The Kansas City Chiefs crushing 40-22 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles in Tremendous Bowl LIX was a humbling expertise; marking simply their second championship loss since Andy Reid took the reins, and the 67-year-old gave his staff a harsh reality.
The final time the Chiefs tasted bitterness within the Tremendous Bowl was the loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers within the 2020/21 NFL season. Since then, they’d been virtually flawless on the game’s greatest stage.
So Sunday’s blowout loss was an unfamiliar and painful setback to the staff in what was the most-watched Tremendous Bowl in historical past. Additional context was they had been additionally on the point of turning into the primary staff ever to win three consecutive championships.
Falling simply wanting that outstanding feat made the defeat much more troublesome to digest and as anticipated, feelings ran excessive within the Chiefs’ locker room following the sport as gamers who’re often composed and assured struggled to course of the frustration.
Tight finish Travis Kelce, sometimes some of the vocal and charismatic figures on the staff, was visibly upset and gave unusually terse responses to reporters.
Different gamers, together with receiver DeAndre Hopkins, displayed frustration of their postgame interviews, hinting on the degree of disappointment felt all through the roster.
“This one’s going to harm. Let it damage. Work out easy methods to get higher due to it,” Reid informed his gamers one final time earlier than they parted methods for the offseason. His message was direct, they have to be taught from the loss.
Andy Reid development that offers Chiefs hopes
The loss was significantly irritating given the staff’s sluggish efficiency. By halftime, Kansas Metropolis had amassed solely 23 whole yards and managed only a single first down.
It wasn’t till the fourth quarter, when the Eagles eased up, that the Chiefs discovered any rhythm on offense-far too late to vary the result.
The Chiefs have not often confronted adversity of this magnitude through the Reid-Mahomes period. Because the quarterback took over because the starter in 2018, Kansas Metropolis has misplaced simply 30 instances in whole and solely 4 instances within the postseason.
But when historical past has proven something, it is that Reid‘s groups do not stay down for lengthy. The Chiefs fought again from 2018’s loss to win Tremendous Bowl the next season they usually did the identical once more in 2021/22 after shedding to the Cincinnati Bengals.
