Chiefs’ Kelce, McCoy pull out the ol’ ‘hook and ladder’ play vs. Lions in Detroit

Patrick Mahomes didn’t throw a touchdown pass in Sunday’s 34-30 victory over the Lions. That doesn’t mean the game was without a memorable completion.

It went from Mahomes to Travis Kelce.

And then to LeSean McCoy.

Add the hook and lateral to the Chiefs’ highlight reel on a day when there weren’t many dazzling moments for Mahomes and the offense.

Oh, 34 points and 438 total yards is good haul for most teams. And Mahomes engineered a game-winning touchdown drive. But for pure entertainment, it will be tough to top the first play of the fourth quarter.

The Chiefs trailed 23-20 and faced a second-and-12 from the Lions’ 46. Mahomes was flushed right and threw a pass to the middle of the field. McCoy believed the ball was intended for him and was overthrown.

“I thought Pat was scrambling, so I tried to go and make a play,” McCoy said. “I reached and I missed.”

But Kelce was a couple of yards behind McCoy and brought down the pass as he was falling backward. The gain of about 10 yards would have brought the Chiefs close to the first-down marker. Kelce had other plans.

In the process of falling and being tackled by Lions safety Tracy Walker, Kelce shoved a one-handed flip to McCoy, who had open space in front of him. Instead of a gain of about 10, the play covered 33 yards and the drive ended with Darrel Williams’ touchdown run.

“I saw it was Shady (McCoy) behind me and I knew he would at least catch it,” Kelce said. “I got faith in him that he would at least catching it.

“Hey, Pat’s not the only guy who has a little magic to him, you know what I’m saying? I’ve got some tricks.”

Kelce said the hook and lateral isn’t a play that the Chiefs practice.

“It’s never crossed my mind to do that except for right there, to be honest,” Kelce said. “Maybe a couple of times you watch a play, and it’s like if I had pitched it to him we’d have a big play. But hat’s off to Shady for making a big play and Pat for improvising to jump it off.”

The whole thing was improv.

“I’ll take credit for that one,” Andy Reid joked.

The play started with Mahomes looking to create and opportunity.

“I was just trying to scramble and extend the play,” Mahomes said. “I actually saw LeSean first, but I saw Kelce further down the field and I threw it to him.

“I just saw that look in his eye and knew something was going to happen. That’s such an amazing play for a guy to think in that moment..”

In the game’s final statistics, the reception went to Kelce and he was credited with a 10-yard catch. McCoy was credited with 23 receiving yards.

McCoy, who spent the previous four years with the Buffalo Bills and played on teams that finished 29th and 30th in total yards in his final two seasons there, is constantly amazed at the Chiefs’ ability.

“I mean, it’s the Chiefs,” McCoy said. “C’mon man. We do things like that.