hen the Kansas City Chiefs faced a third-and-21 from the New Orleans Saints’ 43-yard line late in the first half of their “Monday Night Football” matchup, quarterback Patrick Mahomes had one goal in mind.
He wanted to get the ball into field-goal range to make Harrison Butker’s eventual attempt as easy as possible.
Travis Kelce had bigger ideas. The veteran tight end caught a 5-yard check-down from Mahomes and ran horizontally across the field before lateralling the ball to running back Samaje Perine.
The toss caught the Saints off-guard and allowed Perine to set up a fourth-and-1 opportunity that the Chiefs eventually converted.
Kelce and Perine’s perfect execution of the play had many wondering whether the play was scripted. Mahomes indicated during his postgame news conference that it was not.
“I’m shaking my head because I told him before the play, I said, ‘I’m gonna throw it to you so we can get in field-goal range,’” Mahomes detailed of his pre-snap conversation with Kelce. “And he underhand shoveled it across the entire field.”
That elicited a chuckle from reporters, as did Mahomes’ comparison of his 35-year-old top target’s risk assessment to that of his 3-year-old daughter.
“It’s like I’m talking to Sterling,” Mahomes said with a smile. “That’s Travis, man. He’s a special player. As long as he does it and it works, no one’s gonna say anything.”
Perine’s awareness certainly aided Kelce’s gamble during the play. The eight-year veteran entered Week 5, having only spent about a month and a half with the Chiefs, but having practiced with Kelce, Perine knew the unscripted lateral was a possibility.
“He does that in practice every day,” Perine said of Kelce. “He’s always ready. You’ve gotta keep your hand on a swivel.”
“It’s like [Kelce’s] playing backyard football,” he added. “To experience it first hand? It was crazy, but it was fun.”
Kelce’s play similarly amused Chiefs coach Andy Reid. He lauded the tight end for practicing it consistently and being judicious about when to break out a surprise lateral.
But Reid also cracked a joke during his postgame news conference, warning Kelce not to get overly generous or lackadaisical with the play.
“If he doesn’t do well with it, I tell him, ‘Don’t come back to the bench,’” Reid quipped.
