The Chiefs, 49ers to provide heavy dose of excitement in Super Bowl
WHEN THE Super Bowl was in the balance in the fourth quarter a year ago, coach Andy Reid’s Kansas City Chiefs put a twist on their frequent pre-snap motion.
The result?
Two wide-open touchdown passes that helped the Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles 38-35 for a Super Bowl title.
Kansas City return to the big stage on Sunday to take on San Francisco in a game that should feature players on the move at the snap at a staggering rate, based on how Reid and 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan use motion to create mismatches for their offences.
“I’m sure he’s going to have some wrinkles for us,” Niners defensive end Nick Bosa said about Reid. “Hopefully we can anticipate some of them.”
Reid was able to catch the Eagles off guard a year ago with how he used motion on two key plays near the goal line in the fourth quarter with a concept Kansas City called “corndog”.
On the first play from the three, wide receiver Kadarius Toney was lined up on the right side and faked as if he was going to go in jet motion to the other side of the field. Cornerback Darius Slay passed him off to a defender on the other side but Toney quickly reversed field and was wide open in the right flat for the TD that gave Kansas City their first lead of the game.
The Chiefs then scored on a similar play to wide receiver Skyy Moore on the other side of the field on the next drive and went on to win the game.
The Niners have the scars from past run-ins against Reid’s Chiefs, including the jet motions and sweeps they used repeatedly in a 44-23 regular-season win in 2022 for big runs around the perimeter.
Then there was a wrinkle lifted from Michigan’s 1948 Rose Bowl playbook that led to a key fourthdown conversion in the first Super Bowl matchup between these teams.
Multiple players in the backfield spun simultaneously, moving quarterback Patrick Mahomes away from the centre and leading to a direct snap to running back Damien Williams for a first down.
“He gives you all different types of looks, funky-looking plays, different misdirections,” 49ers AllPro linebacker Fred Warner said. “Coach Reid is one of the best at creating different plays as there’s been in this league. So there’s going to be different things we’ve seen in the game that we’ve never seen before, but we’ve got to be able to just line up and play and get through the down.”
Reid even has history with some funky pre-snap movement in this stadium where the Super Bowl will be played, using a play nicknamed ‘Snow Globe’ last season against the Raiders when the entire huddle spun around in a circle before rushing up to the line for a quick snap to catch the defence off guard.
The key for the Niners is to ignore the bells and whistles and try to defend the play.
“They want to get you enamoured with all of the motion and, all of a sudden, they run it down your throat,” defensive coordinator Steve Wilks said.
The use of pre-snap motion has been on the rise throughout the NFL over the past decade, going from a usage rate of just 37.5 per cent of plays in 2014 to 56.1 per cent this season for the highest rate on record, according to Sportradar.
The 49ers and Chiefs were among the most frequent users with San Francisco ranking second in use of motion at 76.4 per cent of plays and Kansas City fourth at 63.7 per cent, according to game-charting data from Sports Info Solutions.