Chiefs: The Necessity of Trick Plays

Laddie Morse

So, you think Andy Reid is a great coach, right? On the other hand, you don’t see the necessity for trick plays? I would suggest you can’t have one without the other. You may not see the importance of trick plays, so why is Andy Reid stuck in that mind-set? If you’re not into trick plays, there are those who agree with you:

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Well, (Joe) Burrow didn’t bury the Kansas City Chiefs (this time) did he?! In a Week 18 game against the Las Vegas Raiders the Chiefs pulled this one out of a hat:

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This is a trick play that got the whole world squawking for some reason. I’ve always looked forward to this time of year for the reason that this is when Andy Reid breaks out the plays we’ve never seen before. So, it’s not just about the tricky-dicky aspect of his scheming, it’s also that he empties his bucket and uses his entire playbook, in depth. We get to see it all. The above play has many names. Here are a few offered on Twitter at the time the play was run:

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That last one was based upon the refs’ call that the Chiefs were holding so they ended up with a penalty on the play… and some thought that penalty was bogus (but they scored on the very next play anyway). Some even thought it was payback for the “victory lap” the Raiders took at Arrowhead the previous year. Andy Reid called it the “Arctic Circle” using the “Reindeer Personnel.”

While some are still upset with the way the Chiefs used a play like this, there are others who are completely entertained, and enjoy the cleverness like me:

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So, why does Andy Reid open up his play book to the possibility of trick plays? The answer may be simpler than you think: because his players want them. Patrick Mahomes explains it this way:

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“Yeah, we enjoy it. We draw up these plays all the

time and Coach Reid kind of lets us have the

reins to help do some stuff and add our own flare.”

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If you haven’t heard by now, HC Andy Reid likes his players to “show their personalty.” If you’ve been following the Chiefs for any amount of time now, you’ll know that the use of trick plays is not new to Andy Reid. Back in 2016, he had previously used the humongous DT Dontari Poe at the goal line as a runner to ram the ball into the end zone. That was the perfect set up for this play (below), which fooled everyone.

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Although it won’t surprise me, the Eagles could very well run a trick play vs the Chiefs this coming Sunday. With so many rookies in the Chiefs line-up, I can see them trying to get one over on this defense. Lets’ not forget the Eagles ran a trick play — the Philly Special — for a TD five years ago, the last time they were in the Super Bowl. One note about that play, it was called by by none other than an Andy Reid protege: Doug Pederson.

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So, why call trick plays at all? It’s the biggest stage in sports, right? So, why take a risk at all? Although the players love it, it is still a bit of a risk, right? In an article written by Kevin Clark called: “Andy Reid Never Left College” he quotes Joe Banner (who was the Eagles President from 1995-to-2012 and the principal one who hired Reid in Philly),

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“Part of the rationale was that he [Reid] wanted to essentially bring a new offense into the NFL. Take the spread offense that was in college, merge it with the traditional West Coast offense, and create an offense that was very tough to stop.”

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“An offense that was very tough to stop.” Wow, that explains Andy Reid’s offense in a nutshell. Reid spends a good deal of time in the offseason re-writing his playbook, updating it, adding new plays, and taking out what is not useful. One of my yearly complaints about the Chiefs early games in September and October and even November… is that Reid isn’t using his whole playbook, and appears to be holding back on allowing some of his plays being called.

Why would he do that? Because he’s saving the best for last? Not so much as you might think. The reason is… he doesn’t want other teams to be able to predict what he is going to call. So, he may have a set of plays ready to go along with certain personnel grouping (think: Reindeer Package as shown above), then change up his calls to go along with another package (set of personnel) later in the season. That’s just one of the ways Reid keeps opposing defenses honest (or guessing).

Reid alwasy tailor’s his plays based upon his players strengths. Here’s a play which featured both Demarcus Robinson’s speed and Patrick Mahomes mobility:

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The play was called, “Ferrari Right.” Andy Reid explains how the play came to be called:

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“Yeah, so the last three weeks Pat’s been messing around with it, so I told him, I said, ‘We’re going to put it in,’ and he looked at me like I was crazy, but he had been doing it and it looked good, so, I said, ‘If it looks good, let’s try it,’ and so we tried it. He goes down there during special teams and he was messing around with a couple of things, so we put it in, and it worked.”

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Fans should probably think of Andy Reid as a mad scientist more than a football coach. Sure, Eric Bieniemy may be calling, or suggesting, the plays, but it’s Reid’s playbook, and he’s also the one who oversees the design of the first 15 scripted offensive plays each week. Does he consider EB’s input or Patrick’s suggestions? Yes, but as he’s said so often, “I have 51% of the votes” on what gets called. In fact, I’m quite sure Reid has veto power over all franchise decisions.

One of the biggest reasons I look forward to post-season play is Andy Reid’s use of the complete playbook, and that includes what you might call “Trick Plays.” I say, “might call” because I think Reid just sees those plays as options he has at the ready. Since he’s had his players practicing those plays all season long, they, of course, are always wondering, when will he call this play or that play? For Reid, it’s not a necessary evil… it’s more like… a necessary angel.

May this Super Bowl be filled with… necessary angels!

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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne

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