#HenneThingIsPossible as KC misses Mahomes
KANSAS CI TY, Mo. — The 35-year-old journeyman quarterback that made the two plucky plays in the final minutes of regulation that helped get the Kansas City Chiefs into the AFC championship game was fortunate to even be on the team.
Chad Henne had spent n e a r l y a d e c a d e wi t h Miami and Jacksonville, where his career could best be described as the essence of mediocrity. He was 18-35 as the starter for two franchises perpetually rebuilding, and upon his release from the Jaguars in 2017, he found himself in a competition with another veteran, Matt Moore, to be Patrick Mahomes' backup.
“It was almost a flip of the coin,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said this week.
Henne got the job. And three years later, he had the opportunity to reward the Chiefs for their faith in him. Mahomes left in the third quarter of their divisional-round game against the Browns because of a concussion, and Henne calmly stepped into the huddle and led them to a field goal on his first drive to push the lead to 22-10 late in the third quarter.
Those two plucky plays came in the fourth, when the Chiefs were clinging to a 22-17 lead and trying to run out the clock.
T h e f i r s t c a m e o n third-and-14 deep in their own territory, when Henne got his creaky ol d l egs going so fast that it even surprised his teammates. He was flushed from the pocket and scrambled to his left, his eyes trained downfield until he had crossed the line of scrimmage, at which point he tucked the ball and took a bit of a shot as he dived for the first down.
He came up inches short, leading to the second play. Reid had gone over the scenario with Mahomes and Henne the previous n i g h t — f o u r t h - a n d - 1 with a chance to win the game — and they had a call they liked, so the Super Bowl-winning coach sent his backup quarterback onto the field. Henne was so calm that it appeared h e wa s t r y i n g t o p u l l Cl e v e l a n d o f f s i d e a n d that Kansas City would otherwise punt, but then he called for the snap and snapped a pass to Tyreek Hill in the flat.
It went for a first down. The Chiefs ran out t he clock.
Mahomes got the Chiefs fans everywhere tweeting “HenneThingIsPossible.”
“I talk to Chad basically every morning, I think. We're usuall y i n t here pretty early,” Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu said. “He is a true professional. If you were able to watch this guy every single day, Monday through Saturday, he has the same routine.