Experience, talent supplies Chiefs with leg up in matchup
The Kansas City Chiefs are on the Super Bowl stage for the third time in four years, the first time triumphantly marching off with the Lombardi Trophy and the second time slinking away home after a lopsided loss in the big game.
Patrick Mahomes and Co. know better than anyone winning the Super Bowl is a whole lot better than losing it.
Experience alone gives the Chiefs a major advantage as they prepare to face the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday. But then you throw in Mahomes, the league's newly minted two-time MVP, along with transcendent tight end Travis Kelce, Chris Jones and the rest of the stars of their rebuilt defense, and coach Andy Reid pulling all the right strings and, well, there are plenty of reasons why the Chiefs will be celebrating another championship by the end of the weekend.
“I think you have a better understanding of the whole process,” Mahomes said of the Super Bowl buildup, “so you can kind of find those little windows where you can get a little extra film study and a little extra rest.
“Especially the first one, when I was in Miami, it was kind of, `You got to go here. You got to go here.' And you were just trying to figure out a way to get it all done. Whereas now I have a better understanding of the process.”
Mahomes has a pretty good understanding of just about everything.
He set career bests for yards passing with 5,250 this season, led the league with 41 touchdown passes and helped the Chiefs win a seventh consecutive AFC West title, all while juggling plenty of off-the-field life: the birth of his son, ownership in several Kansas City sports franchises and a myriad other business opportunities and investments.
It's why he earned 48 of 50 first-place votes for MVP at NFL Honors on Thursday night.
“I think we've just seen him grow as a quarterback. His talent level goes far beyond his ability,” Kelce said. “He's a step ahead. He's playing chess out there, like he has three or four moves in his pocket depending on what a defense does. That's why he's going to be the greatest to ever go down.”
The Eagles don't have Mahomes or Kelce.
They also haven't experienced the thrill of a Super Bowl victory or the crushing disappointment of a defeat.
“I don't want to have any regrets,” Mahomes said. “When I step off this football field, I understand how lucky I am to be in this organization. I understand how lucky I am to play with guys that are going to be Hall of Famers. And so when I look back at the end of my career, I don't want to look back and be like, `Man, I didn't give everything I have to win to win Super Bowls,' because of the great people I have around me. When I get done with my career, I want to make sure that I know that I gave everything I had on that football field.”