Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes Calls Out TE Travis Kelce Over Viral Play: ‘I Was Mad’

Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (#15) and tight end Travis Kelce (#87).

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes‘s behind-the-back pass to tight end Travis Kelce against the Detroit Lions in Week 2 of the preseason quickly went viral and will go down as one of the year’s top plays. However, according to Mahomes, the play only happened out of spite toward Kelce.

“Yeah I mean, long story short, Travis didn’t run the route he was supposed to run, and then it was kind of a behind-the-back pass kind of because I was mad, I was pissed off at Travis,” Mahomes explained to former Chiefs quarterback and CBS broadcast analyst Trent Green.  “He was supposed to run a flat route, I don’t know if you can hear me on the broadcast, I’m like yelling at him, and then he doesn’t run it, so out of spite I threw a behind-the-back pass, and now it’s gonna be a highlight.”

Patrick Mahomes behind the back to Travis Kelce!#ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/p4VSE6dc9P

— Rob Collins (@RobCollinsTV) August 17, 2024

During the first quarter of Kansas City’s preseason home opener against Detroit, Mahomes completed the behind-the-back pass to Kelce on a 3rd-and-3 play. Kelce gained eight yards on the play that took place during the Chiefs’ second offensive drive of the game.

Unfortunately, Mahomes and the Chiefs’ offense weren’t able to cap off that 12-play, 51-yard drive with a touchdown. Instead, kicker Harrison Butker put three points on the board with a 37-yard field goal.

Mahomes played just two offensive drives against the Lions and completed 8-of-14 pass attempts for 93 yards. Kelce played the same amount and finished with one target.

Travis Kelce Blames Patrick Mahomes for Running Wrong Route

Kelce was also interviewed by the CBS broadcast and said he ran the wrong route on the behind-the-back pass play because Mahomes “mumbled” the play in the huddle.

“You know he’s got the voice thing (mimics Mahomes’s voice), so he kind of mumbled out the play, I couldn’t hear it and I was walking up to the line trying to decipher what he was saying,” Kelce said. “And before I knew it he snapped the ball… and I kind of saw him out of my peripheral run to the sideline, so I was trying to help my guy out. By the time I looked over there, he was already in mid-form, like a photo on a sports card, throwing the ball to me, so it’s just, I guess — right place, right time.”

Patrick Mahomes Pushed Aside Hesitation to Make It Happen

Mahomes, who has been practicing the behind-the-back pass in practice for three years, was asked about that particular pass during his August 15 press conference and revealed that it hasn’t happened yet in a game because of him.

“The first thing that he (Coach Reid) said was ‘I’ve been telling you to do that for a while.’ That’s all he said. He said, ‘That’s one of the plays that I’ve been telling you that you could do it (the behind-the-back pass).’ I’m telling you, he’s all for it. It’s me the one that’s hesitant to do it in a game,” Mahomes explained.

And it just so happens that Mahomes revealed during a May 22 interview with FS1’s “First Things First” who he wanted to complete the behind-the-back pass to during a game.

“Coach Reid wants me to throw it behind-the-back more than anyone in the world,” Mahomes said. “He deliberately puts in plays that when I have the opportunity to throw it. It’s not a coaching thing, it’s me not having that confidence to do it in the game. One of these games, man. We gotta do it. There’s too much hype in it. Hopefully, it’s to Travis [Kelce].”