Six weeks ago, Patrick Mahomes told me his favorite play. The Chiefs ran it vs. Arizona
I apologized for the quick change of topic, and even admitted the question coming was a random one.
But I’d wondered this about Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes: What was his favorite pass concept to run?
This was Aug. 1 in a meeting room at Missouri Western’s student union — the Chiefs were still in the middle of training camp — and Mahomes started to talk before I could get the entire question out.
He knew his answer — with details. His response went 34 seconds, but it included references to specific players and locations, an explanation of how the Chiefs masked their intentions and a big-picture view of why the play worked.
It was fascinating, but also ... well, random. So I didn’t use it in a story but kept the quote handy, just in case it became relevant.
Which it did following Kansas City’s 44-21 win over Arizona.
One of the game’s biggest highlights was a Mahomes pass going viral online. Afterward, I watched a replay on my laptop. Then watched it again.
And then had a flashback when I thought back to that hot summer day in St. Joseph.
Mahomes — six weeks ago — had called his shot.
Through Mahomes’ eyes
When Mahomes completed a 35-yard pass to Travis Kelce to start the third quarter against Arizona, many football analysts were wowed by the touch Mahomes put on such a deep pass.
“This is just an absolute seed,” former NFL quarterback JT O’Sullivan said on a video breakdown.
“Mahomes. Insane,” added former pro QB Chris Simms, talking about the throw on Twitter.
So what did Mahomes see that led him to attempt the throw?
He explained during Tuesday’s media session.
“It was a play where it was designed where kind of look at Mecole (Hardman), and then reset to Kelc. And he was running to the spot, and I’ve run that play a lot — throwing those balls to the Kelc,” Mahomes said. “So I just trusted him and threw it to the spot. I think it was 47, the linebacker’s head was turned, so I knew it was going to be tough for him to make that play. And luckily, he didn’t turn around fast enough, and Kelce made a great catch.”
The closest Chiefs player on the sideline to Kelce’s reception was third-string quarterback Shane Buechele, who had positioned himself deep down the field to get a better angle of Arizona’s defense.
His thought on Mahomes’ throw that landed in Kelce’s arms in front of him?
“(Patrick) was lights-out on that first drive coming out of the second half,” Buechele said, “but that ball was ... that was pretty awesome.”
‘The best of both worlds’
Mahomes’ 34-second answer from August is best broken up into five parts, which in sum make up his complete response.
Remember, he’s talking six weeks ago during training camp and before the Chiefs’ first preseason game some 12 days later.
So what was his favorite pass concept?
Let’s break it down ... while cross-referencing Mahomes’ 35-yard pass to Kelce in Sunday’s win.
1. “I love the deep-crossing-type routes ... “
2. “ ... just because when you have a guy like Kelce or JuJu (Smith-Schuster) running across the field with speed like Marquez (Valdes-Scantling) and Mecole (Hardman) on the outside, it’s kind of the best of both worlds. ... “
3. “ ... We call them, ‘Good versus all plays.’ There’s always a way to find a window to throw those type of routes ... “
4. “And so the ways that you can disguise those and get those in the playbook, especially off what we call run-pass action, where it looks like it’s a run and we go back to a pass ... I think it opens up holes. ... “
5. “That’s what I think Kelce has made a living on, is even when it’s not supposed to be open, he usually finds that window you can throw to, and it’s not even the right coverage.”
Perhaps there was a reason for Mahomes’ confidence on this particular snap.
If we take him at his word ... the play was hand-picked.
This story was originally published September 15, 2022 at 11:47 AM.
