KANSAS CITY, Mo. _ Damien Williams zoomed through the gap at the Chiefs' 9-yard-line Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium, wiggled left and zigged right. About 20 yards later, it was evident no one would catch the running back who ran the 40-yard dash in 4.45 seconds at the NFL Combine a few years back.
At least no one on the Vikings.
As Williams was on his way to a 91-yard touchdown run that matched the longest in franchise history and revived a drooping team in what became a 26-23 victory, he looked up at the end zone screen.
In that virtual mirror, an object just about instantaneously became closer than it had appeared.
Here suddenly was human blur/walking muscle/Motaur Tyreek Hill, who was a good 10 yards from Williams when he cranked into warp speed with the notion of stepping in the way of Mackensie Alexander's last-ditch pursuit of Williams.
Then Hill realized he could actually run down Williams, because, after all, "I don't mind showing my speed, you know what I'm saying?"
In fact, Hill reached a speed of 22.64 MPH, the fastest he's ever attained on an NFL play from scrimmage, according to NextGenStats. And he sustained a speed of at least 21.46 MPH for four seconds _ the fastest speed sustained that long by any NFL player this season.
No wonder after he beat Williams into the end zone, Williams laughingly said he told Hill, "Don't embarrass me like that (any) more on TV, man."
Hey, could have been worse: As he watched on the screen, Williams had thought Hill would overtake him on his left side and was a little startled when he arrived to his right.
"I almost dropped the ball," Williams said, laughing but maybe not quite joking.
Then there was this ...
"I told him if we had like five more yards, I would have stripped the ball from him and then taken his touchdown," Hill said.
Hill so enjoyed saying that that he punctuated it by adding, "I told him that," and laughing out loud.
Their exchange was a nice snapshot of a revived vibe in the Chiefs' locker room. This was a much-needed win with so much weighing down this promising season in recent weeks _ including losing three of their last four, all at Arrowhead, and trying to move forward with Patrick Mahomes missing his second straight start after suffering a dislocated kneecap Oct. 17 at Denver.
The ultimate highlight of the game was Harrison Butker's 44-yard field goal as time ran out, both because of the dramatic victory it provided the Chiefs (6-3) over a good Minnesota team (6-3), and because the rehabilitating Mahomes had the presence of mind to get the heck out of the way after going out on the field to congratulate Butker.
And there were plenty of other notable developments, too, both in terms of what was accomplished (another nice performance by Matt Moore in Mahomes' absence; a defensive step forward in holding the vaunted Vikings running game to 3.6 yards a carry) and what was overcome (Mecole Hardman's second fumbled kickoff to open the second half this season, and blunders like having 10 men on the field for the touchdown that put the Vikings ahead 23-20 in the fourth quarter).
But the game also reiterated something: Beyond Mahomes, perhaps no player animates this operation and raises its potential ceiling more than the mesmerizing Hill _ who had six catches for 140 yards.
When Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game that "only Tyreek could do that," he was speaking specifically of Hill maneuvering to wall off the defender on Williams' TD run.
If Hill were only about speed, though, he'd be more novelty act than the multi-dimensional game-changer he is. With balletic body control, the springs to go up and the grit to go into traffic, Hill offers a rare and seemingly boundless blend of skills.
And this game was a microcosm of all he means to the Chiefs, who were different without him for four full games after he suffered a shoulder injury in their season opener at Jacksonville.
It seems like a long time ago now, but Hill actually got off to a rough start Sunday when he was unable to reel in two challenging but catchable passes. Those missed opportunities lingered with him ... not at all.
"I mean, nah, I don't ever think about that," he said. "I always go to the next play."
In this case, he almost couldn't have meant that more literally. On the next play from scrimmage after he failed to hold onto a deep Moore pass, Hill duped a Vikings defensive back into the middle of the field before accelerating into a post-corner route.
"I did a good job of selling it," Hill said, crediting the line for its protection and Moore for the "perfect dime."
Truth be told, the ball looked overthrown. But this was Hill, who shook his head no almost before a question was out about whether he was worried it was somehow thrown beyond him.
"No, man, can't nobody overthrow me," he said. "Don't do that."
Voila, it was Hill's 20th touchdown of 40 yards or more, the most overall of that length in the NFL since 2013 ... by a guy who entered the NFL in 2016.
Hill also was instrumental in setting up the game-tying field goal, hauling in a how-did-he-catch-that 41-yard reception at the Minnesota 19. And maybe he gets some credit for both where the Chiefs started their final drive and ended it.
When Hill was inserted in the game to return the last two punts, special teams coordinator Dave Toub told him, "Let's go, 'Reek: It's either going to be a bad kick or a touchdown."
The second one was, in fact, a 27-yard punt that gave the Chiefs the ball at the Minnesota 45 with 1 minute, 47 seconds left.
After Moore was sacked and Williams recovered his fumble, the Chiefs made up some distance with Moore's 17-yard pass to Travis Kelce. But they still faced third and 4 at the Minnesota 39 and needed to put Butker in a better position for the game-winning attempt.
Bingo: Moore hit Hill crossing the middle on what appeared to be a hot read for 13 yards. Two players later, the Chiefs had their first win at Arrowhead since Sept. 22 and had restored some order.
In large part because of, as Reid might put it, things only Hill can do.
