Patrick Mahomes was stuck on third-and-2 in the second quarter of the AFC Championship Game. The Cincinnati Bengals’ four-man rush had crumpled his pocket. The compressed field of a red zone possession left his receivers little room to operate downfield. As Cincinnati sack leader Trey Hendrickson closed in on him, it was a near certainty the Kansas City Chiefs would have to settle for a field goal.
So of course, in true Mahomes fashion, the play ended in a touchdown instead.
The former MVP did a full 360 in the pocket, ran 15 yards behind his line of scrimmage, and somehow found a way to turn a play that looked like this:
into six Kansas City points. After ducking trouble, he threw a dart that found All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce in the end zone to cap yet another unbelievable Chiefs touchdown drive.
WHO ELSE BUT KELCE⁉️
📺: #CINvsKC on CBS pic.twitter.com/MWwHaYcf9N
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 30, 2022
Mahomes bought nearly eight full seconds of time by scrambling out of trouble. It was the longest time he’s ever had to throw a touchdown in his NFL career.
Patrick Mahomes' time to throw on the TD pass to Travis Kelce was 7.94 seconds, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.
That's the longest time to throw on a Mahomes touchdown pass in his NFL career. pic.twitter.com/eQn9TOw8TO
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 30, 2022
That gave Kansas City an early 14-3 lead and a steady advantage in their quest to make it to a third-straight Super Bowl.