KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) The Kansas City Chiefs faced a crucial third-and-long with just under two minutes to go, clinging to a 33-28 lead over the Baltimore Ravens and hoping to put the game away.
Patrick Mahomes dropped back to pass, looked left and lured the entire defense that direction, then flicked the ball the other direction. Backup running back Darrel Williams had slipped out the back side and was open, taking the screen pass for a first down and clinching the Chiefs 3-0 start.
It wasnt Andy Reids call, though. Or a brilliant move by offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy.
That was Pats play, Reid said. He has the whole game plan and Saturday night we go through it and we hit those type of situations What would you like? and we ask each quarterback what they would like if it was this situation. So, its a four-minute situation, third-and-10, and so that was his play for that situation, but that was already in the game plan.
The ability of Mahomes to recognize what the Ravens were doing on defense, digest the magnitude of the situation and make the right call represents another step in his development.
He doesnt just take the call from the sideline anymore. He understands why the calls are made, why they are designed the way they are, and what situations are best to use them.
Its actually a pretty cool story, said Mahomes, the reigning league MVP, who threw for 374 yards and three TDs against the Ravens. It just shows that every detail matters. We talked about that play the night before and you think people would let that go after not calling it for a couple years now, but we had it prepared, we called it and we succeeded.
Thats not all that went into such a seemingly simple play.
We set it up last week (against Oakland) by running the little pump-pass out there and so we knew, especially with the Ravens they had a good veteran group of guys they saw the formation and thought we were going that way, Mahomes explained, and we were kind of able to slip out the back.
WHATS WORKING
The passing offense. The rushing offense. Special teams. Heck, even the defense is playing pretty well, holding the Ravens Lamar Jackson in check most of the way Sunday. A good chunk of his numbers came in the fourth quarter, when he was trying to rally Baltimore from a 30-13 hole.
WHAT NEEDS HELP
The Chiefs suspect secondary fared well against the Ravens, leaving the defensive line as the only group that underwhelmed. Mark Ingram eclipsed 100 yards rushing and scored three TDs, and more than once the Kansas City defensive ends lost containment and Jackson was able to get loose.
When youre looking at a guy who got all the comparisons to the best running quarterbacks of our time and the past, its very hard, the Chiefs Frank Clark said. He gave us all he could do and we found a way as a defense. Our offense kept putting up points, kept doing what they had to do. Pat had another amazing day and were just playing great team football right now.
STOCK UP
