Mahomes remains magical despite Chiefs' preseason loss to Lions

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes was rolling to his right in the first half of the Kansas City Chiefs’ preseason game against the Detroit Lions on Saturday when he realized that Travis Kelce had run the wrong route.

So, Mahomes threw to his trusty tight end out of spite anyway — by throwing it to him behind his back.

The audacious throw was the highlight of an otherwise forgettable preseason game in which Mahomes threw for 93 yards in two tidy series of work, but the Lions rallied to win 24-23 on Jake Bates’ 43-yard field goal with no time remaining.

“I always told you it had to happen naturally,” said Mahomes, who has fooled around with behind-the-back passes in practice but had never tried it in a game. “I knew it was on target. It was just low. But like I said, it wasn’t like — I didn’t do it to look cool. I did it because I was like, pissed off (at Kelce), like why did you run that route like that? And it just worked out.”

Mahomes was 8 of 14 through the air while leading the Chiefs to a pair of field goals against the Lions’ backup defense. He also led Kansas City to a field goal in his only series in its preseason opener against the Jaguars last week.

But none of that will be remembered like his behind-the-back pass to Kelce, when Detroit defensive lineman Josh Paschal was beginning to bear down on him.

Kelce reached down and snagged the pass, and the completion on third-and-3 at the Detroit 33 was good for a first down and helped to set up an eventual field goal.

“He does it in practice every day,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “I’m alright with it as long as it’s a completion.”

It didn’t take long for clips of the pass to go viral. Kelce’s brother and retired Eagles center Jason Kelce tweeted, “The son of a gun actually did it!” Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, added: “That was unnecessary, but beautiful!”

Carson Wentz took over for Mahomes and was 5 of 10 for 31 yards with a touchdown throw to Xavier Worthy. The speedy first-round pick out of Texas had three catches for 62 yards and the score while adding 11 yards on a rushing attempt.

Lions coach Dan Campbell opted to sit his starters for their second preseason game, just as he did last year against the Jaguars. Campbell had been noncommittal about his plan for the game earlier in the week, though he did cancel a planned scrimmage for Wednesday because of the number of injuries the team has sustained in training camp.

Nate Sudfeld was 14 of 27 for 196 yards with a touchdown and an interception as he tries to nail down the backup job behind Detroit starter Jared Goff. Hendon Hooker, who returned after sustaining a concussion last week against the Giants, was 12 of 15 for 150 yards while running for a touchdown as he tried to make some headway in the competition.

The Lions’ special teams were in preseason form most of the game. They fumbled the ball away on a kickoff return — Wentz hit Worthy three plays later for their TD strike. They also fumbled a punt return and Bates missed an extra point.

Then again, Bates made the kick that won the Lions the game.

“That’s a big kick,” Campbell said. “That’s two weeks in a row. He hits a 53 (last week against the Giants) and a 55-yarder, and then hits a game-winner. Every time he does something like that, you gain a little more confidence in him.”

INJURIES

Chiefs LS James Winchester left in the first half with a shoulder injury but returned after the break.

UP NEXT

Lions: Play the Steelers next Saturday.

Chiefs: Play the Bears on Thursday night.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL