In an exciting NFL Kickoff Sport Thursday night time, the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs held on to defeat the Baltimore Ravens by a last rating of 27-20. Lamar Jackson and the Ravens drove deep into Chiefs’ territory on their last place, however on the final play of the sport, a would-be landing move to Isaiah Seemingly was dominated incomplete, after critiques confirmed the Baltimore tight finish had a toe on the tip line.
Now, it’s true that no soccer recreation comes all the way down to a single play and wins and losses are decided by all sixty minutes of motion. However Thursday night time’s recreation had a number of crucial performs that, had they gone one other means, may have altered the result.
One such play? A completion to Patrick Mahomes to … Patrick Mahomes within the fourth quarter.
Let’s set the stage. The Chiefs had the soccer and the lead and had been hoping to salt the victory away with one final first down. Going through 2nd and eight on their very own 42-yard line with slightly below three minutes remaining, Kansas Metropolis ran rookie operating again Carson Steele on a counter run to the left aspect. Nevertheless, Roquan Smith sliced by the offensive line and blew the play up, as Baltimore tackled the rookie operating again for a lack of two on the play:
That arrange a third and 10, and instantly after the sort out, the Ravens took their third and last outing. With 2:36 remaining, a primary down for Kansas Metropolis ends the sport. Nevertheless, if Baltimore can get another cease on third down, they’ll at the very least get the soccer again, however missing any time-outs every second shall be valuable.
On the following third-down play, Andy Reid put the soccer in Mahomes’ palms, calling for a three-level passing idea. Speedy rookie Xavier Worthy runs a vertical route, tight finish Travis Kelce runs an intermediate crosser, and Rashee Rice runs the shallow crosser beneath.
Mahomes, after dealing with some strain within the pocket and sliding to his proper, targets Rice on the crosser. However whereas Rice is breaking open, Mahomes’ move is deflected into the air by Baltimore linebacker Trenton Simpson, and immediately the sport — and the soccer — hand within the steadiness:
Each Simpson and Ravens move rusher Odafe Oweh are within the neighborhood of the throw, however it’s Mahomes who outjumps the pair of Baltimore defenders, pulling within the soccer for a crucial two-yard achieve.
Why was this a crucial play for Kansas Metropolis? First, it prevented an interception, which might have given the Ravens the soccer in Kansas Metropolis territory with over two minutes remaining, permitting Baltimore one probability to cease the clock.
Which ends up in the second level.
Mahomes may have merely knocked this ball down to stop the interception. However that may have stopped the clock and compelled the Chiefs to punt earlier than the two-minute warning. Nevertheless, by catching the move Mahomes saved the sport clock operating, permitting the Chiefs to bleed virtually 30 extra seconds off the clock. As you’ll be able to see — and listen to — from the published angle, the whistle blew on the play with the clock studying 2:27 remaining:
Kansas Metropolis ran these 27 seconds off the clock, all the way down to the two-minute warning. Then they punted on the opposite aspect of the two-minute warning, forcing the Ravens to start their last drive of the sport with simply 1:50 remaining, no timeouts, and needing to drive 87 yards to attain.
Baltimore got here shut ultimately, however their last sequence of the sport may have performed out in another way if the Ravens had virtually 30 extra seconds to function with.
Making Mahomes’ completion to himself one of many greater performs of the sport.
