Patrick Mahomes still feeling pain from AFC Championship Game loss to Bengals: ‘I’m still not over it’

Patrick Mahomes already has taken responsibility for the Kansas City Chiefs throwing away an 18-point lead in the AFC Championship Game loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. Mahomes, who was at the Pro Bowl for the first time in four years as a result, still regrets the missed opportunity he had to get his team to three consecutive Super Bowl appearances. 

“I’m still not over it,” Mahomes said to ESPN’s Lisa Salters at the Pro Bowl, via NFL.com. “I don’t think I’ll be over it until we’re playing in another Super Bowl. So I’ll have to use that as motivation going forward.”

Mahomes went 8 of 18 for 55 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions for a 12.3 rating in the second half of that AFC Championship Game 27-24 overtime loss, part of the Chiefs blowing a 21-10 halftime lead and having their season come up a game short of where they wanted to go. 

The slump appeared even more unexplainable given how Mahomes played in the postseason. Mahomes completed 73% of his passes for 1,057 yards with 11 touchdown passes to three interceptions for an 118.8 passer rating in three playoff games. The 11 touchdown passes are tied for first in NFL history in the postseason. 

Mahomes completed 66.3% of his passes for 4,839 yards and 37 touchdowns this year — yet he threw a career-high 13 interceptions. The 284.6 passing yards per game and 98.5 passer rating were the lowest of his career in a full season — and Mahomes still found a way for the Chiefs to reach the AFC Championship Game. 

The Pro Bowl selection was well-deserved for Mahomes, a consolation prize for a season that was trying at times. 

“I mean, it still hurts.” Mahomes said. “You want to be in that Super Bowl, but you enjoy this. It’s an honor to be in the Pro Bowl and so to be able to be in the Pro Bowl with a lot of my teammates, seeing their families, it’s a good way to kind of cap off the season.”