Eric Fisher: Hopefully Chiefs 'complete it next year'

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher is still absorbing a 37-31 overtime loss to the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship Game.

And while the defeat was painful for Fisher and a Chiefs team one step away from going to the Super Bowl for the first time in almost 50 years, Fisher will enter the offseason after the Pro Bowl with a takeaway from a highly successful season.

"Right now, it's just digesting that we got so close, but we didn't make it," Fisher told NFL.com Wednesday. "I think right now the message is get away from the game for a second. I mean, if you hold on to this for too long, I don't know, you got to restart somewhere, but obviously learn from it."

The Chiefs had their chances after battling back from a 14-0 deficit, of course, and were the favored team against the Patriots given the home-field advantage of Arrowhead Stadium.

But the defense failed to stop Tom Brady late in the fourth quarter, and the Patriots overcame a Brady interception that would have sealed the game for the Chiefs if not for outside linebacker Dee Ford being ruled offsides on the play.

Fisher, though, was quick to point out the contest wasn't ultimately decided by one infraction. The left tackle raises a good point, too, when considering Brady carved through the Chiefs defense on the game-winning drive to open overtime while Fisher and his offensive teammates watched helplessly from the sidelines.

"No game comes down to one player," Fisher said. "Just finding a way, man, finding a way to get that win when you need to get the win. Do whatever you got to do."

Meanwhile, the Chiefs have every reason to enter the offseason with high optimism and cast their view to the future given what head coach Andy Reid has in place.

In Reid's six seasons in Kansas City, the Chiefs have made the postseason five times. And the offense now boasts one of the NFL's most electrifying signal-callers in Patrick Mahomes, who led the league with 50 touchdown passes and finished second with 5,097 yards through the air in his first year as a starter.

"I'm no quarterback evaluator, but obviously I can see a few things," Fisher said of Mahomes. "I think he took everyone by surprise. There was a lot of hype around him and I think he surpassed it."

So, with a franchise quarterback and the experiences of the past season, Fisher believes the lessons learned will be applied in 2019 with a view for another opportunity in the AFC Championship Game.

"We'll go back to the drawing board and the game kind of evolves as time goes on, so just keep up with that," he said. "We were really excited to have that opportunity. We came close and hopefully just complete it next year."