Patrick Mahomes: "There's stuff we've got to get better at"

The last time the Chiefs lost the Super Bowl, they made it back to the AFC Championship. And then, the next year, they won the first of two more Super Bowls.

Now, they've lost another Super Bowl. What's next for the team that has gone to five of the last six Super Bowls?

"There's stuff we've got to get better at," Mahomes told Jarrett Bell of USA Today. "Especially myself. There's plays on the football field that I didn't make last year, that I've made in previous years. At the end of the day, I'm going to do whatever it takes to win, whether that's passing for a lot of yards, not passing for a lot of yards. But I think if I play better, that's going to make it better for the team. So, I've got to be better at executing whenever the shots are there, making those throws. Because that's going to alleviate pressure on our defense and make them play more free and make the team play more free."

So what does the sting of a loss do to Mahomes's approach to the job?

"It just gives you a little extra in some of the workouts and those film sessions, to try to find the little things to get even better," Mahomes said. "You try to do that when you have success, but at the same time when you have success you can sometimes be complacent. Obviously, you don't want to lose the game, but it can give you a little bit more motivation to be even better."

There's another potential source of motivation. The Broncos and Chargers are on their heels. Some (including Chris Simms on Tuesday's PFT Live) have predicted the Chiefs will yield the AFC West title to the Denver Broncos.

It could end up being a crossroads season for the Chiefs and Mahomes, in his ninth NFL campaign and the year he'll turn 30. His worst finish as a starter is losing in overtime of the AFC Championship. His best is three Super Bowl wins in seven seasons.