While watching film, Kansas City Chiefs running back Jerick McKinnon had an inkling that the flats might be open against the Denver Broncos.
He had noticed that the Broncos’ secondary played back a lot, and with the likes of Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs made a priority to exploit that. Sure enough they did as McKinnon caught two touchdown passes, and the Chiefs held on late for a 34-28 win Sunday in Denver.
“We knew the flats would be there,” McKinnon said. “Pat hit us in the flat a couple of times, and he had some guys in the flats. We just really forced them to take the flats, and it opened everything else up after that.”
McKinnon’s first touchdown came on a 56-yard pass from Mahomes early in the second quarter. Mahomes dropped back and scrambled right. And as two defenders converged on him near the sideline, Mahomes flipped the ball to McKinnon in the flat, who raced down the sideline untouched for a score.
McKinnon said he wasn’t sure the ball was going to him on that play, but it turned out to be the longest catch of his career.
“That was just Pat being Pat,” McKinnon said. “He’s incredible at making plays like that. Anytime he gets out of the pocket he does a great job keeping his eyes downfield. Once I saw him suck up on the QB scramble, I tried to get downfield. He made an incredible play to get it out there, and I was able to come up with it. Noah Gray had a great block out front as well. We were able to create an amazing play.
“He peeked at me, but I wasn’t sure what he was going to do with it. So I was kind of waiting to see what happened, and he got it out there. He gave me time to get to it.”
Mahomes has made plays like that look routine throughout his career, but he has said he doesn’t set out to make plays like that — it just kind of happens.
“I was committed to running,” Mahomes said. “I saw I was probably going to get hit like I did last week in Cincinnati so I just kind of flicked it. I was just trying to get it to him whatever way possible. And he made a great play and after some guys made blocks downfield, he scored a touchdown.”
On the Chiefs’ next possession, Mahomes connected with McKinnon for a 10-yard touchdown as he went airborne crossing the goal line. Mahomes completed 28 of 42 passes for 352 yards and three scores with three interceptions.
McKinnon finished with seven catches for 112 yards and two scores and added six carries for 22 yards on the ground. The Chiefs built a 27-0 lead in the first half, but Denver battled back and had a chance to win it late.
But the Chiefs (10-3) held on and clinched at least a share of the division title for the seventh year in a row.
“Anytime you win the division it’s great,” McKinnon said. “But we definitely want to finish the season on the right note. We know we got some tough teams coming up, and it’s not going to be a walkthrough. So our main focus is to win out and take care of business.”
