Patrick Mahomes Called His Shot on Game-Sealing Third Down Play

The Chiefs quarterback trusted himself and his teammates to ice the AFC Championship.

Patrick Mahomes did it again on Sunday, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a fourth Super Bowl appearance in five years. This time, he did it by beating the Baltimore Ravens on the road, and he clinched the win with a key throw late in the game.

On a 3rd-and-9, when a first down would seal the game, Mahomes found wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling for a 32-yard completion to end it. It turns out that Mahomes called for the ball to be in his hands on the play, as he urged his coaching staff to trust him with a pass instead of running the ball to let time run on the clock.

“Give me the ball,” Mahomes said, as revealed on Inside the NFL.

"Give me the ball."

Mahomes trusting himself and his receivers is awesome to see 👏

Full @JustinqReid interview tonight 8/7c on @insideThenFL pic.twitter.com/DN0HouOpN4

— NFL Films (@NFLFilms) January 30, 2024

Chiefs safety Justin Reid spoke with Inside the NFL, and he explained that Mahomes’s confidence and trust in his teammates is crucial to their success.

“That’s just the culture, the type of guy Patrick is,” Reid said. “He says it in practice always, he says ‘I’mma keep throwing it, if I see you open I’mma keep throwing it, I’m never going to lose faith.’”

Mahomes finished the games with 241 passing yards and one touchdown, but the quarterback was once again at his best in the AFC championship game. Thanks to Mahomes’s clutch throw, the Chiefs have a chance to become the first back-to-back Super Bowl champions in 20 years.