The Kansas City Chiefs wrapped up their preseason schedule with a 33-32 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. After losing in Week 1, the Chiefs finished the exhibition schedule with a record of 2-1.While final scores of preseason games are usually meaningless, superstar quarterback (and reigning league MVP) Patrick Mahomes believes it is important for his teammates to feel momentum as they head into the regular season — especially the younger ones.
“Yeah, I think it’s just keeping the guys hungry,” Mahomes told Ari Wolfe and Trent Green in a sideline interview during Saturday’s game broadcast. “It’s always great to win with a lot of young guys — but now these young guys have to deal with success.“We had a little bit of experience with it a couple years ago — and I think what we learned from that is you have to stay hungry the entire year. I want to preach that to these young guys and tell them to take that next step. We have to be better this year if we want to go back and win that Super Bowl again.”
During the preseason, Mahomes was on the field for a total of four drives. After a “flat” performance in Week 1, the first team showed a better level of effort in Week 2 as Mahomes finished with 10 passes on 15 attempts for 105 yards and a touchdown.But on Saturday, Mahomes stayed on the sideline as quarterbacks Shane Buechele and Blaine Gabbert battled it out for the backup role. Mahomes has liked what he’s been seeing from his fellow quarterbacks.
“It’s been awesome,” he said. “We’ve had great quarterback play [through] the entire OTAs, training camp [and] preseason. Today, we’ve had a couple mishaps here and there — but I’ve loved how the guys bounced back.”
With the preseason behind them, the Chiefs now get set for the regular season’s Week 1 at home against the Detroit Lions on Thursday, September 7. While there is excitement in the air for a brand-new NFL season, the team still has one more piece of business to do before it can officially close the book on 2022’s championship season.
“Oh, it’s going to be amazing,” said Mahomes about hanging the 2023 Super Bowl banner over Arrowhead. “To be able to get that banner out there — with the new flagpole going [in]? We didn’t get to experience [it] the right way at GEHA Field at Arrowhead the last time, so I’m extremely excited for it — and Chiefs Kingdom
