Folks, I would like to announce that I am now a Kansas City Chiefs fan because of this play. Early in the first quarter of Super Bowl LIV, Kansas City was facing fourth-and-1 from San Francisco’s 5-yard line. The Chiefs hit the 49ers with a spin move on the pre-snap to help get a first down.
Patrick Mahomes, Damien Williams, and receivers Demarcus Robinson and Sammy Watkins all spun before the ball was snapped to throw the 49ers’ defense off so Williams could run for an easy first down. They quite literally looked like a boy band in doing so:
Another great angle:
Andy Reid took a gamble going for it on fourth down, too. On the third down before this play, Mahomes took a hit and fumbled the ball out of bounds, negating what would have been a first down. Reid had his field-goal unit out on the field before changing his mind and putting his offense back in the game instead. After the game, Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy told reporters that the play originated from a Rose Bowl game all the way back in 1949 between Michigan and USC:
Here’s a visual of that play — you can clearly see the similarities between the formations. On Michigan’s version, there’s less spin moves and more shifts, but the Chiefs’ play is clearly a variation of this:
Pretty cool. Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy said they stole that first TD play from Michigan in an old Rose Bowl vs. USC. I looked, and yep. This is from New Year’s Day 1948. Fritz Crisler = visionary pic.twitter.com/bcWp5BEf0h
— Alex Kirshner (@alex_kirshner) February 3, 2020
On the play call in the huddle, Mahomes is heard saying “shift to Rose Bowl Right Parade.” You can hear him say that in the video below right around the 2:28 mark:
According to Chiefs right tackle Mitchell Schwartz (as relayed to his brother, former NFL lineman and current SB Nation writer Geoff), the play is something Bieniemy had inserted in the playbook back in May. While Kansas City had practiced it intermittently throughout 2019, the team decided it’d be featured in their Super Bowl package.
Reid’s decision to go for it ended up paying off — Mahomes ran the ball into the end zone for a 1-yard touchdown run to give the Chiefs a 7-3 lead. On his run into the end zone, he had a nice spin move of his own:
With his score, Mahomes is the first quarterback to have a rushing touchdown since former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick in Super Bowl XLVII in 2013.
That touchdown wouldn’t have been possible without Reid making this play call. God bless you, coach, for calling this incredible play on fourth down.
No comments:
Post a Comment