The play design from Andy Reid and the mind and skill set of Patrick Mahomes have made the Chiefs hard to stop, but even they make mistakes sometimes.
Kansas City took a 35-27 lead over the Eagles with 9:22 left in Super Bowl LVII. Mahomes hit Skky Moore on a 4-yard touchdown pass after Philadelphia was caught off guard with a fake jet motion.
The play was similar to the touchdown pass to Kadarius Toney on the previous drive, and that was somewhat intentional.
“And we were in the wrong formation,” a Chiefs assistant told Mahomes, per NFL Films.
“I know we were,” the MVP quarterback said. “I know. That’s why I went with the motion right. I went to motion this dude on the other side. (Toney) pointed that way. I was like, ‘(expletive) I don’t know.’ The play was in the wrong formation. The clock was running down. I looked over… I called it right. They lined up wrong.”
So the right play was called, but the players were not lined up correctly. Teams normally would want to call a timeout to get things straightened out, but Mahomes and Reid didn’t panic, and Kansas City still scored on the Eagles.
Philadelphia answered back with a touchdown and two-point conversion from Jalen Hurts to tie the game at 35, but Mahomes led the Chiefs on a drive that drained all but eight seconds off the clock — with help from a James Bradberry hold on JuJu Smith-Schuster. Harrison Butker kicked the game-winning field goal, and the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.
As much as Kansas City wants to say it was doubted, the NFL knows all too well how tough it is to stop the Chiefs, and everyone was given a reminder that even when things go wrong, Mahomes can steer the ship in the right direction.
