Mahomes’ use of no-look pass no accident

Patrick Mahomes was already the talk of the NFL. Then he completed a no-look pass Sunday against the Ravens.

Suddenly, it became clear that the second-year quarterback had a whole new act of magic in what was already an extremely impressive bag of tricks. In fact, Mahomes had established himself as a leading candidate for NFL MVP honors by tossing a whopping 41 touchdowns in his 12 games before facing Baltimore’s stingy defense, then he threw two more — oh, and he also completed a ludicrous 48-yard pass across his body on a fourth-and-9 play while leading a late comeback.

But it was a 17-yard toss on second-and-1 in the second quarter that continues to generate the most chatter. Mahomes stepped up in the pocket amid pressure from the Ravens, then calmly whipped a ball left to wide receiver Demarcus Robinson — all while looking toward the middle of the field, and thus drawing Baltimore’s coverage in that direction.

The sleight-of-arm amazed CBS analyst Tony Romo, a former Pro Bowl quarterback who knows a thing or two about pulling a rabbit out of a hat with an unorthodox pass play, and it was still reverberating Tuesday, when Robinson admitted that even he had to take a further gander at the pass.

“I didn’t know he no-looked it at the time, for real,” the receiver told The Athletic. “I just caught the ball, so it’s fun just being on the field making plays. When he does scramble, you know you’ve got to keep your feet moving.”

Mahomes explained Monday that he began experimenting with no-look throws while at Texas Tech, where he and backup quarterback Nic Shimonek would try to “one-up each other” with them in practices. He said he eventually “realized it was a tool I could actually use,” but claimed he didn’t try it against real competition until his first NFL start, against the Broncos in Week 17 last season.

Mahomes, though, at least attempted versions of no-look passes while starring for the Red Raiders. On his throw at Denver, he appeared to look at thenChiefs wide receiver Albert Wilson while keeping his body pointed elsewhere.

Of course, NFL quarterbacks have spent decades helping get their receivers open by looking off safeties and other defenders before tossing passes in unexpected directions. Earlier this season, the Buccaneers’ Ryan Fitzpatrick made throws against the Eagles in which he didn’t let his eyes betray the exact direction of where he was going, but he was already looking in the general vicinity of his targets.

Most of the time, though, quarterbacks seeking to deceive have generally snapped their bodies back toward their intended targets, whereas Mahomes seems to be taking a page out of the NBA playbooks of the likes of Magic Johnson and LeBron James.

The 23-year-old sensation indicated Monday that he understood the obvious risks involved, saying (via Arrowhead Pride), “I haven’t thrown an interception [on a no-look pass] yet. Hopefully, I won’t. I think I tried to throw one earlier in the season and he stopped running because he thought I was going to throw it back to the right. You have to have that chemistry.”

On the throw to Robinson, Mahomes said, it helped that they had built that chemistry while playing on Kansas City’s second team for most of the 2017 season