Mahomes audibles on 3rd down
 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">On the biggest play of the season, Patrick Mahomes frantically went to an audible — for a play the Chiefs hadn&#39;t run all season.<br><br>Here&#39;s the rest of the story on how a &quot;head-scratching&quot; call helped the Chiefs win Super Bowl 58.<br><br>“It was really cool.&quot;<a href="https://t.co/clZTOiRuXc">https://t.co/clZTOiRuXc</a></p>&mdash; Jesse Newell (@jessenewell) <a href="https://twitter.com/jessenewell/status/1780225961352433798?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Good read. It's behind a paywall I think, I'll try to post the version.

On the biggest play of the season — and in the final minute of Super Bowl LVIII — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes made his decision in an instant. With millions watching on television and in a legacy-defining moment, Mahomes was about to change the play-call. And switch to something the Chiefs hadn’t run all year. “It was really cool,” Mahomes said Monday with a smile. The Chiefs might not be back-to-back Super Bowl champs without this audible — or if Mahomes’ teammates weren’t ready for the chaos of the next few seconds. This was third-and-2 at the San Francisco 43-yard line, with 48 seconds left in regulation of Super Bowl LVIII. The Chiefs trailed 19-16, and if they were stopped on this down, they’d have to decide between a potential game-tying 60-yard field-goal attempt or a fourth down on offense with the season on the line. KC had its play-call set. Mahomes lifted his leg to survey the defense, then noticed something in his peripheral vision. The 49ers, who hadn’t blitzed most of the game, had extra defenders on the line of scrimmage. They were about to bring pressure. In short, the Chiefs’ play from the huddle was not going to work. Mahomes still knew he had a check he could go to. The team had discussed using it if he ever saw a particular blitz. The only problem? Mahomes had no in-season evidence — over 21 games — that this play was going to work. “All year long, we never got the look that we wanted,” Mahomes said. “And then all of a sudden you get in the Super Bowl — a third down, in a huge moment in the game — and of course, you get the exact look you’re thinking about.” The Chiefs had practiced this audible in training camp, then maybe twice a month during the regular season, just in case. Coaches also showed a picture of the play in meetings before each game, just as a refresher in case the Chiefs needed to break glass in case of emergency.

Mahomes went for that here. He frantically started flicking his hand and wrist to signal the call to his teammates. The message, in essence: “Don’t run the previous play. Let’s go with this man-to-man killer instead.” via GIPHY Chiefs center Creed Humphrey said something to right guard Trey Smith next to him, then motioned with his arm to make sure he received the message. And after the snap, it became clear: The Chiefs were plenty ready for the unexpected. The screen pass to Jerick McKinnon worked as intended. The Chiefs’ offensive line left the correct defender on the right side unblocked, allowing Mahomes to know exactly where the pressure was coming from. McKinnon also faked a block on that player — the Chiefs had shown cross-protection like this most of the game — before bluffing and running around him to the vacant space that was supposed to be there. Mahomes backpedaled to buy time before lofting the ball to McKinnon, who followed a group of Chiefs blocking receivers for a seven-yard gain and critical first down. On the CBS broadcast, analyst Tony Romo shared his amazement at the timing of the Chiefs’ screen. “What a play-call,” Romo said. “It was almost like they expected (the 49ers) to go against themselves and pressure.” In this case, it was Mahomes who outfoxed the defense, though perhaps the most underrated part is how easily this could’ve gone wrong. And we have an example of that from a few months earlier.

Go back to Week 13 and a Thursday Night Football showdown between Seattle and Dallas. The Seahawks ran essentially the same play as the Chiefs on their fourth-and-2, trying to beat pressure with a screen pass to running back Deejay Dallas. There was one issue: The running back Dallas — unlike McKinnon — was hesitant coming out of the backfield. He eventually got caught up in traffic, and quarterback Geno Smith ran out of time before throwing an incomplete pass. via GIPHY The defender who pressured Smith — Cowboys defensive end Micah Parsons — was the one intentionally left unblocked. That fact led to plenty of second-guessing afterward. The New York Post labeled the sequence a “head-scratching final play ‘design.’” No one could’ve known then, but the same basic scheme would help the Chiefs win the Super Bowl three months later. And even Mahomes reflected on the craziness of the moment afterward. In a sequence shared on the Chiefs’ video series “The Franchise,” Mahomes is walking with wife Brittany on the field after the Super Bowl while talking to the team’s VP of communications, Brad Gee. “I checked to something on the second-to-last drive that we have literally never ran,” Mahomes said. “We ran in it practice and training camp. I checked to it, and it freaking went out the gate.” The third-down conversion led to a game-tying field goal, followed by a Chiefs overtime touchdown in a 25-22 Super Bowl victory. When remembering the play Monday, Mahomes credited teammates and an organization that emphasizes the small details. Ones that matter, Mahomes said, in times you might not expect. “Everybody was prepared and ready for the moment, and that comes with those tedious fundamentals from Day 1,” he said. “We do this stuff to prepare ourselves for the Super Bowl.”

Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/sports/nf...#storylink=cpy

He's a thinking man with a killer instinct


He's scary good

Meanwhile the 49ers didn't know the playoff OT rules.

This team is just so damn well coached.

In related news, Andy Reid and the Kansas city Chiefs kick ass.

Film at 11.

These stories always blow my mind. The constant preparation for so many different situations, looks, opportunities. There are only so many things you can squeeze into the time allocated for practice. Even if you have the brilliant mind of Mahomes running the show on the field you need the rest of the team to be on the same page. Amazing.

This is more a statement of the staff than Mahomes, IMO.

Great on Mahomes for catching the look, but as the article notes - a lot still has to go right from the other 10 guys for it to work. And for them to nail it in a high pressure situation without having run it before demonstrates an incredible level of preparation and precision.

If only Andy would run the ball more...

Mahomes is and always will be my man crush for all time…

Fooseball savant

Patrick is special. But so is Andy.

The fact that the Chiefs have has so much continuity over the past decade is probably the number one reason why things like this actually happen. It’s not going to happen in year two of some new HC.

This is why I hope Andy has a real plan and timeline for retirement....to bring someone up from within and keep some kind of continuity going

Damn, if you posted KC Star's material more often I wouldn't need the subscription. You get it yourself for 10 years for the price of a root canal.

Thank u;

Agreed. It's why Andy continues to go with savvy players like McKinnon (who I'm really going to miss. I very much enjoyed watching that dude work) and why they don't just throw some UDFA undersized speedster out there.

Good read thanks for posting O.

Great story! There's probably 10-15 of these kinda moments throughout the season. To pull something out like that in the most crucial of all moments and executing it correctly is pretty freakin awesome. Love this team !!!!!

Thanks for posting the story! Great Super Bowl story. :thumb:

how about some vidya

patrick manning

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Total mental destruction of the 49ers before the snap. <a href="https://t.co/2TX3ihD52D">https://t.co/2TX3ihD52D</a> <a href="https://t.co/69VzaBeHHc">pic.twitter.com/69VzaBeHHc</a></p>&mdash; ��️ Red Tribe Cinema (@ClayWendler) <a href="https://twitter.com/ClayWendler/status/1780274571330941186?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 16, 2024</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I was trying to figure out how to post this, but this regime has really shown that whatever choice they make on a player or draft pick etc....there's sound reason behind it.

They've earned more rope than really anyone I can think of in terms of a fanbase and front office.

When you see the video you understand exactly what they're talking about in the failed Seahawks play.

That would've been SUPER easy for McKinnon to get the timing wrong and get hung up in the wash. But we've talked about this several times in the past - NOBODY has a more precise screen game than Andy Reid. That guy has those things on tilt and it's why I've always been a little curious why we don't use them more than we do.

The Reid Screen Game is such an underrated and under-recognized part of his bag of tricks. And it isn't anything really tricky - it's just coaching and precision. These guys know exactly where to be and when to be there.

Except for Skyy Moore. The only Chiefs WR I can ever recall who simply doesn't know where he's supposed to be on screen passes.

I love this team.

They make great adjustments like the one in O.City's post, and those are hard for us casual fans to see in real time. But one thing I notice in real time is that they seldom make bonehead mistakes. Every player always has their head in the game and knows what's going on. I have to conclude that that's something they consider in the draft and free agency process.

Once we draft Jordyn Brooks....look out.

Jaylen Wright, brah.

Except for Skyy Moore.

I knew you'd come through with the video. Makes me ready for this upcoming season !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Beautiful......

Ford, Toney...

I know this is a "No shit, dumbass!" comment, but I'm going to say it anyway. We are so ****ing lucky to have this guy on our team. I feel like I'm living my best dream.

Probably the difference in why it worked for us and didn't work for the Seahawks.

You're only as strong as your weakest link.

So the chiefs just removed those links.

Mahomes is just incredible.

But also a lot of credit goes to Andy Reid in always having his team super well prepared.

Hardman has fairly consistently made really stupid mistakes.
I think for the price he's worth bringing back for a limited role but I no longer think he'll mature beyond making stupid mistakes...

Quickly becoming a fan of this kid. Hope we can extend him.

Hardman is basically free because 31 other teams won't have him.

Here's the interview where he talks about the play:

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8:02 is the where he answers the question about the audible.

They also won the SB on a version of corndog. It's wild to think that they have three TD's off essentially the same play in the last two SBs, all of which were critical to the win. And what's even wilder was those three TDs were caught by Toney, Moore, and Hardman.

Tony, Moore, Hardman and MVS are the 4 Chiefs WRs to catch TDs in the last two SBs (along with one for Kelce).

That's just nuts.

Wallcrawler drinks his own pee

LMAO

So do we have any idea what they checked out of?

Football Jesus.

Wow... Between the coaching staff, and Mahomes' uncanny ability to recall the "little things" from practice/training camp, and then relay it to the troops is remarkable. And I don't think it can be stressed enough: DURING THE FINAL MINUTE OF THE SUPER BOWL. As if things aren't chaotic enough, this happened with the team down by three, and a minute left in THE SUPER BOWL. You know the players can barely hear shit on the field with all the crowd noise, plus the adrenaline, the fatigue, all of it... How easy would it be for one guy to miss it, and foul things up? Or the center to freak out and muff the snap?

Pretty next level shit all the way around.

KNIBB HIGH FOOTBALL RULES!

Can we please stop it with the FINAL MINUTE shit? If the clock expires, it just goes to a second OT.

they should just get rid of the game clock in overtime. What’s the point of it? You are playing till we have a winner regardless of time.

#92 and #48 look pretty confused when Mahomes checks.

That Greenlaw injury really ****ed them. Probably can’t be overstated.

Underrated is how smart our offensive lineman are. If they don't know how to block for that, it never works.

The level of preparedness from the whole team is just crazy.

While not relevant in a dome like in LV, in an outdoor stadium that could be critical, considering wind and all.

That asks Moore TD they are ere also in the wrong formation I think Kelce was n he wrong side , Pat tried to motion Toney over but Toney waved him off , if toney moves it would have been a flag , not what I would consider well oiled machine but somehow they still made it work.

Yeah - the Chiefs had a hell of an effort to win that thing but it's hard to argue that they still win it if Greenlaw is there.

Injuries happen - they're a part of the game (we lost Omenihu, for instance) so I'm not willing to listen to that as an excuse. But as a simple statement of fact, the loss of Greenlaw left them badly exposed in the middle in that 2nd half.

And of course Kelce went off against his backup.

I ain't ashamed to admit we probably don't win that game (and that's me being diplomatic - I'd say we DEFINITELY don't win that game if I'm being honest) if Greenlaw is there instead of that array of confused and worthless slobs.

Then again, maybe if they had a better DC/HC duo their backups would have been more prepared.

In outdoor games, switching ends of the field can make a huge difference. Also I am still unclear on if after the 2nd OT do they play it like an end of the half and kickoff again?

Except this particular play was in regulation, the article states. Driving for the tying FG to go to overtime.

Now, if it had been in OT, yes I agree.

Not sure what Randy Gregory was doing on that play.

He's the only guy that could've blown it up. If he tries to go through Taylor and pushes around him, he's right in McKinnon's exit path. Instead he gets popped and immediately bounces out to the middle.

It almost looks like a designed look to stop a middle screen? But he was the guy (#5) that had to blow that play up and he just wasn't there.

My general impression of Toney , especially from last year, is that he is an incredibly stupid player. But then I always think of the play that is noted above. Toney obviously knew what was happening and had total situational awareness. Because he was so smart about it the play worked. I’ve always had trouble seeing how that instance fit with all the other impressions he has provided of not having any football smarts at all.

As he lost us two games all by himself last year, and didn’t contribute anything at all, I really feel, we would be better off getting rid of him. But maybe I’m wrong and he will really surprise everybody this year. That would be great.

Sort of looks like it. It would make sense too because then if there's no screen 5 can just spy Mahomes which you want on 3rd and 2