Flyin’ Mahomes explains how he got off amazing uncaught pass to Williams in Super Bowl
In the cold statistical sheet from Super Bowl LV, the play reads like this: 4-9-TB 11 (13:43) (Shotgun) P. Mahomes pass incomplete short right to Darr. Williams [W. Gholston].
Basically, it was an incomplete pass from Patrick Mahomes to Darrel Willams on fourth down Sunday night. Tampa Bay’s William Gholston is credited with making the defensive play on an incompletion.
But this moment deserves more description, because had Williams made the catch, as he should’ve, it would’ve ranked among the greatest passes in football history.
You’ve seen the replay, or the photograph. This was the pass Mahomes attempted while his body was parallel to the turf. Although the play started at the Bucs’ 11-yard line, the ball left Mahomes’ hand just inside the 30. Gholston, with great effort, chased and dove for Mahomes, catching enough of his leg to trip him up.
Remarkable body control and arm strength allowed Mahomes to hurl the pass with gusto toward the goal line, where Williams had positioned himself. Bucs defenders surround Williams, but the ball didn’t appear to be obstructed — it just sailed right through his hands, hit his helmet and fell to the grass.
Here’s how Mahomes described the greatest pass that never was.
“Definitely a pass you only attempt on fourth down,” he said. “I was scrambling out and trying to get past that last guy (Gholston). I knew if got past him I could buy enough time for somebody to get open. Obviously, he kind of clipped me and tripped up my feet.
“I wasn’t going to go down without giving somebody a chance. I saw a red jersey. I didn’t know it was Darrel. I knew I had to find a way to throw it and give him a chance to catch the ball. I just put it up there. Obviously, we came up short.”
The play did. But not the pass, which if caught might’ve been the catalyst the Chiefs needed. More than 13 minutes remained in the game; the score was 31-9 Tampa Bay, but the Chiefs were in a similar situation in the previous Super Bowl, trailing the San Francisco 49ers by 10 when they took over with 8:53 left in the game and scored the night’s final three touchdowns.
No comeback this time, no touchdowns scored by the Chiefs. That’s a first in the Chiefs’ Mahomes era. The nine points the Chiefs scored were their fewest with No. 15 at the controls, and their margin of loss was the widest of Mahomes’ 54 career starts in the NFL.
Mahomes ran for his life throughout the game, pressured on 29 of his 56 dropbacks (52 percent), the most for a quarterback in Super Bowl history. The Chiefs’ patchwork offensive line didn’t hold up and their pass-catchers came up short at times, too.
Another drop, after a Mahomes scramble and pass when he was falling to the turf, was a crusher. This one happened in the second quarter when All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce couldn’t secure an accurate throw to the sideline. It was third and 8, and a catch there would’ve picked up a first down. The Chiefs trailed just 7-3 at the time.
Mahomes had a rough night statistically, completing 26 of 47 for 270 yards. His 52.9% passer rating was the lowest of his four-year career.