The Kansas City Chiefs offense got humbled during the Super Bowl this past February. After a 15-2 record and deep postseason run seemed to mask a number of imperfections, the Philadelphia Eagles exposed the team with a dominant defensive performance.
During that Super Bowl loss, the Chiefs mustered just one first down in the first half and were shut out entirely during the first half. Quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw two interceptions, including a costly pick-six, and by the time the Chiefs finally began scoring, the game was well over.
As the Chiefs' offseason program begins, Mahomes noted that one area the team's offense could improve is taking and executing more deep shots down the field.
“If you look at the only real positive I think from the Super Bowl, it was the second half—me just kind of getting back to, ‘We’ve got to throw the ball deep,'" Mahomes said, via Pete Sweeney of SB Nation.
"There were opportunities in games for deep shots that I either didn't take or we missed barely. If we can get back to hitting some of those throws, we tried to preach about this last offseason, it opens up the rest of the offense," Mahomes told reporters on Wednesday. "That helps the run game, that helps the medium pass game, everything. You want to get back to that. Defenses are starting to creep up a little bit more and force us to get back to the deep throws. We have to be versatile enough to be able to do both, hit the deep shots and hit the near stuff and that's when we'll be at our best."
Patrick Mahomes talks about his motivation this season after the #Chiefs Super Bowl loss.
— Sports Radio 810 WHB (@SportsRadio810) April 23, 2025
He says, "You have that bad taste in your mouth from the last time you stepped on the football field." pic.twitter.com/Pe9tAbjehI
When Mahomes initially became the team's starting quarterback, he was renowned for his deep ball throwing, which in turn made the Chiefs' offense one of the most explosive in the NFL. The Chiefs offense ranked top three in four of Mahomes's first five seasons as a starter, but dropped out of the top 10 this past season. In 2024, Mahomes threw for 3,928 yards and averaged 6.8 yards per attempt, the lowest marks of his career since becoming the starter.
The Chiefs did successfully adapt to a shorter passing game in recent seasons and still made the last three Super Bowls. Though they remain a Super Bowl team, it's clear they could be even more dangerous if they are able to get the deep passing game consistently going again.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patrick Mahomes Gets Honest on Key Area Chiefs Offense Can Improve.