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Patrick Mahomes dismisses idea that Chiefs are suffering from a Super Bowl hangover

Travis Heying

In 2015, the Carolina Panthers won 15 regular-season games and rolled to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Denver Broncos. The following season, Carolina finished last in the NFC South and missed the playoffs.

The 2018 L.A. Rams and 2019 San Francisco 49ers both made it to the Super Bowl and then missed the postseason the following year.

There is a term for what happened in each of these cases: a Super Bowl hangover.

Could that be what’s plaguing the Chiefs, who have a 3-4 record one season after playing in their second straight Super Bowl? Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes was asked that question Tuesday during a visit to “The Rich Eisen Show.”

“I don’t think so,” Mahomes answered. “I don’t even really know what that means. Whenever you’re in the Super Bowl, you want to get back. Winning one and losing one, I think losing one maybe even more, you want to find a way to get back to that game.

“We’ve kind of had that target on our back the last couple years now. To me, it’s a great thing to have. You get the best shot from every single team so you get to see really where you’re at every week. And it prepares you for the runs in the playoffs; it prepares you for the run at the end of the season.”

Eisen put forth the Super Bowl hangover idea as one of three possible reasons he’s heard for the Chiefs’ difficulties. Another: Opponents have “figured out” Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense.

“I feel like we still do a lot of great things offensively,” Mahomes said. “We obviously didn’t have the game that we wanted to have this last week. But I think if we get things rolling, and we execute, and we cut the turnovers out, I think this offense can still be pretty special. Especially when you have Coach (Andy) Reid coaching. I don’t think he’s been figured out too many times.”

The third possible explanation for the struggles the Chiefs and Mahomes have encountered, Eisen said, is that Mahomes is trying to do too much to compensate for problems elsewhere.

“I think there is moments when I’m trying to do too much,” Mahomes admitted. “But I think it’s nothing to do with any other guys on the team — offense, defense or special teams. I think it’s just me wanting to win. I want to win, I think more than pretty much everybody, and I try to do whatever I can to put our team in the best position to win.

“But there’s times where the turnovers I’ve created — the fumbles, the interceptions — have hurt the team in a way that I didn’t intend to happen. Me getting back to my fundamentals will be extremely important for us to have success this season.”

Eisen also talked to Mahomes about the hit he took in Sunday’s 27-3 loss to the Titans. Mahomes looked wobbly when he got to his feet after taking a shot to the head.

Has Mahomes watched the play?

“I saw it on film — it definitely looked pretty bad,” he said. “It just kind of shocked me there for a second. But I felt fine the whole entire time. I kind of just wanted to take my time getting to the sideline. Trust me, they put me through about a million protocols already. So everything is good to go, and I’m ready to get back after it.”

Eisen asked if it was tough for Mahomes to see a replay of such a violent collision.

“It didn’t look great,” Mahomes said. “I think my mom was more worried than anybody.”

There is much more in the conversation, which you can see here.