There was some deja vu for the Chargers last Sunday when Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce scored a game-winning touchdown because Kelce had also gotten the winning score against them in an overtime game in 2021 and the similarities did not end there.
Kelce told Peter King for Football Morning in America that he scored on the same play call that the Chiefs made in the 2021 win. During an appearance on 610 Sports Radio, quarterback Patrick Mahomes recalled his thought that head coach Andy Reid’s play selection wouldn’t work because the Chargers had seen it before.
“I remember coach calling it, we had been talking about it earlier in the game to maybe get into it because of the leverage they were playing their man coverage,” Mahomes said. “But when coach called it in that situation in my head I was like ‘Man, there’s no way we can get them again on the same play.’ Luckily enough, we called the play at a good time, when they were in outside leverage in man coverage. [Justin Watson] did a great job of getting Derwin [James] to go underneath, and then the other guys cleared it out. Once you get it to Kelce in space, it seems like he always finds a way to get into the end zone. Going into the play I was like Man, there’s no way. But you see the defense out there and you’re like man, I think we’ve got them.”
Every team that faces the Chiefs knows that Mahomes is going to look Kelce’s way in big spots throughout the game. As Sunday night made clear, that doesn’t make stopping them any easier.