KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fair or not, the Kansas City Chiefs’ new standard since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback is the Super Bowl.
The Chiefs’ elimination with an overtime loss Sunday against Cincinnati in the AFC Championship Game is easier to swallow for fans after the Super Bowl LIV win two years ago, but failing to return for a third straight title shot still stings.
“It’s definitely disappointing,” Mahomes said. “With this group of guys that we have, we expect to be in that game and to win that game. Anything less than that is not success.”
Harsh? Maybe, but that’s the new reality for the Chiefs, who lost to New England three years ago in overtime during the first AFC title game in history on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas City bounced back to hoist its first Lombardi Trophy in 50 years to cap the 2019 season and returned to the Super Bowl last season, losing at Tampa Bay.
Only three teams in NFL history have played in three or more consecutive Super Bowls — Miami (1972-74), Buffalo (1991-94) and the Patriots (2016-18). While the Chiefs failed to join that list, some perspective is in order.
“All I know is the Super Bowl since I’ve been here, so exiting in the AFC Championship Game to some standard is bad, but it’s not as bad as some of the other guys,” defensive end Frank Clark said. “I’ve got a lot of friends who’ve been on vacation for a few weeks now. It sucks I’ve got to go join them.”
Perhaps the larger question facing the Chiefs — from the front office to the coaching staff to players in the locker room — is what needs to change to keep the championship window open.
The Bills and Bengals clearly have closed the gap with Kansas City.
The Los Angeles Chargers almost certainly will be a trendy pick (once again!) to end the Chiefs’ six-year run of AFC West championships.
Kansas City has been head and shoulders above the rest of the AFC in recent years, but that’s no longer the case.
“This is another great challenge for this team and this organization to push forward — to continue to represent the AFC, to continue to represent this division — and I know that they can do that,” safety Tyrann Mathieu said.
It was unrealistic to think Kansas City would never come up short of the Super Bowl again, but the new standard for excellence is what it is for the organization.
“The immature person in me would probably say we failed, but the bigger person in me realizes that these things aren’t always possible,” Mathieu said.
He noted that he’s proud of the team and coaches for rallying after a sluggish start to the season — the Chiefs limped to a 3-4 start and were last in the division — but there’s definitely a sense that the mission was incomplete.
“We’ve got a lot of motivation and I know there’s a lot of guys in this locker room that they’re going to take this offseason personally to really get better,” Mathieu said. “We still feel like we’re the best team in the NFL, but the best team doesn’t always win. It’s the team that plays well and makes the plays that day.”
The goal for 2022 won’t change. That much is clear.
“The leaders on this team know that this isn’t our standard,” Mahomes said. “We want to win the Super Bowl. Whenever you taste winning the Super Bowl, nothing less than that is success. ... It’s definitely disappointing, but you can’t let this end what we have here. You have to continue to battle and continue to get better.”
With the impending possible retirement of Tom Brady, who has won an NFL-record seven Super Bowls, Mahomes isn’t satisfied with guiding the most successful era of Chiefs football. He’s hungry for more, but it’s up to General Manager Brett Veach to put the pieces in place around him and Chiefs coach Andy Reid to make the most of the roster in that quest.
“His career is one-of-a-kind, that’s why he’s the GOAT,” Mahomes said. “To win that many Super Bowls, to be in that many games, it’s hard. I’ve understood that. After the years I’ve had, I’ve been close a lot, but I’ve only been there twice and I’ve only won one. I understand that it takes a special player, a special group of guys and special circumstances for that to happen. I’m going to still do whatever I can to give myself a chance every year to try to get in that game and to win it.”
