Patrick Mahomes saves game with clutch heads-up play in season opener

Mahomes Magic was on full display again in the very first game of the 2024 NFL season.

Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes saved Thursday’s season opener against the Baltimore Ravens with a clutch heads-up play late in the fourth quarter. Having been forced by the Baltimore pass rush on 3rd-and-10 to step up in the pocket and throw across his body, Mahomes got his pass batted up in the air by Ravens linebacker Trenton Simpson. Both Simpson and his teammate Odafe Oweh were in the vicinity of the football and had a chance for the game-altering interception. But it was Mahomes who made the heads-up play and leapt up in the air with both hands to secure the ball.

Here is the video of the impressive moment.

Mahomes prevents a potential game-changing INT

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Baltimore was trailing by seven points with two-and-a-half minutes remaining at the time, so an interception there inside Kansas City’s 40-yard line would have been a serious game-changer. Instead though, the Chiefs were able to bleed the clock down to the two-minute warning and punt it away. While Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson still subsequently led his team on a 77-yard drive to come knocking on the door of a game-tying TD, they missed out on it by the slimmest possible margin as time expired.

The three-time Super Bowl MVP Mahomes was not quite at his very best on Thursday, throwing for 291 yards but with just one touchdown and one pick. But he did just enough at just the right times to secure the victory for Kansas City, setting the tone for a 2024 season that should be a new and unique one for Mahomes.