Mahomes, Chiefs show off innovation
TAMPA, Fla. – They called it the “The Black Pearl,” a tip of the hat to Disney’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” and a play off the theme of the Buccaneers and their stadium. The architects of the Chiefs’ play? Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and tight end Travis Kelce.
They drew it up in practice one day leading up to Sunday’s showdown with the Buccaneers and persuaded coach Andy Reid and offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy to add it to the game plan.
Sure enough, the Chiefs broke out “The Black Pearl” – a double reverse that gave Kelce the option to either run the ball or pass to Mahomes in the end zone – on their first trip inside the red zone.
All played out perfectly. The snap to Mahomes, the flip to Tyreek Hill, the flip to Kelce, and the big tight end had an opening to run into the end zone as Reid had instructed him. But on the sideline before the possession, Mahomes had urged his tight end to throw him the pass rather than run, the quarterback confessed. That planted the sliver of hesitation in Kelce’s mind before he threw and gave Bucs cornerback Carlton Davis enough time to swat the ball away, negating a potentially viral highlight.
The Chiefs wound up settling for a field goal to open the scoring of their 2724 victory over the Buccaneers.
By the end of the quarter, Kansas City held a 17-0 lead, Mahomes had passed for 229 yards and two touchdowns, and Hill had seven catches for 203 yards and two touchdowns.
You can get away with early-game exercises in creativity like “The Black Pearl” when your offense boasts such potency and you can score from anywhere on the field, like the 75-yard bomb to Hill, or the 44-yarder that followed, or the 20-yard strike for Hill’s third touchdown of the game.
But “The Black Pearl” was more than just a failed trick play called to humor players. It represented the level of trust, alignment, cohesion and creativity that serve as the lifeblood of the defending Super Bowl champions.
As they moved up and down the field, seemingly at will, racking up a seasonhigh 543 yards against one of the better defenses in the league, Reid, Mahomes and Co. put on a clinic. The Buccaneers found themselves on the receiving end and again were reminded of just how far they have to go (star-studded roster and all) to reach the ranks of the elite.
There’s good, as evidenced by the 417 yards of offense (including 345 passing yards and three TDs from Tom Brady) and six plays of 20 yards or more. And there’s great, like the Chiefs’ output, which featured 462 passing yards from Mahomes, a 50% success rate on third downs, 26 first downs, and a textbook display of how to put away the game.
But, in another sign of greatness, the Chiefs still saw room for improvement.
“We played well enough to win,” Mahomes said. “There were times, offensively we could be better.”
A further improved Chiefs offense sounds terrifying for opponents, particularly a squad like the Bucs, who came from behind yet weren’t good enough.
“We battled back. Unfortunately, left ourselves a big deficit to start, couldn’t convert any third downs,” said Brady, whose team lost its second game in a row and third in four to drop to 7-5. “Poor execution early. … When you play a good offense, we’ve got to do a better job and keep them off the field. … We’re going to get back to work and try to do a lot better job last quarter of the season.”
As coach Bruce Arians put it, “Everybody tried to hand us the Lombardi Trophy in August. You don’t just throw guys out there with names. You’ve got to practice. You’ve got to learn to get in sync with each other. That takes time.”
Time and continuity are part of what have transformed the Chiefs from entertaining regular-season team to Super Bowl champs – and now favorites to repeat. Each year since they turned the team over to Mahomes, the Chiefs’ cohesion and chemistry have strengthened. We’ve seen Reid and Bieniemy’s creativity reach new heights. They certainly have their staple plays. But they’re always expanding upon them. The last three years, they have tailored Reid’s playbook to Mahomes’ strengths. And now, Mahomes has such a strong feel for his teammates’ capabilities and a masterful understanding of how to manipulate defenses.
When the Bucs landed Brady in free agency and added Rob Gronkowski, Leonard Fournette and Antonio Brown to an already handsome collection of weapons, many expected similar explosiveness. But as Sunday’s outcome, last week’s 27-24 loss to the Rams and the blowout defeat to the Saints have revealed, this offense very much remains under construction. It’s clear that Brady isn’t yet comfortable in this system, and Arians and offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich have yet to fully figure out how to blend their playbook with what the three-time MVP does best. That’s why the Bucs struggled early, punting on their first four possessions and trailing by double digits at halftime before finally stringing together back-to-back scoring drives in the fourth quarter.
“Football is so much about being in rhythm, staying in rhythm and finding rhythm,” Brady said.
Said Arians: “Offensively, we knew this was going to be a work in progress.”
Meanwhile, the coach couldn’t help but admire and respect the work of the Chiefs and marvel at Mahomes’ feats, which included the quarterback running for two first downs and passing for another while directing the game-sealing drive. “It’s very frustrating,” Arians said of the challenge of stopping Mahomes. “Very few guys that I’ve seen in this league or any league can backpedal 8 to 9, 10, 11 yards in the pocket and throw a dime 25 yards down the field. He has unbelievable skill set. We had a lot of good rushers on him and he just backpedals and slings it side arm or whatever and can read the defense while he does it. … Andy’s going to be coaching ’til he’s about 80.”
Early in the year, a Chiefs-Bucs matchup tickled imaginations of a Super Bowl preview. With this Week 12 date in the books, it’s clear the Chiefs remain as formidable as ever but the Bucs have much work left to do over the final month of the season if they hope to see Kansas City again in February.