There have been plenty of highlight reel moments in NFL superstar Patrick Mahomes’ career – and then there was what happened on Saturday afternoon in Arrowhead Stadium.
On third down and three with 6:16 left in the first quarter of a preseason game against the Detroit Lions, the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback faked a handoff and then threw an audacious behind-the-back pass to tight end Travis Kelce to grab the first down, much to the delight of the home crowd.
While the drive ended in a field goal and Mahomes only ran two series the entire game – which the Chiefs eventually lost 24-23 – it was a moment of magic that the three-time Super Bowl champion said was the product of a mistake.
“Yeah. I mean, long story short, Travis didn’t run the route he was supposed to run and then it was kind of a behind-the-back pass kinda ‘cause I was mad. I was pissed off at Travis,” Mahomes said during an interview in the third quarter, as the TV crew could be heard laughing in the background. “He was supposed to run a flat route, I don’t know if you can hear me on the broadcast, I’m yelling at him and then he doesn’t run it, so out of spite, I threw a behind-the-back pass, but now it’s going to be a highlight.”
“100% [it was improv]. That’s what I’ve been trying to say to everybody, it can’t be planned. It’s gotta be just naturally happening, kinda in the groove of things, and so I actually forgot about it until halftime, someone actually brought it up to me. It wasn’t like I planned it at all or it wasn’t a called play, it just kinda happened.”
“I was just like, ‘Gosh, darn it, Travis,’ and I threw it behind my back and it worked out for us.”
Kelce, meanwhile, refused to accept blame and playfully shot back at his QB during another in-game interview to the NFL Network.
“You know he’s got the voice thing,” Kelce said, nasally mumbling to the interviewer in a Mahomes impression, and then continuing on, “and so he kind of mumbled out the play [and] I couldn’t hear it. I was walking up to the line, I was like trying to decipher what he was saying and before I knew it, he snapped the ball.
“And then I saw him out of my peripheral, ‘Run to the sideline,’ and so I was trying to go help my guy out and by the time I looked over there, he was already in mid-form like a photo on a sports card and throwing the ball to me, so I guess it was the right place, right time.”
The throw quickly went viral with Kelce’s older brother, recently retired Philadelphia Eagles center Jason, among its fans. The elder Kelce posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, “This son of a gun actually did it!! Magic Mahomes,” before adding in a later post: “Now that it’s been done in the preseason, I got a fever, and I need more cowbell,” referencing the famous Saturday Night Live skit with Christopher Walken and Will Ferrell.
While Mahomes was adamant the play was improvisational and spur of the moment, the two-time NFL MVP said that Chiefs head coach Andy Reid told him to try the play occasionally. The QB has attempted it in practices before, even completing one to Isiah Pacheco recently, but had never thought of doing so in a game.
After the game, Reid said that he wouldn’t mind if Mahomes threw the ball behind-the-back again as long as he completes the throw – though he refused to get into what his reaction would be if the ball ended up being intercepted or incomplete.
“Got to think positive. They do it in basketball every game, several times in every game,” Reid added. “So it’s not that big of a deal [going] behind the back.”
While Mahomes said after the game that he wouldn’t likely be throwing the pass with any regularity, he did take a moment to prematurely evaluate his latest highlight moment.
“It probably looked pretty cool, but I haven’t actually got to see it yet.”
