When a wide receiver pops up after a play involving a questionable catch, his subsequent reaction can usually tell the whole story. An immediate look to the refs or the replay board with a "look at me, I caught it" type of franticness typically means that he did, in fact, catch it and a coach's challenge is on the way. On the other hand, some release of frustration and a head-down jog back to the huddle, like you'll see below, probably means he didn't come down with the pigskin.
“He came up and said that he didn’t catch it. I probably should have held on to it a little longer to look at the replay,” Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after the game. “You can normally tell with a receiver whether he had it or not. Especially Tyreek. He was as surprised as any of us that he ended up with the football."
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes was among those who were clueless as to whether or not Hill had completed the improbable catch, and he shared his perspective with "The Drive" on 610 Sports Radio in Kansas City.
"No, I had no idea," Mahomes said of whether or not Hill had caught his bomb. "With me throwing the ball from down on the other end and him running, once it bounced in the air I kind of lost him and the ball. I had no idea at all... and then to see on the replay, it was crazy. It could have been one of the craziest catches of all time. It's gonna be one of those catches that happened but didn't happen.
"[Tyreek Hill] had no idea. I'm guessing once the ball popped up in the air and he fell to the ground, I'm guessing he thought it hit the ground and he ended up with the ball in his hands and literally none of us knew at all. After we had already punted, we saw the replay in the stadium, so we might have to get on those replay guys. Get those replays going up a little quicker."
Had the replay gone up, it's practically as clear as day that the ball never touched the ground, instead ricocheting off his hands, then off of A.J. Bouye's helmet, before settling comfortably in the nook at Hill's shoulder. When a receiver is as blindingly fast as Hill, though, it's tough to keep up with the minutiae of any given play.
Speaking of Hill's devastating speed, Mahomes was asked to give his two cents on how he'd fare in a race with Hill, and he thinks he'd do just fine... so long as he had a small head start and another extra boost.
"I think I just need like 15 yards, and like two minutes of trash talking," Mahomes said. "I think if I can get in his head with trash talking, it would slow him down somehow, and then I'd need like 15 yards and I can beat him."
Listen to Mahomes talk more about Hill, his other top target Travis Kelce — who Mahomes thinks has had the most dominant stretch of any tight end in NFL history in recent years — and much more on his weekly interview below.
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