During the recent episode of the New Heights podcast, Travis and Jason dissected the highlight reel play that Mahomes and his TE pulled off against the Lions in the preseason.
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While discussing the NFL preseason games, Jason highlighted Mahomes and Travis’ novelty behind-the-back pass play, crowning it as the best moment of the preseason.
Joking that it was a broken play, Jason labels it as an insanely cool move that was pure joy to watch. He felt it was the most exciting thing that happened in the preseason aside from the new kickoff rule.
” That was insanely cool to watch live. Good job because you brought that to life, Trav, and good job to Pat. I think that was the most exciting thing that happened all preseason as well as being able to watch new kickoff rule.”
Taking a snap on the Lions’ 33-yard line on third-and-3 in the 1st quarter, Mahomes scrambled to his right and saw Travis Kelce between the defenders. Instead of passing it over the opponents, the two-time threw it behind his back, allowing the Tight End to latch onto the ball and convert it to a first down.
However, Travis during the same episode revealed that it wasn’t a planned play and Mahomes instinctively attempted it because he felt he had no option.
They weren’t goofing around. The 2-time MVP explained that he made that play because Kelce ran the wrong route. Any other attempt to pass the ball would have led to a pass breakup or interception.
While the play excited many, Andy Reid did not react to it during the game. However, he defended Travis when Mahomes threw him under the bus for running the wrong route:
“I know he threw Kelce under the bus. I know he said it was Kelce’s fault. I heard all that. It wasn’t. They play off of each other.”
Reid also felt it wasn’t a big deal as he had seen Patrick do that many times in practice. That being said, such creative plays are Andy Reid’s specialty. However, it requires the exceptional talent of Mahomes and countless hours of training for his players to execute them successfully.
Achieving this level of understanding is challenging if players are not well-acquainted with each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The Chiefs players have been able to accomplish this due to the countless hours they have spent together during their dynastic run.
Despite losing a few players, they have largely maintained this core group and may be able to replicate their success this season.
Chiefs’ Championship Nucleus Still Present: Travis Kelce
This off-season saw the departures of many players who contributed to the consecutive Super Bowl victories. The likes of L’Jaraius Sneed, Marques-Valdes Scantling, Kadarius Toney, and Willie Gay were either released or traded. However, they still managed to retain that championship nucleus according to Travis Kelce.
During the same episode of New Heights, 3x Super Bowl pointed out that they have a very similar team from the last season and are building their march towards a three-peat on that. He stated it had happened for the first time that the team had managed to keep the core together.
These guys have practiced together for a long time and know each other strengths and shortcomings. So you have to get creative even in practice to avoid being predictable.
” We do have a very similar team to last year. It’s been a fun training camp to build on that. It’s really the first time we’ve really come into the season with core group of guys we had the year before. We’ve lost a few guys here and there. But we do have the nucleus still together in KC.”
The defending champs have managed to keep the core intact by extending the likes of Travis Kelce, Mike Danna, Chris Jones, Drue Tranquill, Harrison Butker, Derek Nnadi, etc.
The Patriots during their dynastic runs managed to keep the core intact. However, even they couldn’t do a three-peat. The Chiefs need those together if they want to script history.
