Mahomes Details 2 Big-Time Throws From Sunday’s Win

Q: On the back-shoulder TD pass to Rashee Rice:

MAHOMES: “The back-shoulder touchdown, obviously we’re in that situation we’re happy to be in the end zone and got a matchup with Rashee one-on-one. We worked on that throw all offseason. To be able to do that in the season kind of like we did in the preseason (against the Bears) was good to see.”

Q: On the no-look pass to Rice just before the two-minute warning in the first half:

MAHOMES: “The no-look one, I wanted to throw it to Rashee the whole time but Xavier (Worthy) was holding that flat defender with his release. So, the corner was in between and so just holding and putting it in the spot at the right time. But obviously he (Rice) catches the ball and gets up and gets the first down.”

Q: On the first-quarter fourth down play in which cameras caught him in an acting job, verbally complaining that trying to draw opponents offsides never works:

MAHOMES: “I think it comes from all my State Farm commercials. I’m joking. Nags (Matt Nagy) actually came up with the idea. We had talked about doing the hard count and trying to draw the teams offsides. I can’t remember who I watched do it a couple years ago and they had said that.

“I was like, ‘I’m going to use that as part of my acting to try and get the defense relaxed a little bit. At the end of the day, we still got to go get it, and the offensive line did a great job of driving off the ball and then Kareem (Hunt) in those situations is money.”

Q: How do you practice those plays?

MAHOMES: “I don’t want to get too far into the weeds but there’s stuff that we do, everybody is on the same page, and we know when we’re acting and when we’re not acting and all the different type of stuff and plays off it. That’s just kind of what you have to do in order to be a step ahead in this league.”

Q: On how much of the playbook the Chiefs were going to open for Rashee Rice.

MAHOMES: “He said it when he said the EGE thing (everybody gotta eat). We have a lot of weapons. We have a lot of guys; they all love each other. They all want each other to succeed. Having him and Trav (Kelce) working underneath with Hollywood (Brown) and Hollywood downfield, Tyquan (Thornton) downfield, Xavier downfield. You don’t know where it‘s coming from. JuJu (Smith-Schuster) is out there making plays happen.

“Guys are just ready to go out there and when they get their opportunity, they’re going to make the plays and you saw that throughout the entire game. Everybody made plays. It might be one guy’s game one game, and then it might be another guy’s game the next game. But as long as we’re getting better all together, we can go out there and have a lot of success.”

Q: On the defense complementing the offense.

MAHOMES: “One-hundred percent. It gives us a lot of confidence. It gives me confidence I can make some of the throws that I try to make sometimes because I know that the defense is going to get stops. At the same time, I have to be smart in certain situations, and in the second half I think you saw that.

“Once you get the lead, you know that they’re going to shut the door. Be smart but be aggressive. But they’re playing at a high level as well so we got to keep building. We want to be better than what we are right now. This was a great step in the right direction but we gotta keep building as a whole team.”

Q: How long has it been since the defense and offense have both been playing this well at the same time?

MAHOMES: “I think there has been points throughout these last few years, but I think this is probably the most consistent that we’ve seen that we’ve been able to stack games together. Obviously, our record is still not where we want it to be but you can see from the offense and defense, we’ve had bright moments in this season.

“And now it seems like we’re coming together as a team. That’s what you want to do is be a team as the season goes on and keep getting better. We’re still early and we have everything out in front of us. How can we be better this next week going up against a good football team (Washington)?”

Q: On Xavier Worthy’s contested catch and whether he saw the penalty flag.

MAHOMES: “I saw the flag. I was going to throw to Xavier anyways and then he got tackled. I started to run, and I saw the flag come in and seeing him get tackled, and then I just gave him a chance to make a play.

“You’ve seen – Xavier might be skinny, I guess, and fast -- but he makes contested catches. He’s more than just a fast receiver that runs down the field. He can do everything. Like the AFC Championship Game against the Bills, you throw the ball up there, he can go up there and make plays. Give him a chance, he goes up there and makes a play happen and that’s the type of players we got.”

Q: On how the offense still is playing well despite the offensive line missing players.

MAHOMES: “They heard all the talk, too, over the offseason. Over the offseason, they took it upon themselves to get better. We added guys and those guys have played well whenever they’re in there – Josh (Simmons), Jaylon (Moore). But Mike’s (Caliendo) always gave us great snaps. Wanya’s (Morris) always gave us great snaps, so whenever their number gets called, they’re ready to go.

“They have a pride of they’re going to show everybody who they are, who they truly are and you’ve seen it throughout this season. Everybody’s going to look at the stats and the receivers, and my stats, but it all starts up front and I truly believe that. When they play like that, we can go out there and score on anybody.”

Q: On the trick play in the red zone, with Gardner Minshew, called back due to false start.

MAHOMES: “Man, dude. We had talked about through the week if I should do the cadence or if he (Minshew) should do the cadence. And we decided I should. Obviously, we should’ve let him do it because it was going to be a walk-in touchdown. And I wanted to get Gardner a touchdown, man, especially against those guys.

“Sucks that we didn’t get to make it happen but the creativity by the coaches of putting us in that situation where I’m the distraction and we’re giving the ball underneath. I watched it on film and it looked like it was going to be a walk-in. We’ll be better with the cadence the next time we do it.”

Q: What was the process of building trust with Rashee Rice again?

MAHOMES: “I have a good sense for Rashee, man. Ever since he’s played, I got a good sense of his – I don’t know if it’s a body language thing or what it is. There was a couple here and there you saw where we were a little off, on stuff that we worked through because of that time we didn’t get throughout the season.

“When it comes to the way he moves and the way he runs routes, I have a good feel for when he wants the football and where I need to throw it to. He’s been working. Even though it’s not in the building, he kept himself in shape and you saw it out there today.”

Q: On the value of reading players’ body language.

MAHOMES: “These last few years have built up for this, for us. If it’s Xavier, if it’s Rashee. Those guys have had to take bigger roles than young receivers have in our offense with injuries and stuff like that. You get those valuable reps in these high-leverage moments in playoffs and stuff like that. Whenever they come back, man, you just have a good feel for them and how they run routes and their indicators of their routes. That’s stuff that I have with Trav (Kelce) and I’ve had with other receivers before, but I have a good feel for those guys and what they’re doing.”