KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes was rolling to his right during the first half of the Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason game against the Detroit Lions on Saturday when he noticed Travis Kelce running the wrong route.
So Mahomes just threw the pass to his mean, trusty tight end — from behind.
The audacious pass was the highlight of an otherwise forgettable preseason game in which Mahomes threw for 93 yards on two spectacular passes, but the Lions won 24-23 on Jake Bates’ 43-yard field goal with no time left.
“I always said it was just going to come naturally,” said Mahomes, who had tried the behind-the-back pass in practice but never in a game. “I knew it was going to hit the basket. It was just low. But like I said, I didn’t do it to look cool. I did it because I was mad at (Kelce) and I was like, why did he run that route? And it worked.”
Mahomes completed 8 of 14 passes through the air against a Lions reserve defense and led the Chiefs to two field goals and Kansas City to one in last week’s preseason opener against the Jaguars.
But perhaps none will be more memorable than the behind-the-back pass to Kelce as Detroit defensive lineman Josh Pascal began closing in on him.
Kelce reached out to catch the pass, and the completion on third-and-3 at the Detroit 33 led to a first down and the eventual field goal.
“He does it every day in practice,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “If it works, that’s good.”
Video of the pass quickly went viral, with Kelce’s brother, former Eagles center Jason Kelce, tweeting, “That dude did it!” and Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas adding, “It was unnecessary but beautiful!”
Carson Wentz took over for Mahomes, completing 5 of 10 passes for 31 yards and a touchdown pass to Xavier Worthy.
The speedy first-round draft pick out of Texas had three catches for 62 yards and a score, plus 11 rushing yards.
Lions coach Dan Campbell opted to bench his starters for the second preseason game, just as he did last year against the Jaguars.
Campbell didn’t specify game plans earlier last week, but canceled a scrimmage scheduled for Wednesday after the team suffered a number of injuries in training camp.
Nate Sudfeld completed 14 of 27 passes for 196 yards, one touchdown and one interception as he tried to secure his spot as the backup behind Detroit starter Jared Goff. Hendon Hooker, who returned after suffering a concussion last week against the Giants, completed 12 of 15 passes for 150 yards and one touchdown as he tried to get ahead in the race.
The Lions’ special teams maintained their preseason form for much of the game.
They fumbled the ball on the kickoff return and three plays later Wentz passed to Worthy for a TD strike.
Hay also fumbled on a punt return and Bates missed the extra point.
And once again, Bates delivered the winning kick for the Lions.
“That’s a big kick,” Campbell said. “Two weeks in a row. He made the 53-yarder (against the Giants last week), he made the 55-yarder and then he made the game-winner. Every time he does something like that, it just gives you a little bit more confidence in him.”
