super Bowl champions to see where we’re at?”
No doubt atoning for the Super Bowl might factor into the pre-game mindset some, particularly for Mahomes considering his miserable first half.
Sure, that was exacerbated, and to some degree directly caused, by the ample non-supporting cast around him, especially on the offensive line.
Still, Mahomes completed just 6 of 14 passes for 33 yards with two ghastly interceptions to earn a 10.7 quarterback rating as the Eagles took a 24-0 lead that ballooned to 34-0 in the third quarter.
That rating essentially represented an entire digit missing from his career postseason QBR of 105.4, best in NFL history among quarterbacks who’ve played more than five playoff games.
Here’s the thing, though.
By now, this isn’t so much about redemption for that game as it is playing what Mahomes called “the best of the best” and not being allowing themselves to be condemned to repeat the past.
So if Mahomes has been marinating in that Super Bowl lately, his is why:
“In order to progress and be better the next time,” he said, “you have to watch it and learn from it.”
Beyond the considerable issue of adequately defending the potent Eagles offense, the Chiefs most obviously will seek to better protect Mahomes — who was sacked six times and pressured 16 times without the Eagles blitzing once. That’s a might challenge, especially with a rebuilt offensive line featuring rookie Josh Simmons at left tackle and second-year man Kingsley Suamataia still learning left guard.
Then there’s the matter of their playmaking, especially with receiver Rashee Rice suspended for the first six games. Almost certainly out this week also is injured receiver Xavier Worthy (shoulder), who provided most of the scant glimmers of hope in the Super Bowl with eight catches for 157 yards and two touchdowns.
As for what Mahomes himself learned from reviewing the day?
“They had a great game plan, they played hard and did a great job of disrupting my timing …” he said.
That means he has to “find ways” to get the ball out faster, he said, as well as seizing downfield opportunities when they’re there.
Chancers that were there that day … only to be squandered in the pivotal first half.
“I think that’s something I did miss early in the game,” he said, later adding, “You’ve got to make those plays, because if you don’t they’re not going to allow those opportunities again.”
Opportunity, meanwhile, is what that is all about.
To reassert that they remain a perennial contender.
You’d expect the Chiefs to embrace that on Sunday.
Then again, you’d have expected it last Friday in Sao Paulo only for their absence of energy to be the most distressing part of a loss that included a woeful offensive start, jarring pass defense issues and some visible squabbling between teammates.
Try as Mahomes might to jumpstart the team in the second half, the Chiefs fell short.
Mahomes said he couldn’t pinpoint any one thing that led to that lax mentality. But he sure wasn’t accepting the notion that perhaps a bad start itself can cause that.
“I think in order to be great, you have to be able to bring that emotion when things aren’t going well,” he said. “I mean, anyone can be hyped whenever a big play happens. That’s part of life in general.
“But whenever things aren’t going your way, how are you going to respond? And I think that’s important for championship teams … Being able to bring that energy whenever things aren’t going your way.
“Because it’s not always going to be great. It’s not always going to be winning by big scores. It’s about responding to that moment and what that moment needs.”
As he said all that, Mahomes could just as easily have been speaking about the Super Bowl as the Chargers game. Same with this:
“At the end of the day, you’re going to have failures in this league,” he said. “It’s about how you respond from those failures.”
Including in a defining moment on Sunday, one that will be a lot more about stoking the present and future than making amends for the past.