Tyreek Hill is undoubtedly a threat. His speed and his skill to adjust his routes make him very dangerous as soon as the ball comes his way. On Sunday afternoon against the Cleveland Browns, Patrick Mahomes was being chased by a defender and had to make a quick decision. This decision would become the single most important play of the game. It gave the Chiefs the momentum to get an essential first win.
As he was being chased to the sideline, Mahomes chose to target Tyreek Hill down the field. Hill adjusted his route and avoided the safety to get a big catch and ran to the goal line for an amazing 75-yard touchdown.
“Sometimes you just throw it up,” Mahomes said. “He’s a little dude, he goes and catches it and he’s pretty fast so usually good things happen.”
Actually, Mahomes said he just spotted his hand! The chemistry between these two players is just unique.
The Chiefs would go on to win 33-29 with Hill’s 11 catches for 197 yards leading the receivers room. The performance of Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce carried the Chiefs to another comeback victory, once again.
Hill and Kelce accounted for 63% of the catches, 81% of the yards, and all three of the passing touchdowns. The stats are pretty clear!
Regarding Hill, Mahomes said: “He’s really good at adjusting to the ball, he’s world class. If it’s not his speed, that’s probably the best thing he does is adjusting when the ball is in the air.”
Hill answered, “That’s really hard for any (defensive back). I don’t care who he is. If you’re running full speed and I stop and catch the ball it’s going to be hard for him.”
However, Hill has improved a lot in his routes and his ability to track the ball. And that is why Hill-Mahomes is a dynamic duo.
This summer, Hill has been voted by his peers at number 15 in NFL Network’s Top 100 players list. Only three other receivers were ranked before him. Davante Adams was number 6, DeAndre Hopkins was 8, and Stefon Diggs was ranked 11th. That is proof he is indeed of the best receivers in the league, and his peers recognize and respect him for it.
Since 2016, he has improved quite a bit, but he thinks he can still do a lot more, as he said on Sunday: “When I catch the ball in open space, I’m like just trying to score — I need to get out of that,” he explained. “I’m trying to reverse field, I’m trying to go left-right, I’m trying to do everything instead of just getting up field and just taking the yards. It’s all about getting better, so I feel like when we watch this tape with [offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy], he going to chew me another a—h— because there was a lot of plays where I could have had so many more yards.”
And that is one of the characteristics of a true champion, the will to always get better and work harder. Hill may not be a fan favorite like other players on the roster, but he brings everything at every game, and the numbers are there to show it. He is without any doubt one of the best.
