Patrick Mahomes sat there, not believing what he had just experienced.
Mahomes spoke at the podium after the Philadelphia Eagles’ 40–22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LIX at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans. Then, after taking a quick rinse, the two-time MVP quarterback slumped forward with a light green towel hanging from his head.
Mahomes was at his stall, a few lockers inside of the Chiefs’ locker room doors. Sitting, facing the wall, Mahomes wasn’t scrolling through his phone. He didn’t touch the two full bottles of water in reach of his left hand. In a daze, Mahomes wasn’t wearing his red shoes or socks. No slides. He wasn’t chatting with teammates.
Finally, after a quick shake of his towel on his hair, Mahomes abruptly let the wooden lid on his foot locker slam shut with a bang, similar to what had just happened to Kansas City’s three-peat bid moments prior.
Mahomes then stood up, shoes in hand, bumped past a few media members and found his way into Andy Reid’s office.
The door shut. With it, Mahomes disappeared for the night.
The room he left behind was one of stunned silence. If the old adage is true, that silence is deafening, nobody in Kansas City’s locker room will ever hear again.
“It’s hard to see the big picture,” says offensive lineman Joe Thuney. “I just have to go back and look at the film. I can only speak for myself but I just have to play better.”
Thuney’s quote was the running theme of almost every interview given. Quick, quiet and self-reflective. On a night when the score was 34–0 in the third quarter and felt every bit of that gulf, there wasn’t much else to be said.
And to that point, not much was.
Instead, the room was filled with the noise of zippers zipping, tape ripping and belts jiggling. Equipment men were scooting around, bagging up soggy jerseys while avoiding the chunks of pineapple spilled across the visitor’s locker room floor.
The Chiefs had a chance to make history. Instead, they were swept into the dustbin of it, the Eagles making easy work of one of the greatest dynasties American sports has ever seen.
“It’s tough,” says long snapper James Winchester, the second-longest tenured Chiefs player, with only Travis Kelce going further back. “I mean, all of them are hard, right? This is the second one to be a part of where we fell short. It’s tough, it really is. With all that was on the line, my thought goes back to, obviously, a great season, right? We had so many positive things that happened this year and guys worked their tail off to get to this point. And when you come up short, it hurts. I think ultimately the disappointment is short term, and you kind of put your mind to it and get back to work.”
For Kansas City, it was a disaster of epic proportions.
The Chiefs had 23 yards at halftime. They were down 24 points. Mahomes had no time and gave his team no chance, throwing two back-breaking interceptions while posting an 11.4 QBR, the second-worst figure of his illustrious career.
Defensively, Steve Spagnuolo’s unit did yeoman’s work against Saquon Barkley, holding the 2,000-yard rusher and Offensive Player of the Year to 57 yards on 25 carries. But Kansas City’s defense was sunk by Mahomes throwing a pick-six and another interception inside his own 20-yard line. By the time the Chiefs did anything offensively, it was garbage time.
For the Chiefs, the loss will sting for years to come. They had a chance to become the first team in the Super Bowl era to three-peat. Instead, they were blown out in a way all other previous dynasties never were in the Super Bowl.
Kansas City remains an all-time team. Mahomes remains an all-time quarterback. But this will be a lasting blemish, much in the way Tom Brady’s greatness will always carry with it scoring just 14 points to lose out on a perfect season in Super Bowl XLII.
Of course, some will give the refrain of Kansas City’s future still being blindingly bright.
Mahomes is 29 years old. Coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach, both atop their respective fields, are signed for years to come. The same is true of Spagnuolo.
But not everyone will be making a return journey in the Chiefs’ quest to reach a fourth consecutive Super Bowl.
Trey Smith is a pending free agent with the potential for a market-setting deal coming his way. After the game, the 25-year-old guard struggled to put his brown jeans on, eventually cinching them up and clasping his Louis Vuitton belt. His right hand had a soft bandage covering most of his outsized paw.
“Just didn’t play well,” Smith said. “It’s not the best representation of what we do as the Chiefs. You’ve got to give credit to them, they won the game, they played well.”
Then there’s Justin Reid, one of the defensive leaders and the secondary’s captain. After reaching the Super Bowl in each of his three seasons with the Chiefs, he will be looking for his third NFL contract at age 27 (turning 28 on Feb. 15).
On his way out of the locker room, Reid walked by special teams coach Dave Toub, who gave him a pat on the backside. Then there was Reid, who hugged his stalwart and gave a quiet few words before they separated.
For Smith and Reid, and for linebacker Nick Bolton, defensive end Charles Omenihu and receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown, Sunday night’s dud could be the last time an arrowhead adorns their helmets.
That’s the harsh truth for almost every player who isn’t an annual All-Pro, and even for some who are. Times change, and so often, uniforms do as well.
That truth seemed to be evident and understood, with slammed lids and stomping feet the only audible sounds that weren’t quotes doubling as borderline apologies.
There wasn’t much talk about the future. There was just disappointment in the opportunity wasted. Although in a few corners, there was an appreciation of the journey, even in the lost moment.
“It’s truly remarkable,” says Winchester of Kansas City’s metamorphosis under Reid. “Obviously, right now, all you can think about is tonight, right? But there are so many great coaches and great players in this building. What everyone has had the opportunity to do is certainly special. A lot to hang your hat on and build on. You really just have to look at the season as a whole and be grateful for what we were able to do.”
In the years ahead, Winchester’s words will ring true. The Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in the past six years, reaching five of them. They belong in the conversation with the 1960s Green Bay Packers and ’70s Pittsburgh Steelers, the ’80s San Francisco 49ers, ’90s Dallas Cowboys and 2000s New England Patriots.
All of those teams are indelibly stamped in NFL history as the greatest of all time. The Chiefs joined them when they went back-to-back a year ago.
But on Sunday night, when Kansas City could have eclipsed them all, it fell apart in breathtaking fashion.
And in the aftermath of it all, Mahomes sat at his locker stall.
Still reeling. Still in disbelief. An experience of a lifetime, reduced to an experience not to be believed.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Inside the Chiefs' Locker Room After Historic Quest for Three-Peat Falls Short.
