Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a specific message for tight end Travis Kelce in the huddle: Just get into field-goal range.
This was late in the second quarter of the Chiefs’ 26-13 home win against the New Orleans Saints, and Mahomes told Kelce he would pass it to him on third-and-21 from the New Orleans 43. The hope was for a nice, safe play to get into kicker Harrison Butker’s field-goal range.
And then …
“He underhand shoveled it across the entire field,” Mahomes said, just moments after shaking his head in the postgame news conference when asked about the play.
So much for listening to the QB’s advice. Mahomes said speaking to his 35-year-old teammate was sometimes similar to his home life.
“It’s like I’m talking to Sterling,” Mahomes said with a laugh, referencing his 3-year-old daughter.
Kelce’s magic still worked somehow. After gaining five yards, he flung a pitch backward to running back Samaje Perine, who ran another 15 yards down the sideline for a 20-yard gain.
It led to fourth-and-1, where running back Kareem Hunt gained two yards for a first down to set up an eventual Butker field goal at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
And though Kelce often flashes this skill in practice, it takes much more courage to attempt it in a game.
“He does a great job with the decision to do that or not do it,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of Kelce’s laterals. “If he doesn’t do well with it, don’t come back to the bench.”
Reid was joking there, but Perine was not when asked about the snap in front of his locker after the game. The running back’s original responsibility was to help block an edge rusher, but then he saw Kelce move upfield and decided to trail him … just in case.
“It was not scripted. I can tell you that much,” Perine said of the lateral. “I saw him do it a couple times. He does it in practice. So I was like, ‘Let me stay in phase, just in case.’ And sure enough, saw him switch the ball and wind his arm back. And I was just ready for it.”
Rookie tight end Jared Wiley could sense the momentum change on the field.
The team had lost some of its liveliness then after a pair of penalties, with Kelce’s creativity providing a quick spark that also brought the fans back into it.
“Anytime you see a really cool play, especially one like that, that’s kind of off-script, I guess you could say, it just brings a lot of happiness and joy,” Wiley said. “A lot of energy to the sideline. And I think that was very much needed at that point in time.”
Kelce, who finished with seven catches for 90 yards, declined interview requests at his locker after the game.
Teammates still had plenty to say about his individual play, which included Perine describing his first year as teammates with Mahomes and Kelce as “fun, entertaining” and “a little bit anxious, because you never know what’s happening.”
“You never know with these guys,” Perine said. “They’re just as good, if not better, off-beat in this offense. So I just have to continue to learn and and continue to get better at doing things off rhythm.”
It’s a new experience for the 10th-year pro Perine, who said he’d never had teammates quite like Mahomes and Kelce — that is, two guys so good with the freelance.
Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow worked hard at that part of his game later in his career, Perine said, and Denver QB Russell Wilson also displayed some of that ability in two-minute situations.
But no one he’d played with compared to Mahomes and Kelce in that regard.
“It’s fun,” Perine said, “but you definitely have to keep your head on a swivel.”
Wiley, meanwhile, said it’s interesting to learn as a rookie under Kelce while fully understanding some of Kelce’s antics are off-limits for others like him.
Mostly, Wiley sees Kelce pick his spots to practice the laterals in workouts. Usually, that happens when the offense is already playing well, as the tight end tries to avoid making Reid angry if he’s not in a good mood to start.
Wiley said Monday’s lateral was much more difficult than Kelce made it look.
“I thought he was about to get smoked, right whenever he did it,” Wiley said. “And so, just to be able to feel — he had like, three guys around him — just to be able to feel that and still have the wherewithal to pitch it and be on time, and it is pinpoint accurate … it’s really impressive.”
Mahomes said he couldn’t remain frustrated with Kelce for long — even after the tight end ignored his advice.
It, after all, was just Travis being Travis.
“He’s a special player,” Mahomes said. “As long as he does it and it works, no one’s going to say anything.”