After flop, Chiefs look toward future with massive changes on the horizon

SUPER BOWL 59

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce (87) quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) walk off the field at the halftime break during Super Bowl 59 against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in New Orleans. STEPHANIE SCARBROUGH — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Image

By Dave Skretta

The Associated Press

NEW ORLEANS >> Even as the confetti was flying and the Philadelphia Eagles were celebrating their Super Bowl triumph on the field of the Superdome, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs already were thinking about getting back to the big game next year.

They just might look a whole lot different.

The Chiefs have 28 players who will be free agents this offseason, many of whom contributed not only to this Super Bowl run but the two championships that preceded it. And that doesn’t include players such as Travis Kelce, who’ll spend the coming weeks and maybe even months deciding whether to retire or make another run.

What might factor into it? The fact that Kelce’s final game would be such a humiliating 40-22 loss to the Eagles.

The long-dominant Chiefs were trying to win an unprecedented third consecutive Lombardi Trophy. Instead, they were dominated by Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts and their ferocious defense in a game that was never truly close.

Mahomes and Kelce both lamented the performance as the worst of their season.

Might have been the worst of their careers.

“We just couldn’t find that spark,” Kelce said. “We couldn’t find that momentum.”

Mahomes was sacked six times by an Eagles pass rush that had its way with Kansas City’s offensive line, which never solved its problem protecting his blind side this season. And the two-time NFL MVP threw a pair of interceptions — including a pick-6 — and fumbled the ball away in a performance that left Mahomes blaming himself for the outcome of the game.

“I feel like I didn’t play to my standard, just with especially the struggles that I had early in the season,” Mahomes said, “and so there’s things that I have to get better at, and they kind of showed on the biggest stage.”

The chances of a three-peat are gone. Now, the Chiefs have to recalibrate as they begin their pursuit of another title.

“It was never about the three-peat. It was about living in the moment, just getting this one done,” center Creed Humphrey said. “It hurts not getting the job done no matter what.”