But, teammate Andrew Embley believes there was no better Eagle to be thrown into a footrace with the potential sealer on the end, with Mackenzie one of the fastest players at the club.
Mackenzie, after kicking his second career-goal late in the third quarter, found himself sprinting towards goal with Beau Maister hot on his heels with two minutes remaining and the Eagles two points behind.
Shannon Hurn had booted the ball from full back, it came off Nic Naitanui's hands towards the middle of the ground, and Matt Rosa had slammed it inside 50.
Mackenzie and Maister sprinted towards it with the Saints' forward tripping over and allowing the defender to collect it on the bounce and kick the winning goal.
"I don't dream about Eric Mackenzie kicking many goals, no, I would admit that," Worsfold said afterwards.
So what was he doing down there?
"You want the real answer? No idea, mate," Worsfold responded.
"I don't know if he'd just come off the bench, there were messages going out to players at that stage of the game about what we needed to do if there was a behind scored, if there was a goal scored.
"Eric would have known what we were trying to do in terms of the next kick in and he's obviously just read it well."
Embley was running towards the goal as well and had a clear view of what was unfolding.
He said no one was going to beat the 25-year-old Eagle when pitted against him in such a circumstance.
"I was running as well a little bit behind him but he's quick, he's one of the quickest in the side so once he actually got goal side, it was going to be pretty tough for anyone to actually run him down," Embley told AFL.com.au.
"It was a wonderful effort and a great goal to put us in front.
"He's fit, he runs midfield times, and he's one of the fastest and strongest in the group."
Embley's praise for Mackenzie didn't end there, with the veteran midfielder saying the defender was on the cusp of becoming one of the best in the competition in his role.
"Eric Mackenzie is a wonderful, wonderful player. He's maybe underrated in the competition but certainly in our group, we know how important he is," he said.
"He's on the verge of becoming one of the best backmen in the competition.
"I don't want to put too much pressure on him but he is an absolute ripper.
"I'm sure if you spoke to a lot of key forwards in the competition, he'd be one bloke you don't want to play on you.
"I thought his job, along with 'Browny', on [Nick] Riewoldt, was extremely important for us, especially having 'Glassy' out."
As for the Eagles and their nerve-holding final play, Worsfold said he had confidence they would simply know what to do as the game wore down and they trailed by less than a goal.
"The players were clear on what we were going to do if there was a point kicked, if there was a goal kicked by either team … we were confident that our players knew what to do," Worsfold said.
"There's a couple of ideas that happen and players still have to make decisions on the run but certainly we wanted Nic somewhere near the footy as far out from goal as Shannon could possibly kick it."
Jennifer Phelan is a reporter for AFL Media. Follow her on Twitter @AFL_JenPhelan.
