DENVER (AP) - Patrick Mahomes was hitting all the right notes, even when he had to throw with his left hand .
Is there anything the Kansas City quarterback can’t do these days?
Mahomes made one of the most memorable plays of the game on a left-handed heave late in the fourth quarter that helped the Chiefs to a 27-23 comeback victory over the Denver Broncos on Monday night.
“I thought, ’Is he a magician or something?’” said running back Kareem Hunt, whose team improved to 4-0. “He’s doing things you really don’t see often. He’s a great player. I’m glad he’s on my team.”
Mahomes’ left-handed toss occurred with about 3:15 remaining in the fourth quarter and was all the buzz on social media. As he scrambled to his left on third-and-5 at the Kansas City 45, Mahomes switched the ball to his other hand so pass rusher Von Miller couldn’t strip it from him. Then, Mahomes lofted a perfect strike to receiver Tyreek Hill for a 6-yard gain and the first down.
“He actually throws better than me and I’m left handed,” Hill quipped. “It was a good throw. It was a good toss. Pat, I don’t even know what to say, man. Pat just does a great job of looking down the field, trusting us to stay alive and stuff like that.”
He’s seen better from Mahomes, though.
“He threw the ball like 85 yards in practice,” Hill said. “That probably surprised me. I’ve never seen a quarterback throw the ball that far.”
Mahomes said he sometimes throws left-handed when the QBs engage in competitions during practice. But that’s about the extent of his ambidextrous ways.
“I did it a couple of times in college but it was to throw it away,” said Mahomes, who finished 28 of 45 for 304 yards and one TD, along with running in another. “I never had thrown it to a receiver. So it was a cool deal, got the first down and got the win.”
He even surprised Miller, who had no idea Mahomes threw it with his opposite hand.
“I just felt like he was getting ready to throw it, so I was just trying to get down there and clip the ankles,” Miller explained. “But I didn’t know he threw it with his left hand. He’s a great quarterback.”
It seems like Mahomes is constantly topping what he did before.
“I saw it when it came out of his hand, and I went, ’Oh wow,’” fullback Anthony Sherman said. “At this point, we should just trust him and know he won’t put us in a bad situation. He’ll find a way to get the ball to an open receiver.”
That was readily apparent soon after his dazzling left-handed throw. Trailing 23-20, Mahomes was called for intentional grounding, which was followed by a holding penalty on the offensive line. All of a sudden, the Chiefs faced second-and-30 at the 31.
No problem for Mahomes. He threw a 23-yard completion to Demarcus Robinson and then a 35-yard strike to Demetrius Harris.
See, no worries.
A few plays later Hunt took it in for a 4-yard score to put the Chiefs on top. The defense took it from there to preserve the win.
“When you step back, you go, ’Whoa, that was pretty good,’” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “But really you’re just trying to figure out the next play that he can scramble around and make plays on.”
This is how much Mahomes’ scrambling ability influences a game: He physically drained Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr.
“I had to go inside and get two IVs,” Harris said. “I was just done. Just playing those extra times. He made us scramble in coverage the whole game. We couldn’t sack this man. He’s a hell of a player. He’s a hell of a quarterback.”
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