Patrick Mahomes joined an illustrious group of NFL starting quarterbacks who have lost multiple Super Bowls, a crew that includes Jim Kelly (4), Tom Brady (3), John Elway (3), Fran Tarkenton (3), Roger Staubach, Craig Morton, Peyton Manning and Kurt Warner.
To reach the end of a grinding road and come up short is a different level of sting.
"When you make it that far and then you’re at the end, it just hurts," Mahomes told Jarrett Bell of USA TODAY. "You put so much hard work into it. So, losing on that final step is always hard. But it’s how you respond. I thought we responded well after that last Super Bowl loss, just kind of building back and getting even better and winning a couple more championships.
"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."
After the Super Bowl LV loss to Brady’s Bucs, the Chiefs revamped the offensive line. Once again, after Mahomes got destroyed in another Super Bowl, general manager Brett Veach and coach Andy Reid are reworking the offensive line.
Every NFL player is motivated to improve season to season, even winners. However, Mahomes acknowledged that the mentality that follows a Super Bowl loss is different.
"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."
Every professional athlete thrives on those little hints of motivation -- finding a slight in every corner to push themselves to heights they might not have previously believed they could reach.
Losing on the biggest stage, in front of hundreds of millions, can have a stark motivating factor. That’s especially true when it’s a blowout like the Chiefs experienced.
The three-time Super Bowl MVP noted that even he has things he must improve upon as he reaches 30 years old.
"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."