Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes twice showed off his football IQ on backward passes
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes reacted instantly to backward pass, showing awareness.
- Officials first ruled throw incomplete, but replay confirmed a backwards fumble.
- Mahomes’ situational IQ outpaced teammates and officials during live play review.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ football IQ remains one of the highest in the NFL.
Mahomes seemingly always knows when a teammate has scored his first NFL touchdown. There are a lot of videos of Mahomes making sure to get a football while said teammate celebrates.
During the Chiefs’ game against the Giants on “Sunday Night Football” at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, we saw that football IQ on display again. Only this time it was when Mahomes threw a pass that only he seemed to realize traveled backward.
The game officials ruled that Mahomes threw an incomplete pass to running back Isiah Pacheco. For some reason Pacheco threw the ball forward and it went into the arms of guard Kingsley Suamataia.
As that was unfolding, Mahomes was obviously aware that it was a live ball. The Giants challenged the forward pass ruling from Mahomes, and it was ruled a Mahomes fumble that was recovered by Pacheco at the Chiefs’ 24.
Here is the play — and keep your eye on Mahomes as he seems to realize that it wasn’t an incomplete pass while no one else on the field did.
“I knew immediately it was backwards, you could tell I was running to recover the ball even though they had blown the whistle,” Mahomes told reporters after the game.
‘That was a great tackle’
After the Giants tied the game at 6-6 with less than 2 minutes left in the first half, Mahomes was pressured and tried to throw a pass to Pacheco.
Unfortunately for Mahomes, that pass also was backwards and Giants linebacker Bobby Okereke recovered the ball. But Mahomes never gave up on the play and managed to steal the ball from Okereke, who is 6-1 and 236 pounds.
It was a 7-yard loss for the Chiefs, but it could have been so much worse if Mahomes didn’t get the ball back.
“I will say it was a great tackle,” Mahomes told reporters. “I’ll pride myself, that was a big-time tackle. I’m not gonna try to do that again. We’ll throw the ball forward from now on.”
This story was originally published September 21, 2025 at 8:29 PM.
