KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes completed a slick behind-the-back pass to Travis Kelce while throwing for 93 yards in two tidy series of work, though the Kansas City Chiefs lost to the Detroit Lions 24-23 on Saturday in their preseason game.
Detroit rallied to the victory when Jake Bates hit a 43-yard field goal with no time remaining.
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 the highlight of the game came as Mahomes was rolling to his right and started to get pressure from Detroit defensive lineman Josh Paschal. He zipped the pass behind his back to Kelce, who was dragging across the field, 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.
Mahomes has fooled around with behind-the-back throws in practice but has never completed one during a game. He said on the TV broadcast later that Kelce ran the wrong route so he threw the behind-the-back pass “out of spite.”
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. Campbell had been noncommittal about his plan earlier in the week, though he canceled Wednesday’s planned scrimmage 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.
The Lions’ special teams were in preseason form. 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.
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.
