It's no secret the 2024-25 NFL season was not Patrick Mahomes' best, and yet he still managed to lead the Kansas City Chiefs to their third consecutive Super Bowl appearance. Ultimately, they'd fall 40-22 to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX after Mahomes turned in a three-turnover performance in New Orleans.
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Reaching the big game may be enough to keep fans from calling for a quarterback change but to Mahomes, he's motivated to never have that kind of campaign again.
"When you make it that far and then you’re at the end, it just hurts," Mahomes told USA Today's Jarrett Bell. "You put so much hard work into it. So, losing on that final step is always hard. But it’s how you respond... 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."
Even Patrick Mahomes knows he has room to improve
In 2024, Mahomes threw for 3,928 yards (career low), 26 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. It was arguably his worst season since becoming the Chiefs' starter in 2018.
"There’s stuff we’ve got to get better at," Mahomes said. "Especially myself. There’s plays on the football field that I didn’t make last year, that I’ve made in previous years. At the end of the day, I’m going to do whatever it takes to win, whether that’s passing for a lot of yards, not passing for a lot of yards. But I think if I play better, that’s going to make it better for the team. So, I’ve got to be better at executing whenever the shots are there, making those throws. Because that’s going to alleviate pressure on our defense and make them play more free and make the team play more free."
Despite that, Kansas City still managed to win 15 games - albeit 12 of them were within a one score margin. If Mahomes' motivation to be better than that is any indication, the rest of the league has just been put on high alert.
"It just gives you a little extra in some of the workouts and those film sessions, to try to find the little things to get even better," Mahomes said. "You try to do that when you have success, but at the same time when you have success you can sometimes be complacent. Obviously, you don’t want to lose the game, but it can give you a little bit more motivation to be even better."