The last time Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes walked off the field in the Super Bowl, it left a sour taste in his mouth.
He had played on an injured toe and gave it his all, but the Chiefs fell well short against Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. Now Mahomes is hoping to replace that memory with the thrill of a second Super Bowl victory when the Chiefs play the Eagles at 5:30 p.m. in Super Bowl LVII on Sunday in Glendale, Ariz.
Like two years ago, Mahomes enters the game a bit hobbled as he suffered a high-ankle sprain in the divisional round this year but played through it and didn’t miss a snap in the AFC title game. Mahomes said his ankle is “definitely better” but added he won’t know what he’ll be capable of until the game starts.
“I’m going to push it,” Mahomes said Monday at Opening Night at the Super Bowl in Phoenix. “I’m going to leave it all on the line. And I think you saw that the last game I played. But it’s about relying on your teammates, and I’ve got a lot of great teammates around me. But I’ll definitely be in a better spot than I was last game.”
This marks Mahomes and the Chiefs’ third trip to the Super Bowl in the last four years. He said there aren’t a lot of differences between them as far as setting and environment goes, but added that preparing and managing his time well will be keys to success.
“I think you just learn from your experiences,” Mahomes said. “You learn when you can kind of get that extra rest and can focus on the game plan a little bit more and instill those reps, I would say. But you still go through the practices, you still do all the media and everything that comes with being in the Super Bowl. But whenever I get those little time lapses, I can get into the game plan and make sure I’m ready to go whenever the game comes.”
Mahomes and the Chiefs will face an Eagles defense that recorded 70 sacks during the regular season and five more in the postseason. But Mahomes said the Chiefs offensive line of Orlando Brown, Joe Thuney, Creed Humphrey, Trey Smith and Andre Wylie will be up to the task.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who played together and had a great season and so I’ll just trust in them,” Mahomes said. “We know it’s going to be a challenge. We know it’s one of the best defensive lines in history if you look at sacks. “So, we know it’s going to be a challenge.
“I’ll work on throwing the ball away when I need to and getting it out of my hand when I need to. And then when we need to trust the offensive line to block to take some shots down field, I’ll trust in the offensive line to do that.”
HARDMAN OUT, EDWARDS-HELAIRE ACTIVATED
The Chiefs officially put wide receiver Mecole Hardman on injured reserve Monday, ending his season. Hardman reinjured his pelvis in the second half of the AFC title game against the Bengals and now will not play in the Super Bowl.
Running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, however, has been activated from injured reserve and it’s possible he could play Sunday. Edwards-Helaire hasn’t played since suffering a high-ankle on Nov. 20 against the Chargers.
