The Kansas City Chiefs’ dynasty has officially arrived after their 25-22 overtime win in Super Bowl LVIII over the San Francisco 49ers. Capping off Kansas City’s winning drive was a nifty play design by Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, who’s known for his creativity in the red zone. Mecole Hardman went in motion, broke back outside right before the snap, and caught Patrick Mahomes’ second touchdown pass of the night with no one terribly close to him.
Arguable GOAT NFL writer/reporter Peter King got to meet up with Reid afterwards and dive deeper into what went into that decisive final call. Reid was generous enough to give a blow-by-blow breakdown of his latest schematic wizardry, which netted the Chiefs their third Lombardi Trophy in five years:
Here we go, ready? “Tom and Jerry Right, Gun Trips Right Bunch, F Shuttle.” Or at least that’s how I assume Mahomes recited the play to finish off the Chiefs’ 13-play, 75-yard march to NFL immortality.
The “F Shuttle”, Reid explains, denotes the motion that Hardman did. It’s not dissimilar to how the Miami Dolphins utilized pre-snap motion with Tyreek Hill — who the Chiefs famously, boldly traded — to get him a full-sprint start and attack the middle of the field on intermediate in-breaking routes. Hardman has similar speed to The Cheetah, if not quite as explosive, but similar to ‘Reek, Hardman could hide himself a bit prior to the snap behind KC’s massive offensive line. Once he broke back out to the flat, nobody could react fast enough, much less catch up with his burst of acceleration.
Not to name names, but some people irresponsibility speculated that Reid might retire if and when the Chiefs won the Super Bowl. The artist known as Big Red ain’t going anywhere. From the horse’s mouth:
Yeah, damn. Reid’s retirement is about the only thing that could derail the Chiefs at this point. His Super Bowl LVIII counterpart Kyle Shanahan is often credited as the brightest offensive mind in the modern NFL. I think that’s fair, yet it feels to me like we forget how brilliant Reid is and has been for so long because of how special his QB is.
Here’s a little update on Hardman, who also hauled in a 52-yard reception on Super Bowl Sunday from one of the more impressive throws Mahomes has ever made:
In case you missed the deeeeeep toss-and-catch I’m referring to, here ya go:
If Kansas City can get plays like this out of its oft-maligned receiving corps in 2024 and beyond, they’re really going to be dangerous. Although the Chiefs have six defensive starters hitting unrestricted free agency — headlined by superstar pass-rusher Chris Jones — they’ll still have Steve Spagnuolo as defensive coordinator. Not to mention, KC has the indefatigable spirit of the Travis Kelce-Taylor Swift power couple to put some wind in their sails.
Oh yeah, and they’ll still have that man Mahomes under center, and that amiable head coach Andy Reid running the show.
Too bad Reid didn’t go full Jordan Belfort/Leo at the podium when the topic of his future was broached.
