Patrick Mahomes is 6-0 for the first time in his entire NFL career with the Kansas City Chiefs. However, the 29-year-old quarterback sparked a controversy in Sunday’s win over the San Francisco 49ers.
He exploited the league’s rules on late hits to his benefit in a crucial moment of the game and it raises concerns about the rulebook as it stands.
Kansas City lined up on 2nd-and-7 from the San Francisco 37-yard-line with approximately one minute left in the third quarter. The Chiefs were up by two at the time.
Mahomes took the snap and dropped back to pass. Nobody was open so he took off running. He broke one tackle near the line of scrimmage with an initial pump-fake to the running back. A second pump-fake bought him some more time and allowed him to slip down the sideline. A third pump-fake right at the first-down marker opened up a running lane for a gain of 33. It was the longest run of his career.
The second fake is the focus of the outrage.
📂 Mahomes things pic.twitter.com/RBUfTKmOaa
— NFL (@NFL) October 20, 2024
Patrick Mahomes looked like he was going to run out of bounds right before the line to gain. His body was angled toward the sideline, a pair of 49ers defenders were crashing down. They were both in position to make the tackle. Linebacker Dee Winters was going to step up and push him onto the paint.
However, the NFL is very strict on late hits— especially toward quarterbacks. To lay so much as a finger on Mahomes as he scampered out of bounds could be flagged so it’s not worth the risk. The safer move is to let him run out of the field of play on his own accord instead of forcing him to do so.
As we saw on Sunday, that creates a lane in which to keep running.
Mahomes acted like he was going out of bounds. Winters was there to babysit.
And then he cut it back.
Winters should’ve stepped up to lay the lumber on Mahomes before he picked up the first down. He did not do so to avoid a penalty. It cost him, and San Francisco, dearly.
The NCAA changed its rules after Kenny Pickett’s fake slide. The NFL should do the same regarding Mahomes’ fake out-of-bounds.
As cool as it was, Patrick Mahomes’ run exemplifies a need for change. I don’t know what that solution might look like, but I am not getting paid millions of dollars to figure it out! Either let the quarterbacks get hit on the sideline or blow the play dead once a quarterback gives himself up on the sideline.