KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes said the Kansas City Chiefs‘ Super Bowl LV loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers will motivate him. Not just next season or through 2022, but for the rest of his career.
“It was a bad feeling in that locker room after the game,” Mahomes said a day after the Chiefs’ 31-9 loss. “You don’t want to have that feeling again.
“It’s not the end of something. It’s going to be another chapter where we’re going to have to continue to drive to make ourselves better so we’re back in that game.”
Mahomes and fiancée Brittany Matthews are expecting their first child soon. Otherwise, Mahomes said his immediate plans are to begin working on improving for next season. He threw for 4,740 yards and 38 touchdowns in the regular season but the Chiefs failed to score a touchdown against the Bucs on Sunday for the first time since he became a starter in 2018.
“I’m going to look at the film and try to find ways to get better,” Mahomes said. “Obviously with our offense and the success that we’ve had, when teams see the defensive plan that [the Bucs] had and how well it worked, they’re obviously going to try to do the same things. So we’ll try to find ways to combat that. It’s the evolution of our offense where we’re going to have to do better things and be more efficient.
“That really goes with me and not always looking for the big play but just finding ways to move the ball down the field.”
Mahomes said he will work on taking what the defense gives the Chiefs rather than focusing on the big play.
“I thought I did a good job toward the end of the season of being more efficient,” he said. “Obviously I didn’t do that in the Super Bowl but I’m going to try to find ways to better myself that way. Just being more efficient, taking what’s there, especially when these teams are playing such deep coverages against us.
“It’s something I’ve got to battle with because I’ve got such an aggressive nature and want to have the big play. But as I watch the film and really study myself, I’ll have to get better at that so I can be a better quarterback at the end of the day.”