Patrick Mahomes explains why he looked back at referee during scramble

Jordan Heck

Patrick Mahomes explains why he looked back at referee during scramble image

Patrick Mahomes has made a name for himself by creating highlight-reel plays which include throwing no-look passes and, most recently, glancing back at an official before taking off and running.

During Sunday's game against the Lions, the Chiefs quarterback sprinted out of the pocket for a 25-yard scramble. But before his run started, he momentarily took his eyes away from the field in front of him to look back at the official. The play made its way around social media after the game.

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Just look at this.

patrick-mahomes-screenshot-FTR

On Thursday, reporters asked what was going through Mahomes' head on this play. His response:

"I looked back to see if there was a penalty. I saw that I had the room to run it and that I could probably get the first down, but I didn’t want to run like 50 yards if I was going to be called back and have to run another play. So I kind of just looked back to see if there was a penalty, realized there wasn't one, so I just kind of took off."

That run would eventually help the Chiefs move into field goal position and give Kansas City its first points of the day. By Mahomes' standard, the quarterback struggled in the game, finishing 24-of-42 for 315 yards and no touchdowns. It's the first time he's been held without any touchdowns since the first start of his career in Week 17 of 2017.

Mahomes will look to bounce back as the Chiefs face the Colts on Sunday night in Week 5.

Jordan Heck

Jordan Heck Photo

Jordan Heck is a Social Media Producer at Sporting News. Before working here, he was a Digital Content Producer at The Indianapolis Star. He graduated with a degree from Indiana University.