Patrick Mahomes engineered a game-winning drive against the Lions on Sunday, but before that, he was already doing things that we simply don’t see other players even attempt.

During the first quarter of that win, Mahomes scrambled for a 25-yard run and a first down. But in the middle of the run, he seemingly looked back at referee Walt Anderson to check for a penalty flag. It was bonkers. Mahomes had to be certain that no Lions player was close by because otherwise … why?!

Further evidence that Mahomes is playing on a different level: Out on a scramble, he looks back at the ref to see if there was a penalty or if it's cool for him to continue running. pic.twitter.com/Gx3lBeq2om — The Ringer (@ringer) September 29, 2019

On Thursday, Mahomes was asked about that moment, and he had a laugh about the whole sequence too. Mahomes said he was checking for a penalty flag, so he wouldn’t have to run 50 yards for a play that could have been coming back.

#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes on his look-back moment vs. Detroit. pic.twitter.com/kL1x2DOqxZ — Arrowhead Pride (@ArrowheadPride) October 3, 2019

He said:

“That was exactly it. I looked back to see if there was a penalty. I saw that I had the room and could probably get the first down. But I don’t want to run like 50 yards if it was gonna get called back and I’d have to run another play.”

Mahomes continued:

“When I look back on it, I’m like, ‘Man, I don’t know why I did that.’ But in the moment, I just kind of thought about it and looked back and saw there was no flag. So I took off.”

That just goes to show how much the game has slowed down for Mahomes. The man can have an entire internal dialogue whilst running for a first down.

He’s on another level.