On Sunday, January 29th, 2023 the Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, leads the Chiefs to Super Bowl LVII even with a high ankle sprain. Mahomes made a countless number of incredible plays last Sunday night helping to propel the Kansas City Chiefs into their 3rd – Super Bowl over the course of the past 4 – NFL seasons, but the one play that everyone will be talking about the most was a basic 5 – yard quarterback scramble on his last offensive snap of the AFC championship game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

The Scramble:

The amazing run by Mahomes, in addition to a 15 – yard unnecessary roughness personal foul penalty by the Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Joseph Ossai, relocated the Kansas City Chiefs offense in perfect position for a 45 – yard field goal by Harrison Butker with only 3 – seconds remaining on the game clock. That field goal locked up the 23 to 20 win for the Kansas City Chiefs, and it sent the Kansas City Chiefs to the Super Bowl LVII.

That incredible play by Mahomes was even more amazing than usual due to him playing throughout this AFC championship game on a very painful high ankle sprain. Patrick was not as mobile as he usually is during this match – up with the Cincinnati Bengals, but Mahomes still managed to throw for 326 – passing yards as well as 2 – touchdowns. But it was that late game scramble that left the biggest impression on the Kansas City Chiefs.

“People don’t realize how hurt he was,” the Kansas City Chiefs general manager, Brett Veach, stated. “We all saw the injury. High ankles are terrible injuries, and sometimes guys miss two, three weeks, and he was out there and running for a first down and a big play in the game that got us in field goal range. But it just adds to an already great legacy.”

Mahomes fully Intended on Playing in the AFC Championship Game:

Mahomes commented not long after he suffered that high ankle sprain injury in last week’s divisional round NFL playoff game victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars that he was absolutely planning on playing in the AFC championship game on Sunday, January 29th, 2023. Mahomes then practiced with his usual workload this past week, so there was never much doubt that Patrick would be the starting quarterback in the Kansas City Chiefs’ lineup for this year’s AFC championship game.

The more important question was how effective Mahomes could be in that crucial game from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium located in Kansas City, Missouri. The Kansas City Chiefs were quietly confident in Mahomes, not due to any specific way in which he participated during practice over the last week, but because he was just there and practicing despite that extremely painful debilitating high ankle sprain injury.

“He gave me no opportunity to think that he wasn’t going to play,” the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, Andy Reid, explained. “He never missed a snap.”

The now 27 – year – old veteran starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs led his squad to scoring drives on each of the Kansas City Chiefs initial 3 – possessions of the game, the 1st – two ended in field goals but Butker, and the last of the three was capped off by a 14 – yard touchdown pass from Mahomes to the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce.

A Spectacular Performance:

Mahomes finished the AFC championship game by going 29 – of – 43 passing with zero interceptions. Patrick did however fumble one time, and that fumble by Mahomes was recovered by the Cincinnati Bengals and that ultimately resulted in a touchdown for the Cincinnati Bengals.

“I just tried to do whatever I could to win, and obviously, there were times where you could see that it wouldn’t let me do what I wanted to,” the starting quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes, proclaimed. “But I was able to do enough on that last play to get the first down and get myself out of bounds and try to give Harrison the chance to win. Obviously, we got the flag, and [Ossai] pushed me, pushed me pretty late there. I definitely didn’t feel good. I think the worst one was when I fumbled. I tried to pick it up, and that was probably the worst I tweaked it during the game. They got me close as they could to 100 percent. Then I just battled through, and I’ll have a few more weeks to get it ready.”

Mahomes later on in the game passed for another touchdown, this one was a 19 – yard strike to the Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver, Marquez Valdes – Scantling, during the 3rd – quarter of the contest.

Although Mahomes performance was fairly solid, it still lacked a signature big moment magical play up until Patrick took his final offensive snap of the game with only 17 – seconds left on the game clock when he scrambled on his injured right ankle out to the right sideline for 5 – yards followed by him being shoved well past the sideline by Ossai.

The Kansas City Chiefs superstar tight end, Travis Kelce, was absolutely mesmerized by that special moment from Mahomes.

“Sure enough, on that last play, you saw it all come together,” the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, Travis Kelce, mentioned. “Moments like that just make it that much more special to be his teammate.”

Football Career Achievements, Honors, & Awards:

  • Super Bowl Champion (LIV)
  • Super Bowl MVP Award Winner (LIV)
  • NFL Most Valuable Player Award Winner (2018)
  • NFL Offensive Player of the Year Award Winner (2018)
  • 2 – Time First – Team NFL All – Pro Selection (2018, 2022)
  • Second – Team NFL All – Pro Selection (2020)
  • 5 – Time NFL Pro Bowl Selection (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
  • 2 – Time NFL Passing Touchdowns Leader (2018, 2022)
  • NFL Passing Yards Leader (2022)
  • Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Award Winner (2020)
  • Bert Bell Award Winner (2018)
  • Sammy Baugh Trophy Award Winner (2016)
  • Second – Team All – Big 12 Selection (2016)
  • FBS Passing Yards Leader (2016)

NFL Records:

  • Career Passer Rating (minimum of 1,500 – pass attempts): 105.7
  • Career NFL Playoff Passer Rating (minimum of 150 – pass attempts): 106.1
  • Total Yards by a Quarterback in a Season: 5,608 (2022)