Tuesday 9 February 2021 10:32, UK
Heading into Super Bowl LV, Patrick Mahomes had won 25 of his last 26 games.
In his three-year NFL career so far, none of his nine losses had been by more than a score, and his lowest passer rating was 62.7. High scores, comebacks and wins have become the norm for the AFC champions.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers humbled Mahomes and the Chiefs like no team has yet been able to do when they blew out Kansas City on Sunday night.
Mahomes had not played a game in which his offense failed to score a touchdown since high school, and with a college career in which he never went under a 91.6 passer rating, Sunday's outing was arguably his worst game ever.
"Obviously I didn't play the way I wanted to play," Mahomes said after the game. "But what else can you say? All you can do is leave everything on the field and I feel like the guys did that.
"They were the better team today.
"They beat us pretty good, the worst I think I've been beaten in a long time.
"But I'm proud of the guys and how they fought until the very end of the game."
While Tom Brady had a truly efficient outing on the opposite side of the field, Mahomes was 26 of 49 passing for 270 yards and two interceptions with no touchdowns.
He was sacked three times, but as the game went on, was running for his life from a ferocious Bucs' defense behind a makeshift offensive line.
Mahomes credited Bucs defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Tampa Bay's D, that pressured him a Super Bowl record 29 times, saying: "They had a good game plan.
"They took away our deep stuff, they took away the sidelines and they did a good job of rallying to the football and making tackles.
"We weren't executing early, I had a few miscues, we weren't on the same page, but credit to them. They played a heck of a game defensively and offensively."
Kansas City's QB also refused to blame a toe injury - that left him limping for most of the game - for the poor performance, saying "I can't say the toe was a problem when I played two weeks ago and I played well on it.
"You're playing football, you have to battle through injuries.
"We will look at it (on Monday) and make a final decision if we are going to have surgery on it or not."
The Chiefs will hope to begin the 2021 season with a fully healthy Mahomes, as they bid to bounce back and reach their third straight Super and fourth consecutive AFC Championship game.
