In a thrilling NFL Kickoff Game Thursday night, the Kansas City Chiefs held on to defeat the Baltimore Ravens by a final score of 27-20. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens drove deep into Chiefs’ territory on their final position, but on the last play of the game, a would-be touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely was ruled incomplete, after reviews showed the Baltimore tight end had a toe on the end line.
Now, it is true that no football game comes down to a single play and wins and losses are determined by all sixty minutes of action. But Thursday night’s game had several critical plays that, had they gone another way, could have altered the outcome.
One such play? A completion to Patrick Mahomes to … Patrick Mahomes in the fourth quarter.
Let’s set the stage. The Chiefs had the football and the lead and were hoping to salt the victory away with one last first down. Facing 2nd and 8 on their own 42-yard line with just under three minutes remaining, Kansas City ran rookie running back Carson Steele on a counter run to the left side. However, Roquan Smith sliced through the offensive line and blew the play up, as Baltimore tackled the rookie running back for a loss of two on the play:
That set up a 3rd and 10, and immediately after the tackle, the Ravens took their third and final time out. With 2:36 remaining, a first down for Kansas City ends the game. However, if Baltimore can get one more stop on third down, they will at least get the football back, but lacking any time-outs each second will be precious.
On the ensuing third-down play, Andy Reid put the football in Mahomes’ hands, calling for a three-level passing concept. Speedy rookie Xavier Worthy runs a vertical route, tight end Travis Kelce runs an intermediate crosser, and Rashee Rice runs the shallow crosser underneath.
Mahomes, after facing some pressure in the pocket and sliding to his right, targets Rice on the crosser. But while Rice is breaking open, Mahomes’ pass is deflected into the air by Baltimore linebacker Trenton Simpson, and suddenly the game — and the football — hand in the balance:
Both Simpson and Ravens pass rusher Odafe Oweh are in the vicinity of the throw, but it is Mahomes who outjumps the pair of Baltimore defenders, pulling in the football for a critical two-yard gain.
Why was this a critical play for Kansas City? First, it prevented an interception, which would have given the Ravens the football in Kansas City territory with over two minutes remaining, allowing Baltimore one chance to stop the clock.
Which leads to the second point.
Mahomes could have simply knocked this ball down to prevent the interception. But that would have stopped the clock and forced the Chiefs to punt before the two-minute warning. However, by catching the pass Mahomes kept the game clock running, allowing the Chiefs to bleed almost 30 more seconds off the clock. As you can see — and hear — from the broadcast angle, the whistle blew on the play with the clock reading 2:27 remaining:
Kansas City ran those 27 seconds off the clock, down to the two-minute warning. Then they punted on the other side of the two-minute warning, forcing the Ravens to begin their final drive of the game with just 1:50 remaining, no timeouts, and needing to drive 87 yards to score.
Baltimore came close in the end, but their final sequence of the game could have played out differently if the Ravens had almost 30 more seconds to operate with.
Making Mahomes’ completion to himself one of the bigger plays of the game.
