Chiefs controversial play call on final offensive drive vs. Raiders was the right decision despite not working
The Kansas City Chiefs' defense sealed the win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday (with some help from the fans live in attendance), but the offense had the opportunity to do so on the previous drive. Facing a third-and-two situation from the Las Vegas 44-yard line with just over two minutes left in the […]
The Kansas City Chiefs' defense sealed the win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Friday (with some help from the fans live in attendance), but the offense had the opportunity to do so on the previous drive.
Facing a third-and-two situation from the Las Vegas 44-yard line with just over two minutes left in the game, most people likely expected the Chiefs to try to pick up the first down by running the ball. However, quarterback Patrick Mahomes ran a play-action fake and threw the ball deep to rookie wide receiver Xavier Worthy.
Worthy had his man beat, but Mahomes overthrew the pass. Mahomes felt a bit of pressure from the Raiders' pass rush, but got the throw off cleanly. When asked after the game about the decision to throw the ball in that situation, Mahomes said that he had a couple of different plays to choose from, and the coverage that the Raiders showed before the snap called for him to take the deep shot.
"They gave me the choice when I went out there," Mahomes said. "We called the play with some options, and we got the exact coverage that we wanted. We had a nine-man type protection that we're going to get, and just let Xavier win one-on-one. We got Cover-0 type coverage, and he (Worthy) won. I've just got to find a way to make the throw."
This is a classic example of when something works, it's genius, but, if it doesn't, it's terrible. The fact is, a running play against that defensive alignment likely gets stuffed and doesn't result in a first down. Worthy beat his man, and if Mahomes delivers an accurate pass to him for a touchdown, everyone loves it.
Mahomes and Worthy have had chemistry issues for most of the season, particularly on deep passes. Whether it's Mahomes misfiring to an open Worthy, or Worthy not having proper field awareness, they've been a disappointing duo thus far. Fortunately, there' still five games to go in the regular season for them to get on the same page.
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes refused to throw struggling player under the bus after bad performance vs. Raiders
Not playing the blame game.
