Patrick Mahomes still bothered by Chiefs Super Bowl loss: ‘Where are we going to go now?’

When you win three Super Bowl MVP awards, losing the big one is a bitter pill. For Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, remnants of his team’s lackluster performance against the Philadelphia Eagles lingers. The performance failed to meet his and Kansas City’s standards. The losses are always the unforgettable outcomes for future Hall of Famers like Mahomes.

“When you make it that far and then you’re at the end, it just hurts,” Mahomes said during a training camp interview with USA Today Sports. “You put so much hard work into it. So, losing on that final step is always hard. But it’s how you respond. I thought we responded well after that last Super Bowl loss, just kind of building back and getting even better and winning a couple more championships.

“So, now it’s about, ‘Where are we going to go now? Are we going to get even better from that loss? Are we going to find ways to make everyone better, not just one person?’ I feel like we’ve done that in camp. But you can’t prove it until you go out there and do it.”

For Kansas City’s Super Bowl quest, improvements up front are needed. Mahomes took six sacks during the Super Bowl and hit the ground more times in his career than any other season.

The Chiefs addressed those offensive line needs with first-round pick Josh Simmons and hope he’s an upgrade at left tackle to pair with Jawaan Taylor at the other tackle spot. Creed Humphrey will be the center with Kingsley Suamataia and Trey Smith on his left and right at guard.

Xavier Worthy recently received clearance to return to practice from concussion protocol and the Chiefs are taking things easy with Hollywood Brown, who has not practiced since an ankle injury. Kansas City needs both of those offensive weapons at 100% to be effective in the passing game this fall with the return of Travis Kelce and others.

“Making progress, but it’s in that ankle area,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Brown’s prognosis. “So, we just want to make sure it’s right, that’s how we want to come out of this thing. He is making progress, but we’ll just see. It’s not serious. When I say serious, I’m talking about surgery. Doesn’t look like he’s going to have to have surgery, but we got to let it heal up and go.”