The Kansas City Chiefs' ludicrous 13-second drive to send Sunday's AFC Divisional Round battle with the Buffalo Bills to overtime doesn't happen without the mind-meld between Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill.
Earlier this week, NFL Films and "Inside the NFL" posted a video of Kelce helping coordinate the last-second drive, which ultimately catapulted the Chiefs to the AFC Championship Game with a 42-36 overtime win.
The improvisation on the 25-yard pass from Mahomes to Kelce to set up the game-tying field goal doesn't come without the freedom coach Andy Reid fosters.
"Yeah, they know that at times there are things that they can do, and they're normally right," Reid said Wednesday. "That one worked out good."
Kelce read the Bills' defense ahead of the play and adjusted the route to take advantage of the coverage. Reid said he fully trusts his QB and playmakers to make the proper adjustments when necessary.
"He was going in that direction anyways, so it was just how he got there," Reid said of the play. "They both did a nice job with it. So, it doesn't happen very often, but when they do, they're normally right with that type of thing. They know the plays and they know what they can get away with and what they can't. They're very good with that."
Mahomes added that the chemistry with Kelce and Hill has been born out of many reps over the years and the trust they've built.
"Yeah it just takes a lot of reps," the QB said. "Just going out there and seeing a lot of different coverages, the good thing about being in this offense with the guys that we have is we've seen possibly every coverage you could see. Guys have seen those; they recognize those on the field, and they know how to get themselves open within the system of the offense. I think that's what you see even on the play to Travis. He knew what the other guys had on the play so he knew that he could do that, he could go down the seam and get the catch. You have to able to not only know what you have but know what everybody else in the entire offense has. That just comes with guys that know the offense and run it the right way."
The play is the latest example of the freedom Reid promotes with his top players. Not all coaches trust their players -- even stars -- to make the right moves in the heat of battle.
"It's special. All three of them trust each other, and that's important," Reid said of the chemistry between Mahomes, Kelce and Hill. "They have that innate ability to know where the guy is going to be against whatever leverage the defender has on them. I appreciate that. It's a fluid game, so you're going to have to make adjustments, you're going to have to do it with routes where it's not going to be perfect like you might see with a card that you've drawn up. The other team is playing, too, so you have to maneuver around, and it sure helps to have that chemistry when teams are showing you a bunch of different looks."
The trio's chemistry has them in their fourth straight AFC Championship Game. A victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday would put K.C. in their third consecutive Super Bowl.
