‘You’re not going to stop that’: Andy Reid on the stuff that makes Patrick Mahomes

Midway through the second quarter on Thursday night, the Chiefs faced third and 12 near midfield. With his first options snarled up, quarterback Patrick Mahomes suddenly had two Baltimore defenders in his grill and a third descending on him.

Or maybe that was just a hologram of Mahomes.

Because next thing you know, the would-be tacklers essentially were left grasping at air. And Mahomes roamed free to his right and uncorked a pass to Travis Kelce, who wasn’t even supposed to be on that side of the field when the play began but was in sync in the scramble … as ever.

The play was good for 23 yards, and it was a fittingly Mahomes-ian flourish to meet the moment:

Another of his mind-meld connections with Kelce broke the franchise career passing yardage record of the immortal Len Dawson (28,057). And it helped the Chiefs maneuver into field-goal range on the way to a 27-20 victory over the visiting Ravens in the NFL’s season opener.

When I asked Mahomes if he could explain his getaway, he smiled and said, “I’m deceptively fast. … I’m not fast, but I’m deceptively fast. So I think it’s the way I run. People will take bad angles.”

It was a moment to treasure in a mesmerizing victory marked by rookie Xavier Worthy’s two exhilarating touchdowns, a handful of absolutely crucial defensive plays and the centimeter or so that Baltimore’s Isaiah Likely was out of bounds in the back of the end zone on the final play of the game.

The ever-respectful Mahomes has enormous reverence for Dawson, who died in 2022, calling him “a true icon” he was happy to meet many times, and from whom he enjoyed taking advice. Because he feels honored by the association, he’ll keep the ball from the play on which he passed Dawson in his trophy room as a reminder of the connection he feels.

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But if that play represents the glitz of Mahomes, who has amassed 28,715 career passing yards after throwing for 291 against the Ravens, it was a later play that embodies the grit of Mahomes that said as much or more about his transformative powers.

On Isiah Pacheco’s 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, Mahomes barged into the back of the scrum to try to help Pacheco across.

“He did?” guard Trey Smith said. “I didn’t know that.”

Not that Mahomes wasn’t a factor on the play. While he said he didn’t know if he gave Pacheco all that much, he reckoned he moved him enough to help him fall through into the end zone.

“So I felt like I scored a touchdown as well,” Mahomes joked, adding that he figured he should get credit for at least half.

Playful as he was being about the valiant but mostly ill-considered gesture, he also was just matter-of-fact about why: “We needed that touchdown, so I just put my body on the line to get in there.”

That moment. and that state of mind, resonated once more around the locker room.

Because it speaks to the intangible aspects of Mahomes that geometrically multiply his absurd talent.

It’s “the separator,” said Smith, later speaking for many when he added, “I don’t want him doing that. But at the same time … it’s awesome.”

Beyond the arm, beyond his brainiac mind and uncanny spatial awareness and array of deliveries, Mahomes’ indomitable will distinguishes him from about any of his peers.

And that’s compounded by the impact it has on teammates.

“It just shows you what type of competitor he is and how much he wants to win,” Smith said. “And why he’s the franchise, and why he’s going to go down as one of the greatest of all time.”

Said center Creed Humphrey: “He’s going to do whatever it takes to win. I mean, most quarterbacks aren’t going to get in that pile like that and try to move it. … I love his competitiveness.”

From that play to the record-breaker earlier to the pass Mahomes caught from himself (on a batted ball) that helped the Chiefs keep the clock running, that’s the constant.

In the offseason, that’s the constant.

And when it comes to any of the crucibles the Chiefs will face, particularly in the postseason, it’s the quality that most makes Mahomes and the Chiefs the scourge of the NFL.

We’ve seen it many times before, including the whole cracked-helmet bit against Miami last postseason that left receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling saying Mahomes would “go out there and play with no helmet and no facemask if he had to.”

And you can bet we’ll see that sort of heavy mettle plenty more down the road.

But witnessing it on Thursday made for a tone-setting statement about this season, declaring that anyone who might think Mahomes is complacent after leading the Chiefs to four Super Bowls in five seasons (and winning three of them) is seriously misguided.

Even if Mahomes remembered coach Andy Reid telling him never to do that again when he tried it a few years back and was hit by an offensive lineman from behind, and figured Reid would convey the same point ASAP ...

And even if Reid probably didn’t like it all that much Thursday ...

The spirit of what into it is what makes Mahomes such a phenomenon.

When I asked Reid about the play late Thursday night, he nodded and slowly said “yeah” twice with a thin, wry smile that hinted at both wonder and exasperation.

“I was hoping he would keep his legs out of the way,” Reid said, pausing and adding, “And arm.”

When I suggested he obviously didn’t want Mahomes to do that but that it perhaps spoke to his character, Reid smiled and shrugged a couple times and said, “That’s how he is. I mean, you’re not going to stop that. I don’t recommend it, but he’s a competitor.”

On a tier of his own in more ways than one.