Tyreek Hill’s tracking on Patrick Mahomes’ throw probably isn’t being talked about enough

The Kansas City media wanted to know Tuesday morning how many times Patrick Mahomes’ had watched his 69-yard touchdown pass from the Chiefs’ preseason win over the Atlanta Falcons.

His answer may surprise you.

“Not as much as everyone else has,” Mahomes said. “I underthrew it, to be honest. Now that I saw it, Tyreek (Hill) outran it, so for me, it’s something where you just have guys like that that have that much speed and that much ability to be a weapon on the field, you just try to get them the ball and let them make plays.”

Watching the play again, Mahomes’ words are true, and there is a part of the play that probably isn’t being talked about nearly enough. Keep an eye on Hill, especially on the replay. The NFL’s recap of the night also offers an end-zone look of the play.

As Hill darts down the field while he is pursued by three Falcons defenders, he looks over his opposite shoulder three times:

First, Hill looks over his right shoulder and sees Mahomes is throwing the ball. Second, Hill looks over his left shoulder for one second and sees he needs to abruptly change his path to meet the ball another 15 yards down the field. And finally, Hill looks back over his right shoulder to make the catch and run for the score.

There’s a real case to be made that the play offered just as good a catch as it did a throw.