In our Chiefs-Bengals recap I called the play of the game that throw from Patrick Mahomes to Gavin Escobar. You know the one where Mahomes faked the handoff, rolled out to his right, escaped the defender and threw a bullet on the run and on the money to Escobar. The TV angle of that play made it look really impressive, and it was. This is is an even better angle that shows just how on the money that throw was.
Mahomes making the unblocked defender miss on a naked boot and threading the needle. pic.twitter.com/26xbo3qpGH
— Ted Nguyen (@RaidersAnalysis) August 20, 2017
In the words of JR, good God almighty!
I have watched this play probably 20 times. I’m not sure what my favorite part is. I love this angle because it shows how the defense is flowing to the handoff except for that one defender. Mahomes is able to avoid the defender, who I believe is 6’3, 245-pound linebacker Marquis Flowers. This play is dead if he can’t avoid him. (Am I fair in saying most quarterbacks aren’t able to run away from that defender or am I just being a blind homer now?)
This video is slow motion so you don’t quite appreciate how hard that ball was thrown but, holy moly, that is a perfect pass to Escobar. Mahomes is getting all the praise here but Escobar was able to catch it and hang on when he knew he was getting drilled.
I was not prepared for Mahomes to be this good throwing on the run. I really wasn’t. I think that’s the best part of his game right now.