In Kansas City’s narrow loss to Buffalo last week, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire dropped a Patrick Mahomes pass along the left sideline, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth. He vowed this week to Mahomes it wouldn’t happen again.
“I just told him like, even when I got the opportunity last week, opportunities this week at practice this week, like, ‘You throw the ball up, brow, I promise I’m going to come down with it no matter the situation.'”
Edwards-Helaire lived true to his word Sunday, hauling in four passes for 64 yards including a leaping grab in the back of the end zone midway through the third quarter that helped lead the Chiefs to a 27-17 win over the New England Patriots.
With the Chiefs facing a second-and-goal from the Patriots 6-yard line, Edwards-Helaire had a free release out of the backfield. As he approached the end zone, he turned and saw Mahomes under pressure and moving out of the pocket.
“I initially broke it in to get that inside option for the touchdown on the inside,” he said. “I think (Patriots safety Jabrill Peppers) ended up coming down so then after that I kind of knew who was on the outside and he was really going to try to stay at the pylon, so my goal was to try to get the back of the end zone. From that point, I kind of knew Pat was going to roll my way since I was the hot answer from that point.”
The problem was that Patriots linebacker Jahlani Tavai was positioned between Mahomes and Edwards-Helaire. Mahomes floated a jump ball to the back of the end zone, and the 5-foot-7, 207-pound running back skied upwards to haul in the catch while absorbing a hit from Tavai.
It made Edwards-Helaire harken back to his college days at LSU when the team’s then head coach Ed Orgeron would joke that his diminutive running back was 6-foot-4, 270 pounds when he walked into a room.
That marked the first touchdown reception for Edwards-Helaire since Week 4 of last season against Tampa Bay. Travis Kelce was the first teammate on the field to help him celebrate the play.
“Man, I love that dude,” Kelce said. “He’s been playing his tail off, waiting for his opportunities and when he gets his opportunities, he’s making the most of them. He’s the unsung hero for today, that’s for damn sure.”
The last time Edwards-Helaire hauled in a touchdown pass — 411 days ago — he was the starting running back for the Chiefs, rushing for 94 yards and scoring twice in a 41-31 win over Tampa Bay. Three weeks later, he lost his starting job to then-rookie Isiah Pacheco. Another three weeks after that, Edwards-Helaire sustained a high-ankle sprain that would end his season.
Sunday’s performance may seem like a comeback story to some but not to Edwards-Helaire himself.
“Everybody kind of have their own story or have their own say so about it,” he said in his postgame press conference. “But I’m Clyde Edwards-Helaire, and I write my own narrative, I write my own story, so I let everybody else handle whatever they want to write and use whatever they want to use and then I kind of just showcasing myself and write my story by my body and my play.”
Indeed, the 24-year-old former first-round draft pick looks upon the last 14 months very differently than some outsiders. Edwards-Helaire never felt down and out — coaches and teammates say he’s never without a smile. Head coach Andy Reid praised him Sunday as an “energy giver.”
“He doesn’t ever complain,” Reid said. “He just goes out, if you give him two snaps he’ll take the two and make it the best he can. If you give him 30, 40 snaps he’s gonna do great there too.”
That’s why teammates shared their happiness for Edwards-Helaire after Sunday’s performance.
“He’s one of the best dudes I think I’ve ever met,” Mahomes said. “Just the attitude that he comes into the building with. I mean, he’s always got a smile on his face, he’s always making other people smile.”
During those 411 days between touch down receptions, Edwards-Helaire’s confidence never wavered. While backing up Pacheco — and even starting in this year’s season opener against Detroit — he focused on the bigger picture.
“I really just was able to take a step back and realize what’s business and the things that I can control, those sort of things that I control,” Edwards-Helaire said. “It is just as simple as that. I knew once I was able to get my opportunity and showcase the things that I know I need to showcase, that’s just what it is. I go out there, play my game, never batted an eye, knew at some point the opportunity was going to show up again. It’s a matter of how you conquer that opportunity and take advantage of it.”
Indeed, Edwards-Helaire has remained ready to go whenever the Chiefs have needed him. He was activated from injured reserve before last Februay’s Super Bowl, and took reps at both the Z receiver position and running back during practice with the club dealing with a plague of injuries. He didn’t play in the game, but his preparation was a key for the Chiefs.
Critics may judge his last 14 months harshly, but Edwards-Helaire sees that time a different way. He played in 18 of the Chiefs’ 29 regular-season and postseason games, averaging 3.37 yards per attempt while rushing for 273 yards on 81 carries with two scores. He also caught 13 passes for 107 yards. But for an athlete such as Edwards-Helaire, not everything takes place on the field between the lines.
“I was able to do a lot of things,” he said. “I got engaged, I had the whole nine yards when everybody felt like Clyde might be in the dumps, I was probably on my highest horse. And that’s just one of those things. You take whatever is the light of the situation and you brighten it up.
“Now it’s just everybody’s just talking about the opportunity but the opportunity was getting drafted and being able to be in this position. So always had the opportunity but they just kind of marking it up for me.”
That attitude is why teammates such as Mahomes continue standing by Edwards-Helaire.
“I mean, when you get a lot of people piling on you and you don’t have the success you want, you could be down, but like I said, he has a smile on his face, he comes to work every single day and I think that’s special about him,” Mahomes said. “That’s why we want him to succeed as much as everybody else and himself. It’s because he has that workman, that ethic of just coming in and putting in whatever he can to help the team, and today was a great day for him.”
