‘You ready to roll?’ How the Chiefs’ fourth-down game-clinching play came to be
The conversation for the play that sent the Chiefs to their third straight AFC Championship Game took place Saturday night, amid a room full of coaches and quarterbacks.
They settled on the play-call that night. Settled on the decision that night. Yes, they would go for it.
Game on the line. Chance to seal a win. They would go for it.
On the field, when the moment finally came — a fourth and 1 with less than 90 seconds to play, Chiefs holding a 22-17 lead — they were without their star quarterback.
Didn’t matter. Coach Andy Reid turned to offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy first.
“You ready to roll?”
“Absolutely,” Bieniemy replied.
Reid turned to Mike Kafka, the team’s quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.
“You ready to go?”
“Let’s go,” Kafka replied.
And then they did.
The Chiefs played the clock — at least made the Browns consider whether the entire point was simply to draw them offsides — and then snapped the ball after all. The Browns were on their collective heels. The Chiefs, as Reid put it, were ready to roll.
Quarterback Chad Henne to wide receiver Tyreek Hill for five yards.
Game over.
Chiefs 22, Browns 17.
“There was no doubt with anybody,” Reid said. “There was no flinch on the play. It was, ‘This is what it is. Here we go, Chad.’ We all knew it. Let’s go.”
On Saturday night, the Chiefs had determined that would likely be the play, a decision they made after film work. It’s a high-percentage pass to begin with, but particularly from what they had seen from the Browns.
Based on their study, the Chiefs were confident they would see man-to-man coverage on the play, Henne explained. And in a one-on-one matchup involving Hill, the Chiefs like their guy more than your guy.
“We felt confident in that play. And one-on-one matchup with Tyreek Hill, majority of the time he’s going to win,” Henne said. “He did a great route, and I just had to put the ball where it needed to be.”
How many coaches offer their team that opportunity? Had the Chiefs not converted, they would have handed the ball to the Browns just 48 yards shy of the end zone. Just 48 yards shy of ending the Chiefs’ season without a playoff win.
EdjSports’s model shows that Reid has been one of more aggressive coaches this season on fourth downs, a change that began in 2018 — you know, when Mahomes happened.
But Mahomes wasn’t here this time.
That intensified the risk. Still, even with the quarterback change, EdjSports still say the decision to go for it increased the Chiefs’ chances to win by 6.5%.
A gutsy call anyway. It’s one they made during that Saturday night conversation — OK, fourth and 1 to win the game; what now? And it’s one Joe Bleymaier, the team’s pass game analyst, begin considering on third down. The Chiefs faced third and 14, and Bleymaier already was eyeing the potential of fourth and short, Reid said.
Henne ran for 13 on third down.
They went for it on fourth.
Went for Hill.
In one step, he beat his man, creating space to the outside on a zig-zag route.
The aggression had paid off. The preparation had paid off.
The Chiefs remain alive for one more week.
This story was originally published January 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM.