Left no doubt: Chiefs stun Broncos with heroics from Patrick Mahomes, Kareem Hunt
Patrick Mahomes is lethal with his right hand.
Turns out, he’s not bad with his left hand, either.
Trailing by three in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, the Chiefs needed a miracle.
The quarterback performed one. Heck, he didn’t just perform one, he performed multiple.
In the place where his legend was born nine months ago, Mahomes achieved something close to immortal status just four games into his career as the Chiefs’ starting quarterback. With a three-minute, 60-yard scoring drive — complete with a left-handed throw — Mahomes salvaged an inconsistent night to give the undefeated Chiefs a 27-23 win in front of a national audience.
“He’s pretty much been through every scenario,” tackle Mitchell Schwartz said. “This one was the scenario where he had to come from behind and show that ability. Those first three games put him on the map pretty good, but obviously with this being Monday night in a pivotal moment, I’m sure this is the one that will be on his highlight reel his whole career.”
The moment that will undoubtedly lead that highlight reel came with three minutes left.
Facing a third down and trailing by a field goal, Mahomes scrambled to his left, running as All-Pro outside linebacker Von Miller chased him down. With Miller nipping at his ankles, Mahomes tossed the ball to wide receiver Tyreek Hill with his left hand. Hill caught it, running to pick up the first down before darting out-of-bounds.
“I just shot-putted it to Tyreek and he got the first down and made a great play,” Mahomes said afterward. “You’ve just got to get the ball in their hands somehow.”
Mahomes has a little experience with his non-dominant hand, using it to participate in quarterback crossbar challenges and in throwaways in college. But this was his first time completing a left-handed pass to a receiver.
“Nobody in history has ever seen that,” Chiefs safety Eric Murray said. “C’mon now. Nobody. I’ve never seen that one (in practice). That one is new. I’m glad we all got to see it.”
The six-yard toss was an instant classic, but it was just one unbelievable element of that final, game-winning drive.
With a 23-yard throw to DeMarcus Robinson a couple minutes later, Mahomes all but erased a second-and-30 situation.
And then, the Chiefs (4-0) got lucky.
With the play clock clearly at zero on the next play, Mahomes snapped the ball and fired off a 35-yard pass to tight end Demetrius Harris with 1:54 left in the game.
Then, thanks to a defensive offside flag on Von Miller, the Chiefs were five yards away from the end zone with 1:49 left.
Kareem Hunt made up the difference in two plays, running into the end zone from four yards out to give the Chiefs a lead with 1:39 left.
“Every time he makes the unbelievable plays, third-and-long, second-and-long, he makes a big play to Demetrius,” backup quarterback Chad Henne said, describing Mahomes’ plays that still amaze him. “There’s just plays out there that are still going to come, but I mean, it’s always eye-opening to see someone go out there and play like that.”
Until then, the Chiefs’ high-flying offense looked out of sorts for most of the game.
For the first time all season, Mahomes (28-of-45, 304 yards, 1 TD) didn’t have a touchdown throw in the first half. He did manage to score his first rushing touchdown, scrambling in from eight yards out in the second quarter. But that was the Chiefs’ only touchdown of the half.
The Broncos’ defense pressured Mahomes, chasing him out of the pocket and forcing him to attempt circus-like throws. The Chiefs lost one offensive threat early when Sammy Watkins left the game with a hamstring injury in the first quarter and didn’t return.
Every time the offense seemed to get going, a penalty stripped it away. Left tackle Eric Fisher had two false starts — including one that erased momentum gained from safety Eric Murray’s first career interception in the third quarter.
“We just needed to execute better than we did in the first half,” fullback Anthony Sherman said. “Stuff was working. It was more us beating ourselves than them really beating us. Penalties, missed assignments, dropped balls, stuff like that.”
While the Chiefs’ offense stagnated, the Broncos (2-2) remained steady with their ground assault.
Anchored by the rookie tandem of Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman, the Broncos averaged 8.5 yards per carry in the first half and 7.2 overall.
The Broncos set the tone early, picking up runs of 17 and 18 yards in the first drive, which resulted in a field goal — the Chiefs’ first deficit of the season.
By the end of the game, Royce rushed for 67 yards on eight carries, while Lindsay had 69 yards on 12 carries. Each scored a touchdown, making them the first rookie pair in Broncos team history to each rush for 60 yards and have a touchdown in the same game.
But Hunt countered with a rushing attack of his own for the Chiefs, carrying the ball 19 times for 121 yards.
In the end, Hunt’s final touchdown was the difference, adding another score on top of Mahomes’ two-yard pass to Travis Kelce in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs defense, one that struggled to contain the Broncos all game, came up with the biggest stop of the day thanks to a few more doses of luck and an Armani Watts sack on Denver’s final drive.
A couple plays after Watts sacked him, Case Keenum had a wide open Demaryius Thomas streaking toward the end zone. But he overthrew it.
With one final shot to score facing fourth-and-10, Keenum fired off a pass to rookie Courtland Sutton. But Sutton dropped the pass and the Chiefs got the ball on downs.
Mahomes trotted back out one last time to take a knee, preserving his perfect record and legendary status in Denver.
Brooke Pryor
Brooke Pryor covers the Kansas City Chiefs and NFL for The Star.
This story was originally published October 1, 2018 at 10:36 PM.