Patrick Mahomes designed one trick play. Andy Reid turned it into a whole collection
The new collection of Chiefs trick plays started with 25-year-old Patrick Mahomes experimenting during a practice drill in the same way 15- or even 5-year-old Patrick Mahomes might have been goofing around during a backyard football game.
He thought he found something, though, and he nudged coach Andy Reid enough to convince him to put “Ferrari Right” into an actual game. The play called for Mahomes, the quarterback, to run in motion, then dart back to where he started and take a snap while on the move. It looked every bit as unusual as it sounds.
But here’s the thing. It worked. Mahomes threw a touchdown to Demarcus Robinson on the play against the Panthers. It was a memorable sequence. We all wrote articles on it at the time. And that’s the end of that, right?
But what if it’s not the end of it? What if the oddity in one player’s suggestion was just the start of a whole new supply of Reid’s deception?
First there was Ferrari Right.
Then Slot Machine Right.
And then Black Pearl.
All of them with the same concept of Mahomes running in motion before the snap. All of them with their own wrinkle.
“We’re just trying to be creative; we’re trying to have fun out there, enjoy it day in and day out,” Mahomes said. “And Coach Reid lets us be creative by putting in plays like that. So obviously we try to execute the basics and the base plays as much as possible, and then when we get our opportunity, we try to execute those trick plays so he’ll call them more often.”
This says plenty about the relationship between quarterback and coach, but it’s equally revealing about each of them as individuals, too.
In an offense already known for its creativity, Mahomes is actively attempting to find ways to supplement it. The ideas and concepts are finding their place in Reid’s playbook.
Reid is not only accepting of the process, he has taken one trick play and turned it into an array of them. In the aftermath of Ferrari Right’s success, he didn’t stop there but instead wondered, Hmm, what else can I build off this concept?
And one game later, what do you know, Mahomes took off in motion again, and then turned to come back again. But this time he darted past the center and let the snap whip back to tight end Travis Kelce, lined up in the backfield. Kelce tossed an underhand pass to receiver Byron Pringle. The play in Las Vegas didn’t reach the end zone, but it did gain enough yardage for a first down.
Slot Machine Right, they called it, fitting of the trip to Vegas.
“The Slot Machine (Right) was for sure Coach Reid,” Mahomes said.
But why stop there?
One game later, the concept returned. Mahomes in motion. Mahomes taking a snap on the run.
Then the wrinkle. He flipped the ball to Tyreek Hill on an end-around. Hill flipped it once more to Kelce on a reverse. Kelce pitched it back to an open Mahomes in the end zone, but Tampa cornerback Carlton Davis ruined the party by deflecting the pass, knocking it to the ground.
Black Pearl, they called it, a nod to the ship behind the Buccaneers’ end zone.
This is a glimpse into how the process works. It’s collaboration between players and coaches. If he’s behind the design, Mahomes says the goal is to find advantageous coverages.
But the playbook still belongs to Reid. And let’s be real. The vast majority of the plays still come from Reid, too. He’s a willing ear to Mahomes, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, quarterbacks coach Mike Kafka or anyone with an idea.
“Usually if I have an idea, we usually get it in there, but there will be a lot of times where he kind of tweaks it to make it more accustomed to our offense,” Mahomes said. “And make it basically work is the best way to say it.”
In this instance — the Mahomes in motion set of snaps — two of them have worked. The other was open. Kelce could have simply ran the ball in — the path was there — but Mahomes said he told him beforehand to pass it if he looked open. He wanted to be part of it. Wanted to catch a touchdown.
Kelce has since “taken a beating over it” at practice, Reid said. Mostly from himself.
So, you know, the Chiefs will have to settle for 2 out of 3. For now. Reid hinted more could be coming, saying, “We’ll get the next one.”
Which projects a bit of a funny image. Opposing teams must now watch film and actually prepare for this new concept, all the while knowing the play for which they’re preparing has never actually been show on film.
Not yet.
“This is a serious business. We’re grinding away. There’s a lot of hours put in. So we’re trying to give the guys something,” Reid said. “Now you want it to be a good play. We’re not making a mockery of the thing. We’re trying to make it to where it’s another opportunity to score a touchdown.”