Patrick Mahomes Offers Sage Advice To Ravens' Isaiah Likely: ‘Wear White Cleats Next Time’
As the Baltimore Ravens fell to the Kansas City Chiefs, quite literally, by an inch on Thursday night, I hollered at the TV, "This is why you wear white cleats!" Turns out, great minds do think alike — because Patrick Mahomes said the same thing.
Needing a touchdown and an extra point to tie the game at the end of regulation, Ravens QB Lamar Jackson led his team down the field on an 11-play, 77-yard drive. The reigning NFL MVP almost executed the perfect two-minute drill, but fell short on the final play. As the clock expired, tight end Isaiah Likely caught the ball in the back of the end zone, and the refs signaled a touchdown.
After review, though, the call was overturned after it was determined that just the edge of Likely's toe was out of bounds. Chiefs won a heartbreaker, 27-20.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, on the other hand, was relieved. He thought for sure Baltimore had scored. And even though that wasn't the case, the three-time Super Bowl MVP did offer Isaiah Likely some sage advice moving forward.
"It looked good from my angle on the sideline," Mahomes said after the game. "But then that first view you saw you could see the cleat. That's a great football team, and I'm sure we'll see them again at some point in the playoffs. We're happy with the win now.
"He's got to wear white cleats next time. That's my advice for him."
It's good advice. Many receivers and running backs opt for all-white cleats to make their feet less distinguishable from the white paint on the sideline. Likely's black kicks told on him pretty quickly when replay officials ran back the tape.
Despite the gut-wrenching ending, though, Likely played a strong game. The 24-year-old finished with nine catches for 111 yards and a touchdown. But that final play is still tough to swallow.
"That's on me," Likely said. "I just have to get both feet in. I harp on myself to catch everything and make sure everybody puts us in the best possibility, so I take responsibility. Next time, I'm going to get my feet down."
And maybe buy some new shoes, too.