Chiefs’ backup QB Mahomes has his game feet under him

TCINCINNATI say you should never make conclusions based on preseason games, and blahblah-blah they’re usually right, but here’s an exception:

The Chiefs aren’t signing any veteran to be the in-case-of-emergency-break-glass backup quarterback.

That was a widely acknowledged possibility, what with Patrick Mahomes still just 21 years old and all. But, yeah. Forget that.

A week ago, Mahomes was (winkwink) the Chiefs’ No. 3 quarterback. But midway through the second quarter, coach Andy Reid told him to warm up, that he was going in with the ones, and he turned the surprise news into the biggest takeaway in what eventually became a 30-12 win over the Bengals here on Saturday.

“He, for sure, had some nice plays,” Reid said. “He’s an enthusiastic kid, loves to play, and I thought he played well.”

Reid could watch a rocket bust up a meteor and say, “I thought the scientists did a good job executing,” so “for sure, had some nice plays,” is his equivalent of a cartwheel roundoff to a back handspring in a Mahomes No. 15 jersey.

If you are the type of football fan who remembers preseason games, you will remember this as the night Mahomes showed every throw the NFL requires — plus a few extracurriculars.

“He had like two or three plays he threw off his back foot and across the field,” tight end Travis Kelce said. “Those are the plays you can’t teach. That’s just him being Mahomes.”

It was more than enough to trust him if and when starter Alex Smith — and, yes, Smith should be the starter — is injured.

But if you trust preseason football even this much then Mahomes showed he can do some things on his own.

The play that will likely get the most talk is the scramble, and it was nice — an 8-yard drop to the 25, then through the grasp of Bengals linebacker Jordan Willis, through a hole in the line and beating the angle of linebacker Vincent Ray to the edge for a dive at the pylon that was initially ruled a touchdown but rightfully brought back out to the 2.

But the most impressive play — the one that Smith is the least likely to make — came on a third-and-1 in the red zone. The design was a runfake to the left, then naked bootleg to the right. But defensive end Will Clarke was neither blocked nor fooled, and had an open run at the quarterback’s chest.

Mahomes (6 feet 2 inches, 225 pounds) stiff-armed Clarke (6-6, 275), then ran away from him and gathered enough momentum up the field to throw a 23-yard fastball to Gavin Escobar between three defenders and the sideline. First down, plus a totally unnecessary, untouched, why-the-heck-not fall to the ground after releasing the ball.

“It wasn’t there right away,” Escobar said. “I saw Patrick rolling out, staying with the play, and I just stayed with him toward the sideline. He made eye contact, so I knew he was going to dot me. He put it right where it needed to be. I’ve seen him do that in practice, too.”

Oh, there was plenty else. He converted all four of his third downs, including a third-and-6 to Hill and a third-and-14 to Deanthony Thomas each over the middle of the field — often a danger zone for young quarterbacks.

There was the laser on an outroute to Jehu Chesson, the touchdown to Demetrius Harris on what looked like his third read, and the way he’s able to get the ball out in a virtual blink on the quick-hit stuff that’s such a big part of Reid’s offense.

Exhale, and repeat: It’s just preseason, it’s just preseason, it’s just preseason. If it helps, remember that Mahomes’ first throw was nearly picked off.