This team has a knack for staying focused on what’s next.
On the podium celebrating the victory in Super Bowl LVIII, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes turned to defensive tackle Chris Jones and told him, “We’re not done, dog. I want three, no one has ever gotten three... I want back to back to back.”
It was a ridiculous thing to say at the moment — one typically reserved for basking in the confetti that represents the culmination of a long, challenging season. It’s OK to relax on that stage, to breathe a sigh of relief that the journey's hardships paid off.
That’s not how Mahomes’ mind works, and it isn’t just talk.
The two-time MVP still constantly strives to improve his on-field performance. Head coach Andy Reid loves that about his quarterback, speaking to it with reporters after arriving at Chiefs’ training camp in St. Joseph, Missouri, on Tuesday.
“The one great thing about Patrick is that he’s always going to work on his game, then he always wants more,” Reid noted about the eighth-year gunslinger. “As coaches, you can’t ask for more than that. That’s why we’re in it; we’re trying to give you one more nugget so you can be greater than you already are.”
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images
Mahomes has come across as incredibly studious and coachable since he entered the NFL, and Reid has helped him and other players like tight end Travis Kelce take it to another level. The coaches have to be motivated to provide those resources, but the players have to be hungry for the information.
“That’s what the great players do,” continued Reid. “They want you to dig as a coach and find something, ‘give me something here that can help me become better than what I am.’”
It’s easy to want that when you haven’t won a title yet. With two or three under many players’ belts, the Chiefs must ensure that hunger for the next championship remains. The coaches can only do so much to drive that inspiration; it’s mainly about teammates keeping that energy up day in and day out.
Whether it’s Mahomes, Kelce, defensive tackle Chris Jones or linebacker Nick Bolton, Reid believes his team is made up of the right type of guys to do that.
“When players start helping players out and helping them understand what’s going on, normally you have a pretty good thing going,” Reid pointed out. “These guys, we’re lucky to have that leadership.”
“They go 100 miles per hour and make everyone else around them go 100 miles per hour,” said Reid. “While the coaches are kicking them a bit, the players are kicking in the peer pressure; there’s nothing like that.”
Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
Peer pressure can be a driving force that extends beyond the team. The NFL is geared up to stop the Chiefs’ dynasty. The thought of surrendering the championship crown to another franchise can hit just as hard as raising the Lombardi trophy.
That’s how Mahomes thinks about it; he’s driven by the fact that another team could be at the top of the league.
“Once you win the Super Bowl, when you don’t win it, it sucks even more,” Mahomes told reporters at Missouri Western State University on Tuesday. “You experience the offseason of being able to say you’re the champion, and you experience all the different things and activities you’re able to do because you’re a Super Bowl champion. You experience the feeling of just winning the Super Bowl.”
“When you don’t win it now, it sucks,” Mahomes stated. “Because you know what it could be like if you were to go out there and win it.”
Whether the motivation comes internally or externally, the Chiefs are finding ways to stay hungry for another Super Bowl title. Mahomes is just one of the many players locked in on making NFL history; no team has ever won three consecutive Super Bowls.
The question is: Does that hunger supersede the AFC teams starved to overthrow the Chiefs?
That will be tested immediately in the 2024 regular season: Kansas City will host the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals to begin the schedule.
https://www.arrowheadpride.com/2024/7/17/24200017/chiefs-news-kansas-city-hungry-super-bowl-title?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=blogger
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