Kansas City Chiefs Laddie Morse

Chiefs Seminal Moments: THE RUN

LadnerMorse January 22, 2020 No Comments Gallery

 

Chiefs Seminal Moments: THE RUN – you may recall a piece I wrote called, “Monumental Games with Seminal Moments” in which I stated,

 

“Part of what makes the difference between a game that is memorable and unforgettable is usually a seminal moment, a play that becomes etched into the collective conscience of fans who are into sports.”

 

That’s what I believe we experienced on Sunday when Patrick Mahomes made a play that I am simply calling, “THE RUN” at the end of the first half of the AFC Championship game vs the Tennessee Titans.

 

The Chiefs had the ball at the Titans 27 yard line with 23 seconds to go until the half, in a 2nd and 10 situation. Patrick Mahomes was taking the hike in a shotgun formation with RB Damien Williams in the backfield set up off of his right shoulder.

 

The Chiefs send four receivers and the Titans drop into a zone but only rushed three. Mahomes screams, “Blue-80, Hut-Hut” and Austin Reiter snaps the ball. Game announcer Jim Nantz calls the play, “Second and ten as that Tennessee defense drops back,” Mahomes fades to his left keeping his eyes down field. As Tony Romo has pointed out previously, Mahomes is going to make them pay for dropping into a zone by running the ball. A trade off that the Titans were comfortable with to this point. Mahomes then takes off down the left sidelines and Nantz continues the call, “That’s Long who makes a diving attempt (it was not LB David Long, it was Derick Roberson)” then Jim Nantz’s voice elevates as PMII eludes the second tackler by half faking like he was going to throw the ball with LB Rashaan Evans biting on the fake, “Mahomes as he tries to tip-toe down the sideline… inside the ten,”  while Titans DL,  DaQuan Jones, #90, trails on the play, Mahomes quickly reverses the ball from his left arm to his right and turn towards the numbers on the field… Safety Amani Hooker takes a shot at the ball by trying to spear Mahomes around the 5 yard line but misses. That leaves CB, Tramaine Brock Sr., #35, who attempts to rip upwards at the ball to get it out of Mahomes arms, but fails as Patrick does a 360 to avoid the tackle. The ball does come loose a bit once he crosses the goal line but Mahomes resituates it as he lands for the TD. DaQuan Jones, trailing on the play, then lands on Mahomes legs but he’s already scored a TD by that time.

 

Post-run Comments:

Jim Nantz: Oh what a run. Out of this world. Touchdown Kansas City.

Tony Romo: I’ll tell ya, from the second quarter of last week when they scored on 7 straight possessions, to right here what’s happening in this game, down 10-to-zero, this quarterback has played at a level you just don’t see very often.

 

 Nantz and Romo review the play then comment…

Jim Nantz: He takes them 86 yards in a minute and 40 seconds.

Tony Romo: Well, you can’t be calm in the pocket… Be poised… Have a big arm… Be able to slide and move… Have great instincts… And then outrun, for 30 yards around three people… And take on everybody: Patrick Mahomes. Rare.

Jim Nantz: Yeah, ya can… If you’re Mahomes. And he’s given the Chiefs their first lead. Not only that, but the season long story of the Titans not giving up a touchdown in the last two minutes of the first half… that’s broken, here, today.

Tony Romo: that was one of the best plays by any individual this season in the NFL.

 

[I would say, it’s a monumental play at a seminal moment.]

 

Jim Nantz said to Patrick Mahomes in his post game interview: “What’s really kind of a cool thing is, there you were with injuries, with an ankle, with a dislocated knee… and today, a big part of the equation is, you not only did it with your arm — you had almost 300 yards with 3 TDs — you led the team in rushing for the second straight week… And you had one of the all time epic touchdown runs by a quarterback in a championship game... I called [that run] out of this world… How did you do that right before the half from 27 yards out?

 

Patrick Mahomes responded: Yeah, I mean, I think the biggest thing is my teammates, the offensive line blocking for me. They were playing a little double-coverage, doubling all these guys we have runnin’ and it opened up and I just ran it in and… Got some good blocking there at the end… And uh, found a way to get in that end zone.

 

There are several accounts of THE RUN offered on twitter. Here are a couple that I think offer the best view. The first is an advertisement for “Inside the NFL” by Showtime, and features Mitch Holthus, the voice of the Chiefs on 101.1, The Fox:

 

 

Holthus calls it “Perhaps the best play yet of Patrick Mahomes incredible young career.” While PMII has so many plays to choose from, what makes this play stand out, is the use of his legs plus the situation: a go-ahead score (for good) that helps to send the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl in 50 years. No small achievement.

 

The next video of THE RUN is a breakdown by B.J. Kissel for a Chiefs Podcast: “In the Trenches.“

 

 

Notice that one of Kissel’s first observations is that, this is something we’ve never seen before out of Mahomes, the 50 TD/5,000 yard man.

 

Mahomes says, “Find a way to win the football game. Whatever it takes.” That sounds good to me.

 

Of course… not be be the biggest Dougie Downer of the last half century but — if the Chiefs don’t win Super Bowl LIV, all the adulation about this play… and this game... will mean much, much less. The Chiefs certainly don’t want to end up like the Buffalo Bills or the Minnesota Vikings of yesteryear… getting there repeatedly, but never getting over the hump to win it all. However, and I must add, these Chiefs feel different. That’s what I’ve been feeling about them getting to the Super Bowl this year… and then they did it. I have the same feeling about them winning it all… but that’s for another article.

 

Here’s a series of freeze frames of, THE RUN. Of note is Mahomes little head fake which sets this whole run, which is hard to see in screen captures, but if you look at screen cap #6, you can tell he hesitates there, which freezes the defender. Brilliant move.

 

 

 

 

Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

 

 

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