KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Less than two weeks after executing his trick in practice, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes pulled off his first ever behind-the-back pass in a game during the opening quarter of the team’s preseason game against the Detroit Lions.
In a third-and-3 snap in the Lions’ territory, Mahomes executed a play-action fake to fullback Carson Steele before he swung his right arm around his back while moving to his right to create the ideal angle for such a wild pass. Tight end Travis Kelce caught the ball and moved forward for an eight-yard gain. Kelce celebrated the highlight by standing up and using both of his index fingers to point to Mahomes, who simply jogged back into the huddle as if he wasn’t one of the rare quarterbacks in league history to complete such a pass.
MAHOMES BEHIND THE BACK 🫢
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Mahomes later said on NFL Network that Kelce “didn’t run the route he was supposed to run.”
“And then it was kind of a behind-the-back pass … because I was mad,” Mahomes told color analyst Trent Green. “I was pissed off at Travis. He was supposed to run a flat route. … 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 gonna be a highlight.”
When asked if he improvised the throw, Mahomes said, “One hundred percent.”
“That’s what I’ve been saying to everybody: It can’t be planned,” he said. “It’s just got to naturally happen kind of in the groove of things. … It wasn’t like I planned that at all.”
Kelce, however, also shared his side on the NFL Network broadcast, saying, “No, it was a play.”
“You know he’s got the voice thing,” Kelce said, ribbing Mahomes and imitating his voice. “So he kind of mumbled out the play. I couldn’t hear it. I was walking up to the line, I was trying to decipher what he was saying. Before I knew it, he snapped the ball and then I kind of saw him out of my peripheral run to the sideline so I was trying to go help my guy out.
“By the time I got over there, he was already in mid-form like a photo on a sports card throwing the ball to me. So it was just I guess right place at the right time.”
Many fans, whether watching on TV or inside Arrowhead Stadium, didn’t realize Mahomes completed his behind-the-back pass until the feat was shown on replay.
A week ago, in one of the Chiefs’ last training camp practices, Mahomes perfectly executed a nifty behind-the-back pass to running back Isiah Pacheco during a red zone team period, the repetition ending in a short-yardage touchdown. One of the reasons Mahomes attempted the behind-the-back pass was because the Chiefs’ defense blitzed. Safety Chamarri Conner attacked from the edge to take away Mahomes’ option of running with the ball on the perimeter. Mahomes responded by jumping to give him the proper angle for his creative pass. Pacheco expected the pass, too. He caught the ball, spun to his right and entered the end zone untouched.
“It was cool that I completed it,” Mahomes said Thursday. “You want to get it in a live-type of atmosphere — and that’s as live as you’re going to get in practice.”
Mahomes first started experimenting with a behind-the-back pass during the 2018 season, when he attempted the feat in practices, ones that were closed to fans and during team periods that were not observed by reporters.
“The first thing he said was, ‘I’ve been telling you to do that for a while; That’s one of the plays I’ve been telling you that you can do it,’” Mahomes said Thursday of coach Andy Reid’s reaction. “He’s all for it. It’s me who’s the one that’s hesitant to do it in a game.”
After a successful execution of his trick, Mahomes could be even more confident to use his unorthodox throwing motion in the Chiefs’ upcoming regular season, perhaps as early as the team’s season opener on Sept. 5 against the Baltimore Ravens or at some point later in the season.
“There definitely is a possibility of it,” Mahomes said Thursday while smiling. “If you do it, it’s got to work.”
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(Photo: David Eulitt / Getty Images)
