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LAS VEGAS, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Less than 12 hours after winning his third Super Bowl in five years, Patrick Mahomes could only laugh when he learned Monday that his Kansas City Chiefs weren't the favorites to win another title in 2025. "As far as the underdog thing, it just gives you a little motivation going into the offseason," Mahomes said in a conference room at the Mandalay Bay convention center in Las Vegas.
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"I never feel like we're underdogs. I believe we can win any game we play in, but we have to continue to prove that every single year."
Mahomes posed for pictures Monday alongside NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, with the two men cradling the Chiefs quarterback's third Super Bowl MVP Award between them.
Mahomes' Chiefs entered Super Bowl LVIII as slight underdogs to the 49ers. They were dominated early on and trailed late in regulation, but weathered the momentum swings to claim the Vince Lombardi for a second-consecutive year.
On Monday, oddsmakers listed the Chiefs with the second-best odds to win Super Bowl LIX, which will be held Feb. 9 in New Orleans. The 49ers are the favorites for that title. The Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and Detroit Lions are the other expected contenders.
The Chiefs became the ninth NFL team to win consecutive titles with Sunday's victory. No NFL team has won three-consecutive Super Bowls, a fact Andy Reid confirmed with the Chiefs' communications staff before speaking at Monday's news conference.
"It's not going to just be easy," Reid said of winning the Super Bowl in 2025. "That's not how this thing rolls. We will have changeover on our team, which every team has. So you don't know what's there. There is a whole lot of unexpected.
"You gotta keep battling through it, have a good off-season and training camp. That ball is shaped kinda funny, so it's gotta bounce for you in the right direction."
But along with Mahomes, Reid has fooled many fans into believing Vince Lombardi glory is nearly inevitable for the Chiefs. The 28-year-old quarterback is off to arguably the greatest start to a career in NFL history.
The No. 10 overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, who didn't become a full-time starter until 2018, also has two NFL MVP Awards in his trophy case, in addition to his three Super Bowl titles and MVP accolades from those games. He reached the Super Bowl in four of his last five seasons.
"All you can do is come back with a fresh mindset and know it's going to be even harder," Mahomes said. "We've gotta continue to play our best football. We will celebrate the next few weeks and get back at it."
While many quarterbacks never reach the NFL's biggest stage, Mahomes is now a Super Bowl staple. He said lessons he learned from the Chiefs' 2021 Super Bowl loss to Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers helped fuel his current drive.
"The challenge, whenever you win, is how can you get better?" Mahomes said. "How can you continue to get better? That's what it takes. In this league, everybody gets better every single year. Whenever you win a championship, you celebrate and say 'let's go do it again.' That's what I learned from the first one that we lost, when we tried to go back to back."
Mahomes is scheduled to celebrate his latest title Monday at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif. Chiefs players, who celebrated their Super Bowl win alongside Taylor Swift and other celebrities Sunday night on the Strip, will participate in a victory parade Wednesday in Kansas City, Mo.
The Chiefs own the last pick -- No. 32 overall -- in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, which will be held April 25 to 27 in Detroit.
