How a simple Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes play changed the Chiefs’ offense in Vegas
Patrick Mahomes threw a ball to Travis Kelce on Sunday that he felt like changed everything. Could sense it in the moment, too.
The introduction to a 31-17 Chiefs win against the Raiders in Las Vegas featured a double-digit deficit — a moment in which, man, the Chiefs just needed something. And why wouldn’t that something be yet another example of the best connection in franchise history?
Oh, but not that example.
Yes, Mahomes made one of his best throws of the year Sunday, though he would comically later criticize it, a dime that will be on the highlight loop.
But that’s not where this is headed. The best outing from the Chiefs offense in several weeks began with a different play — a play that will almost certainly escape the highlight loop.
Same connection, though.
Early in the second quarter, with the Chiefs stuck on zero through two drives, Mahomes opened the third possession by botching a screen pass to Rashee Rice. The first eight offensive snaps had then totaled 13 yards, and it was every bit as ugly as that statistic indicates.
So Mahomes figured he’d look for something easy, even as all of the early returns showed it might be in a night in which virtually nothing would come easy. He took the snap in the shotgun, planted and immediately fired to his left. A quick route to, you guessed it, Kelce.
The objective was to gain a chunk. Just set up a manageable third down. But Kelce turned up field and got 12 yards and a first.
And, well, that’s it. That’s the entire play.
Yet...
“That jumpstarted the whole entire offense,” Mahomes said.
Sure, the Chiefs would score a touchdown to cap that drive, and another touchdown on the next possession, and then one the next and one last touchdown two drives after that. It’s their best streak of the season — their only streak with three consecutive drives that traveled at least 70 yards.
All sparked by a 12-yard completion.
Why? Because it provided the Chiefs a feeling that has escaped them for more than a month.
Rhythm.
On the back of the easy.
The Chiefs put up a lot of points Sunday, but if you’re looking for some positive signs beyond the scoreboard, stay with me here. Truth be told, I don’t know if the offense has actually turned a corner — the Raiders defense is better than people think, though — but I do know it was more than the point total that looked different in Las Vegas.
It’s notable that the Chiefs did not use the assistance of field position or turnovers from the defense. They did not have a couple of explosive plays to inflate the total. They had to march down the length of the field time and again, and they did it with chunk play after chunk play — you know, same as the rest of the league will make them prove they can do.
How? With the simple stuff.
When Mahomes mentioned that Kelce completion, I’d asked him to pick out the play that stood out most from the first half. That’s the one he chose. Immediately, too.
“I think the short pass I did to Travis on second down was huge,” he said, also noting that they had to beat good coverage.
That’s illustrative of just how tough things have been for this offense — how atypically tough things have been for this offense. They aren’t waiting for a literal or figurative Hail Mary to turn things around.
It just wants to execute the simple plays.
And to make the simple ones enough.
What’s that look like? Well, it’s throwing a 4-yard drag route to Rashee Rice over the middle on 3rd-and-6, and watching him beat man-to-man to not only pick up the extra two yards to the sticks but the entire 39 for the end zone. It’s converting short yardage with the most basic of requirements — the interior line creates enough push for the running back to find a crease. And, yes, it’s turning a quick throw to the tight end into 12 yards and a first down.
It’s, at long last, placing them all in the same sequence.
Everything has looked so difficult recently that I’ve harped on the lack of downfield passes for weeks now. But the Chiefs put up 31 points without completing a single pass that traveled 20 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. Ask yourself to name the five biggest offensive plays of the game. I’ll spot you Rice’s 39-yard score. But beyond that? I’m picking 3rd-and-1 conversions. Really.
We’ve seen Mahomes make a career out of erasing double-digit deficits. The NFL has literally never seen anyone do it better. He’s 15-11 in his career when trailing by 10-plus; among all of the Mahomesian numbers, that might be the most ridiculous.
In the past, this column might have mentioned that, oh, look, he did it again.
Now? Look at what they can do.
But most importantly? Look at how.
They can make it look easy again.
Because that’s where it started: Executing the easy.
This story was originally published November 27, 2023 at 6:00 AM.