Mahomes chases another Super Bowl title as NFL starts

WASHINGTON—Reigning NFL Most Valuable Player Patrick Mahomes will begin his quest for a fourth Super Bowl trip in five seasons on Thursday when the 104th NFL season kicks off.

Mahomes, the 27-year- old quarterback who led Kansas City to a second Super Bowl title in four campaigns last February, will guide the Chiefs against visiting Detroit in the opener.

He’ll be trying to spark Kansas City to a conference final for the sixth consecutive season in hopes of reaching Super Bowl 58 in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024.

Most NFL clubs will launch their season on Sunday, while Buffalo will visit the New York Jets, now quarterbacked by four- time NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers, on Monday.

Mahomes says he is motivated by his desire to capture yet another Super Bowl crown.

“I think I always have that chip on my shoulder,” Mahomes said. “It’s more that I understand how lucky I am to be here.

“You don’t have these windows where you can win Super Bowls too long usually, and luckily for us that window has been very big. But you go out there and you have that mentality every single year, you’re going to try to win that thing again.”

The Chiefs are without a key player in their defensive unit as tackle Chris Jones remains a contract holdout, hoping for a better deal. Jones, 29, was part of a career-high 44 tackles and matched his career best with 15.5 sacks, starting every game in his seventh NFL season, all with Kansas City.

“He’s the best defensive player in the league,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “He’s deserving of all the money in the world.”

Kelce, the top target for Mahomes, caught 110 passes for 1,338 yards and 12 touchdowns last season. But his status was in doubt after suffering a hyperextended knee in a Tuesday’s practice.

While the Chiefs remain the beat to beat, no club has won back-to-back Super Bowls since Tom Brady guided the New England Patriots to victory in the 2004 and 2005 NFL championship spectacles.

But for the first season since 1999, legendary quarterback Brady will be missing, retired after a record haul of seven Super Bowl titles.