‘We’re going to score.’ How Patrick Mahomes took over the Chiefs’ game-winning drive
The lead flipped with 103 seconds left Sunday night, and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ initial response was caught on camera. He grabbed a football and tossed some warmup passes back and forth with a teammate. That comprised the response you could see.
It’s what you couldn’t see that illustrated precisely what was on the verge of unfolding. What everybody knew was on the verge on unfolding. Mahomes used the Allegiant Stadium big screen to watch the Raiders take a three-point lead. And as he considered the situation — field goal to tie, touchdown to win — he surmised how it all might finish.
Only one option, he thought.
“That we’re going to score,” Mahomes would later say.
OK, maybe two.
“I just didn’t know if it was going to be overtime or if we were going to win it.”
Seven plays, 75 yards, Travis Kelce over the middle of the field for a touchdown.
Chiefs 35, Raiders 31.
Traveling 75 yards in 103 seconds is not an easy thing to do. At least it shouldn’t be an easy thing to do. But did you really expect anything else? Let’s be honest: it’s the conclusion most of us watching on television saw coming — “I mean was there any doubt on that drive?!?!?! No, there wasn’t,” LeBron James even tweeted.
But that same feeling — stronger, even — overwhelmed the Chiefs sideline. As he considered his timeouts, and as he at least had to ponder allowing the Raiders to score earlier in order to leave his quarterback more time, Chiefs coach Andy Reid shrugged it off.
“I’ve got Pat Mahomes,” he said. “You give me a minute and a half, and I’m good right there. We can roll.”
Mahomes opened the drive with 10 yards to Tyreek Hill. He sidestepped an incompletion. Another 9 yards to Hill. Then 16 more to Mecole Hardman for his first catch of the game.
The Chiefs were already at the Raiders’ 40-yard line, on the verge of field goal range. The clock still showed a minute. Mahomes still had his timeout. The Raiders were on their heels.
At some point, standing on the sideline, Chiefs running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire turned to teammate Darwin Thompson, a moment he would later laugh about, and said, “Man, we have Patrick Mahomes. I’m not worried about anything.”
Mahomes hit Kelce for 15 yards. Inside field-goal range now. Mahomes saved his timeout, called a quick play and swung a pass to running back Darrel Williams. Williams got tripped up in bounds after just three yards, and the Chiefs burned their last timeout with only 34 seconds remaining.
The Chiefs had used 8 minutes and 37 seconds for their first touchdown drive of the second half. They used 5:39 for their next.
But now? Half a minute to travel the final 22 yards.
Plenty of time, they thought.
“One-five is always ready for the moment,” Kelce said, referencing Mahomes by his jersey number: 15.
Coming out of the timeout with 34 seconds left, Mahomes found Kelce standing all alone in the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown that would cap a 75-yard drive in just 1 minute, 15 seconds.
The final play was intended to develop in a different manner. Hill was the No. 1 option. They’d hoped he would be open along the left sideline. Mahomes even considered looking there a second time after it was initially covered. Maybe Hill had beaten his guy.
But Kelce made a move. He saw something. Without hesitation, he knew his quarterback would see it, too.
“I felt an opening on the opposite hash. Might as well go where the void is,” Kelce said. “I feel like I see and I feel what Patrick sees back in the pocket sometimes.
“Sure enough, it was right on the money.”
With time to spare.
Twenty-eight seconds.
Even so, Kelce felt comfortable enough to offer his coach an impromptu massage on the sideline. Wanted to loosen him up after a tense moment, he would explain. He felt like they were in a good spot.
Why?
It’s simple, really. The Raiders didn’t have Mahomes.
“I’d take him over everybody,” Reid said. “I’m lucky to have him.”
This story was originally published November 23, 2020 at 12:24 AM with the headline "‘We’re going to score.’ How Patrick Mahomes took over the Chiefs’ game-winning drive."