Since Patrick Mahomes took over in Kansas City, the Chiefs have been to five Super Bowls in seven years, winning three. They’ve had immense success and rarely end the season with a loss. Especially not a humbling defeat like the one the Philadelphia Eagles handed them at Super Bowl 59 last season.
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KC ended up losing 40-22, which is still bad, but it doesn’t tell the full story of a game the Eagles led 40-6 in the third quarter. That kind of loss leaves a bad taste in your mouth, especially if you’re a guy like Mahomes, who’s so accustomed to winning. He has only lost four times in the postseason: twice in overtime in the AFC Championship, and twice in blowouts in the Super Bowl.
There’s no way to check for sure, but that 40-6 deficit could very well be the largest Mahomes has ever faced as a pro. Apart from those Super Bowls, he’s only lost four other games by more than one possession. So, it’s no surprise that 1983 NFL MVP Joe Theismann believes the embarrassing Super Bowl LIX loss will only serve to light a fire under Mahomes and the rest of the Chiefs.
“I think we’ll see a terrific season. I think also you’ll see the same thing from Travis Kelce. I think you’re gonna see two men who are determined to put last year behind them, and play the kind of football that we expect from them,” the Super Bowl winner said.
Theismann went on to argue that, considering the fact that they’ve made at least the AFC Championship Game in every year since 2018, the Chiefs have essentially played a whole extra season of football compared to most other teams.
They have played in 21 playoff games over that span. That’s eight more than the next closest team, which is the Bills, at 13. That means they have actually played about a half-season more than the rest of their competition.
“The other thing too is, people don’t realize this, the Kansas City Chiefs have played almost, if not more, an entire season longer than almost every other team in the NFL… They’ve gone to five Super Bowls! With all those extra games, it’s less and less in the offseason. I think they come back renewed, I think they come back pissed off, to be perfectly honest with you. They didn’t like the way things went.”
We’re with Theismann on this one. We have written about how the regular season has felt like something of a procession for the Chiefs over the last few years. Similar to LeBron James’ second stint in Cleveland. But now, after being so thoroughly embarrassed on the sport’s biggest stage, they will not take anything for granted.
But to do that, they will need to rely on the trenches. And those let them down massively in Super Bowl 59. The Eagles sacked Mahomes six times and pressured him 18 times. For reference, K.C.’s 31-9 loss to Tom Brady’s Bucs back in 2020 saw Mahomes sacked three times to go with 22 pressures.
As Theismann explained, “The Philadelphia game, that Super Bowl looked just like the game against Tampa Bay. Which only emphasized the point that you need an offensive line, if you think you have a chance to try and win a championship. Those guys up front. The guys on defense and the guys on offense. Right up front, that’s where it’s going to make the difference. You can have all the great players you want.”
If anyone knows about the importance of the offensive line, it’s Joe Theismann.
While Theismann wasn’t there personally for all three, the Washington Redskins of the 1980s and early 1990s won three Super Bowls, largely on the back of one of the greatest offensive lines of all time: the Hogs. They were highlighted by Pro Bowl center Jeff Bostic, Hall of Fame guard Russ Grimm, three-time First-Team All-Pro tackle Joe Jacoby, and Pro Bowl guard Mark May.
Now, if only the Chiefs had focused on this area during the offseason. They drafted a tackle with the final pick of the first round, but did nothing else to improve the unit. In fact, they traded away arguably their best lineman, Joe Thuney. Hopefully, that doesn’t come back to bite them.
