KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Patrick Mahomes called an audible.
It was second-and-goal at the Jacksonville 3-yard line late in the third quarter of a tie game on Monday Night Football and he felt certain he had the upper hand on the Jaguars’ defense.
“I think back to a game against Cincinnati early in the year that they had Ja’Marr Chase on a slant route,” Mahomes said. “I saw the look, and I checked to a play with in(-breaking) routes, having three ‘ins,’ knowing that they're gonna try to pass off the guys, and JuJu (Smith-Schuster) was gonna pop wide open.”
Mahomes, who had gone 5 of 6 for 43 yards and added an 8-yard scramble to that point in the drive, was spot on.
Smith-Schuster was open, but the Chiefs QB hadn’t noticed linebacker Devin Lloyd, who had dropped into the passing lane.
“They just got me with the coverage that they played,” Mahomes said. “They’ve played (cover) zero inside that 10-yard area in previous games, and they hadn't shown the poppers with the linebackers popping out when they were protected.”
Jacksonville faked an all-out pressure then dropped its linebackers into a sort of double-robber look, muddying up the middle of the field.
“They kind of looked over what they could do better, and he popped right underneath where I was throwing the ball,” Mahomes said. “It was a great call by them defensively.”
Lloyd intercepted Mahomes’ pass then rumbled from goal line to goal for the go-ahead touchdown, making it 21-14 at that point.
Mahomes lamented his missed tackle on Lloyd’s 99-yard interception return, the longest in Jags history, but he wasn’t alone. Travis Kelce, Kareem Hunt and Tyquan Thornton all had a shot at Lloyd but couldn’t get him down on the record-setting pick-six.
While Lloyd’s touchdown wasn’t the game-winning score, it was a major momentum swing — and the second time already this season that a goal-line interception helped sink Kansas City.
A Mahomes pass bounced off Kelce’s hands as he went to the ground at the goal line during a 20-17 loss three weeks ago against Philadelphia.
The deflection bounced straight to Eagles safety Andrew Mukuba for an interception and the defining play in the Chiefs’ 0-2 start.
After enjoying an historic run of good luck — going unbeaten in 12 one-score games last season, including the playoffs — Kansas City slipped to 2-3 with a 31-28 loss Monday in Jacksonville, including an 0-3 record in one-score games.
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