KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A few things to know about quarterback Patrick Mahomes on the biggest play of the Kansas City Chiefs' most improbable win of the season.
According to the NFL's Next Gen stats:
He was running almost 16 mph when he threw the pass.
He scrambled 31.7 yards to get to his release point.
He threw the ball more than 43 yards down the field.
He had a completion probability of 15.8 percent.
Those weren't even the most surprising aspects of the play, though. Instead, it was that the Chiefs were expecting Mahomes' 48-yard completion to Tyreek Hill in a do-or-die moment of the fourth quarter in a game Kansas City would go on to win 27-24 in overtime on Sunday.
The win moved the Chiefs to 11-2 and clinched a playoff spot for the fifth time in six years. Losses by the New England Patriots and Houston Texans on Sunday put Kansas City in prime position for home-field advantage throughout the postseason if it can get a victory in Week 15 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
"I kind of feel like we've been practicing that sometimes," said Hill, who made the catch despite a noticeable limp because of a foot injury he played through for most of the second half. "Coach [Andy] Reid, he puts us in these same moments in training camp against our own defense. It gets us ready."
The Chiefs couldn't possibly practice the play the way it developed.
Patrick Mahomes' fourth down completion to Tyreek Hill on the @Chiefs game-tying drive had just a 15.8% Completion Probability based on the following factors:
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) December 9, 2018
Air Distance: 43.6 yards
WR Separation: 1.0 yards
QB Speed at Throw: 15.95 MPH#BALvsKC #ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/u4TrdLt89e
Mahomes was running at full speed or something close after being chased from the pocket and heaved the ball back across his body to a waiting Hill downfield.
"Just how we designed it," Reid said.
It wasn't anything like what the Chiefs drew up, but Mahomes has made several similar throws in the past. Those passes taught the Chiefs never to give up on a play.
WOAH 🤯🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/aYdUdC0hmb
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 9, 2018
In this case, the play taught the Chiefs to never give up on a game that seemed lost. The Chiefs trailed 24-17 at the time with less than 1:30 left. Little had been working for them offensively, and they needed at least nine yards on the play to avoid defeat. Until Damien Williams scored the tying touchdown four plays after Hill's catch, the Chiefs had been held scoreless in the second half.
"We didn't flinch," guard Jeff Allen said. "That's a testament to Pat. ... He's fearless. He always believes he's going to win the game, and that makes everyone else believe."
Mahomes, it seems, was the only Chiefs player or coach unsure of what might happen when the ball left his hand.
"I knew it had a chance," Mahomes said. "It was kind of one he had to come back and get. I always say he'd be the best center fielder of all time because of the way he tracks the ball."
It wasn't even Mahomes' only spectacular play on the day.
The second-year quarterback also set the internet on fire during the field goal drive to end the first half. On the way to that score Mahomes completed a no-look pass to Demarcus Robinson for 17 yards.
No look, no problem for @PatrickMahomes5 😎 pic.twitter.com/DiWqR75lh9
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 9, 2018
"He's a special talent," Allen said. "Not just a special talent but a special leader. ... There's no shot clock for Pat. You've always got to keeping blocking, keep busting your tail because you never know. He might pop out of there and make something special like that fourth-down play."