Patrick Mahomes Reveals Humbling Lesson Chiefs Learned from Chargers Loss

Despite their loss in the Super Bowl, the Kansas City Chiefs are entering the 2025 season with a giant target on their back. This franchise has become the NFL‘s latest dynasty, and is coming off their third straight AFC Championship.

But there are plenty of teams vying for that top spot in the AFC Conference, including the Los Angeles Chargers. Jim Harbaugh‘s team picked up a huge Week 1 win in São Paulo over their division rival.

Justin Herbert was the star of the night, completing 25 of 34 passes for 318 yards three touchdowns, while also rushing for 32 yards. The 27-year-old had a lot to prove going into this clash, after flaming out of the postseason last year.

On the other end, Patrick Mahomes and the offense gradually worked their way into the game, but it wasn’t enough in this 27-21 loss. The Chiefs superstar quarterback subsequently did not hold back on what led to this loss in the postgame.

Patrick Mahomes Revealed What Cost the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1

Patrick Mahomes is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, having already won three Super Bowl MVPs in his career. The 29-year-old is squarely in his prime and looking to bounce back from a season where the offense was less lethal than usual.

In fact, the Chiefs’ main strength last season was its prolific defense, which gave up just 19.2 points per game. Justin Herbert, however, looked comfortable throughout the night, meaning that the Kansas City offense had to answer the bell.

Mahomes’ stat-line was fine, but this unit didn’t gain any real rhythm till the second half, going scoreless in the first quarter.

In the postgame press conference, the two-time regular season MVP broke down the main reason Kansas City will head back to the States 0-1.

Kansas City Will Look to Bounce Back against the Defending Champs

The Chiefs will now get a chance at revenge in their home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. The defending champs also had a tight opening week matchup against a division rival, eking out a 24-20 win over the Dallas Cowboys.

This will be an excellent test for Kansas City, which has made an effort to rebuild its offensive line after this group’s dismal Super Bowl performance. Mahomes was running for his life that entire night against the NFC champions and sacked a total of six times.

Fortunately for the Chiefs, their first-round pick, left tackle Josh Simmons, has so far looked like a steal from the NFL Draft and performed well against a difficult Chargers’ pass rush that includes future Hall of Famer Khalil Mack.

The Eagles and Chargers are just two of the ten playoff teams from last season that Kansas City is set to face in 2025. Two games that certainly stand out later on are clashes with the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills, two squads desperate to climb atop the AFC mountain.

Buffalo and Baltimore had an epic Sunday Night clash that saw the AFC East juggernaut win on a walk-off field goal. The 41-40 scoreline against two defenses that, on paper, should be elite was impressive and highlighted the need for Mahomes and the offense to hit their stride soon.

The Chiefs did often get to slow starts last season and would constantly wait till late in games to secure wins against worse opponents.

However, relying on that strategy constantly is not the path for a legit championship contender, especially as rivals continue to catch up in overall talent.

Mahomes might have a chip on his shoulder from the Super Bowl loss, but Kansas City is still going to get the absolute best from all of its opponents because of the its recent history.