The Denver Broncos might be floundering, but they’re still a division rival of the Kansas City Chiefs. They’re still someone the Chiefs (generally) take seriously. They’re still someone the Chiefs feel the need to keep the foot on the gas pedal to finish off.
That’s why when a Kansas City possession halfway through the second quarter stalled, the Chiefs tried for a fake field goal, quarterback sneak. Okay, sure. Except there was one key person missing: Patrick Mahomes.
You might have been wondering why Kansas City didn’t just have Mahomes do a straight QB sneak. That would’ve been the normal play to call in that situation for almost any other team in the league. But they have an excellent reason for not throwing their face of the franchise, best-player-in-football into short-yardage scrums:
The fake FG comes up short!#DENvsKC on Prime Video
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/U9rA3YdBnZ pic.twitter.com/5nGoCs9iiB— NFL (@NFL) October 13, 2023
Ever since he dislocated his kneecap on a sneak during a Thursday night battle with the Broncos, ironically, four years ago, the Chiefs have stopped using Mahomes on such plays. They simply do not believe it is worth the risk of his injury as opposed to trying a tried and true conversion strategy.
For what it’s worth, Mahomes has expressed he wants them back in Kansas City’s playbook, even though Andy Reid has stopped calling them.
“I’ll always want to because I always say that I haven’t got stopped yet,” Mahomes said. “Because even the one that my knee I got hurt on, I still got the first down. But I’m pretty sure he’s not going to let me do it unless it’s like for the Super Bowl, and so I might have to call my own number in the Super Bowl if we get there.”
The Chiefs have a delicate balance to play. Risk injury for Mahomes or risk not converting fourth downs. So far, with two Super Bowl titles in four years, it hasn’t seemed like they’ve had to change their strategy much.