Through the first eight weeks of the season, the Kansas City Chiefs had all of the rookies make some sort of impact that has helped lead the team to win seven of their eight games played thus far. On Sunday against the New York Jets, the Chiefs saw another one of their young players make a huge play but not in the way one might expect.
The football was thrown all over the field in Kansas City’s latest victory at Arrowhead Stadium, which was a 35-9 win over the New York Jets on Sunday. While quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw the ball 42 times yesterday, there was one throw that is separated from the rest.
Late in the first quarter, at midfield, Head Coach Andy Reid and Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub made the risky call to go for the first-down on fourth-and-four. The Chiefs went out onto the field in their typical punting formation, then, rookie punter Tommy Townsend took the direct snap and acted as if he was about to kick the football for a split second before setting his feet and zipping a pass to gunner Byron Pringle for a 13-yard completion.
What was risky about the play was, if the Chiefs had failed to pick up the first, it would’ve up the Jets with a short field to work with.
At his post-game press conference, Townsend reflected on what was going through his mind during the play.
“Running out there, of course, I’m pumped if we have the opportunity to run a fake,” Townsend admitted to reporters. “I got out there, we got the look we wanted, from then on I was just thinking ‘don’t baby it, get it out there to him.’ I got it out to Pringle, he made a nice catch, and got a couple of yards.”
On the very next play, the Chiefs put six points on the scoreboard to go up 14-3 with a 36-yard pass from Patrick Mahomes to Tyreek Hill in the end zone. After the game, Mahomes raved about Townsend’s arm strength.
“I thought it was sweet, he ripped that thing,” Mahomes raved. “It wasn’t a lollipop at all, he caught it and ripped it over there. It was pretty impressive. I actually didn’t know it was happening. I was trying to go for it and Coach [Andy] Reid was – I should’ve known by the way he kind of just said go ahead and he sent the special teams out there. I was like, “man, you’re not even going to think about it?” I guess he already had things planned ahead. I think [Special Teams coach Dave] Toub does a great job and he has for a very long time of having different tricks and having different ways to execute at a high level of that special teams group. It gave us a chance to have another play and we were able to score on it. It was a big point in the game.”
The rookie punter joked that he must have picked up of that Mahomes magic since he sits next to the Super Bowl MVP in the lockerroom. Although sitting next to Mahomes would provide the opportunity to pick his brain a bit, Townsend just happy to have to receive some praise from the star quarterback.
“We have lockers right next to each other so I can’t help but say that it rubbed off a little onto me on that throw,” Townsend joked. “It’s pretty cool anytime you get recognition from Pat or any of these leaders or big-name guys on the team — especially as a rookie, it’s really something cool.”
Head Coach Andy Reid also sang his praises for Townsend’s execution after the game.
“Yeah, they’ve been working on it. I mean, they’ve been doing it the last couple, three weeks, and it’s been like clockwork,” Reid said. “That one did get a little high. It’s different when it’s in a game, and he’s as good a thrower as there is. So, he’s a real good athlete and he was able to show a little bit of that today. But it’s a little different in a game. Next time he does it, it’ll be better. It won’t be quite as high, but we’ll take it right there.”
While Townsend is no stranger to faking punts in order to pick up first downs – he did it quite a bit during his days at the University of Florida – Sunday was the first he’s thrown a pass since he was the quarterback at Boone High School in Orlando, Florida.
Townsend came into this season with huge shoes to fill as the replacement for the long-time punter Dustin Colquitt, who was a major fan-favorite in Kansas City and an all-time Chief. Adding Townsend to the list of rookies who’re making an impact for Kansas City is just another tip of the cap to General Manager Brett Veach.
