After falling behind 24-0 to the Houston Texans on Sunday, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs struck back with a vengeance.
Mahomes and the Chiefs scored four touchdowns in 9 minutes, 55 seconds to take a 28-24 lead going into halftime.
The last of those scores was perhaps the most impressive, thanks to a heads-up play and great spatial awareness by Mahomes.
On 3rd-and-goal from the Texans' 5-yard line, Mahomes was flushed out of the pocket and ran left toward the sideline. After pump-faking a throw, as Mahomes got to the line of scrimmage, he threw a quick dart pass to Travis Kelce in the end zone. It looked initially like Mahomes crossed the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball, which would negate the touchdown.
However, referees reviewed the play, and slow-motion replays showed Mahomes actually stayed behind the line with a clever toe drag, much like a wide receiver would do to stay in-bounds while making a catch.
Watch the play below:
—Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) January 12, 2020
As Tony Romo noted, a quarterback's whole body must pass the line of scrimmage for the play to be illegal. Mahomes dragging his toe kept him from breaking the plane.
The NFL world was impressed.
—PFF (@PFF) January 12, 2020
—The Ringer (@ringer) January 12, 2020
—Pat Leonard (@PLeonardNYDN) January 12, 2020
—Kevin Patra (@kpatra) January 12, 2020
—Guy Haberman (@GuyHaberman) January 12, 2020
The Chiefs were in trouble early as a series of mistakes quickly put them in a huge hole. But Mahomes and the Chiefs offense showed just how quickly they can turn things around.