KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There already have been plenty of iconic moments in Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ career — including the left-handed pass at Denver and Jet Chip Wasp in Super Bowl LIV.
He added another one late in the third quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals on fourth-and-goal at the 3-yard line.
After a short drop and a pump fake, Mahomes pulled the ball and dashed up the middle.
“They played a good coverage,” Mahomes said. “Looking at (wide receiver) JuJu (Smith-Schuster), I didn’t think I could get it in there where he could get in the end zone.”
Instead, Mahomes dodged two linebackers, Logan Wilson and Germaine Pratt, at the 2-yard line with a slide step to the left then went airborne, holding the ball aloft as he collided with defensive back Cam Taylor-Britt at the goal line.
The move gave the appearance that Mahomes was dunking on Taylor-Britt’s head.
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“It was fourth down, so you have to try to go for it,” Mahomes said. “I was running, and the only way to get it was going over the top, so I just tried to reach over and get in the end zone.”
Tony Romo, who was calling the game for CBS, and the team’s official Twitter account drew comparisons to Michael Jordan on the touchdown run.
Romo even referred to Mahomes as the Michael Jordan of the NFL.
Mahomes lost the ball on the play, but the officials ruled he broke the plane of the goal line before the fumble. Replays showed that it was close.
“I knew it was close,” Mahomes said, but he felt “about as confident as you can be when you’re kind of flying in the air” that he’d reached the goal line.
The score put Kansas City in front 24-17 at the time, but Cincinnati scored the game's final 10 points in rallying for a third consecutive win this calendar year against Mahomes.
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