The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in an unfamiliar spot, having finished the last two seasons on top, but the bitter taste of defeat suffered back in February has given Patrick Mahomes and his teammates the motivation to bounce back stronger in 2025.
The Kansas City Chiefs find themselves in an unfamiliar spot, having finished the last two seasons on top, but the bitter taste of defeat suffered back in February has given Patrick Mahomes and his teammates the motivation to bounce back stronger in 2025. originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Most NFL franchises still dream of making their first Super Bowl. The Kansas City Chiefs have made it to the league's biggest stage in five of the last six seasons. Three of those ended in triumph and the two leading up to Super Bowl LIX saw the Chiefs reach the summit.
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Going for their third in a row they were utterly dismantled in their fall from grace. While they ran through an AFC gauntlet once again and notched 17 total wins to their belt, the focus of the offseason has centered on that 40-22 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles.
Through the ups and downs of the dynasty, the Chiefs have continuously found ways to respond and keep delivering championship-worthy campaigns. They are now tasked with that same objective and according to Patrick Mahomes, the Chiefs want to turn the lessons of last season into an advantage for them.
"When you lose a Super Bowl, I think there's sometimes in those workouts, you may be a little tired, you have that extra added motivation to finish even harder, finish even stronger," Mahomes said this week. "I think it'll be good for us at the end of the day.
"I mean, obviously looking back, you want to win the game. But a lot these guys hadn't lost one (Super Bowl), hadn't ended the season on a loss that are on this team now. So, I'm sure they'll be motivated to go back out there and try to find a way to get to the Super Bowl and win it this year."
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Motivation will certainly be a driving force of the offseason and Kansas City will need plenty of it to get them to the level necessary to defend their AFC crown. The Chiefs have tinkered with their roster, hoping to make another run deep into the postseason.
That challenges increases in difficulty yet again with rising contenders including the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills who nearly had their number a few months back.
Having gone through this before and come out the other side, it's hard to imagine Mahomes not being a conduit of this motivation throughout the summer. As strange as it may seem, Kansas City's defeat could be a good thing for their crucial 2025.
Related: Chiefs' Andy Reid Gives Positive Isiah Pacheco Update
Related: Chiefs' Xavier Worthy Proves He's Not A One-Trick Pony
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
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