How Patrick Mahomes’ latest magic act vs. Buccaneers reminded the NFL about Chiefs’ capabilities: ‘He’s the Houdini of our era’

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Travis Kelce has played with Patrick Mahomes for the entirety of the 27-year-old quarterback’s NFL career.

Even still, he came away from the Chiefs’ 41-31 victory over the Buccaneers on “Sunday Night Football” amazed by some of the plays that his quarterback had made.

“The NFL hasn’t seen anything like Pat Mahomes, I promise you that,” Kelce said during his postgame news conference, per ESPN. “And you saw it today. He’s the Houdini of our era, man.”

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Mahomes was, in fact, Houdini-like on the Chiefs’ third touchdown of the game. It saw him scramble backward out of the pocket and eventually run down the right sideline. Just when it looked like he was going to try to run the ball in, he spun away from Devin White and chucked up a quick little jump-shot pass to Clyde Edwards-Helaire in the end-zone for the score.

Below is a look at that play from three different angles.

Chiefs coach Andy Reid gave kudos to Mahomes after the game and joked that his incredible improvisation was “not in our playbook.”

So, how was Mahomes able to make that kind of play? It all came naturally to him.

“I was able to use my speed, my little bit of speed, to get around the edge there. I was gonna run for it, but they kind of flew around me,” he said after the game. “I realized I wasn’t going to make it, and I saw Clyde, so I kind of flicked it up to him.”

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All told, Mahomes scrambled 39.4 yards on the touchdown, per Next Gen Stats. It was the fourth touchdown pass of his career that saw him scramble at least 30 yards before making a throw; since 2018, no other quarterback has more than one.

“I always remind the coaches, don’t take it for granted,” Reid told reporters of Mahomes. “That’s special. You don’t see that very often.”

That play encapsulated what Mahomes was able to achieve for most of the night against the Buccaneers. He was able to use a variety of maneuvers in the pocket to avoid Tampa Bay’s potent pass rush and was sacked just three times. He made numerous quality throws on the run to keep Kansas City’s offense churning in their second 40-plus point outburst of the season.

Additionally, Mahomes used off-base throws and wacky arm angles to get the ball to his receivers around defenders. Because of his flexibility and mobility, he was able to complete 23 of 37 passes for 249 yards, three touchdowns and one late-game interception when the outcome of the contest was already virtually decided.

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Mahomes was certainly happy with his effort in the victory. Still, he couldn’t get over the pain he felt reminiscing about the Chiefs’ Super Bowl 55 loss to the Buccaneers, which had come at Raymond James Stadium.

“When I came into the stadium, I realized that I hadn’t been here, and the bad taste I had last time came into effect,” Mahomes explained.

He got a measure of revenge for that outing in Kansas City’s win, but that still isn’t enough to get rid of that feeling.

“It’s still not a playoff game,” he said. “It’s a regular-season game, which is important. That Super Bowl will always leave a bad taste for me.”

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