You saw Chiefs’ Super-Bowl winning pass from Mahomes. Here’s the rest of the story
Mecole Hardman scrolled through his phone in the locker room, unable to keep up with all the messages shooting to the top of his screen.
“They’re going crazy right now,” he said with a smile, before asking a reporter if he had a cigar cutter handy.
This was minutes after the Kansas City Chiefs’ 25-22 overtime victory over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII, with the Chiefs receiver only starting to process his role in one of the most significant plays in team history.
A three-yard catch in overtime at Allegiant Stadium. A walkoff touchdown to give his team a championship.
And the Chiefs going back to an old friend in the playbook at the most crucial of times.
“’Corn Dog’ again!” Hardman said with a laugh.
Well, that’s mostly right.
A twist on ‘Corn Dog’
Sunday’s game-winning touchdown backstory is actually more nuanced — and perhaps even more fascinating — than last year’s now-famous “Corn Dog Shuttle” that the Chiefs used in their 38-35 Super Bowl LVII victory over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Hardman’s catch this time, it turns out, actually was a revamped version of a previous play. And a tougher read for quarterback Patrick Mahomes than it looked on television.
With an added detail that — for a second straight year — running back Jerick McKinnon had a chance to score a late Super Bowl touchdown ... with the Chiefs later clinching their championship when he didn’t.
All this is why Chiefs pass game coordinator Joe Bleymaier was grinning in the corner of the locker room while watching his Chiefs players celebrate with a champagne-filled dance party a few feet away.
He admitted after the touchdown even he was screaming down the hallway as he ran out of the coach’s box to the elevator in celebration: “That was Corn Dog! That was Corn Dog!”
The actual truth, he said:
The design wasn’t really “Corn Dog.” But it was “Shuttle,” as the Chiefs coaches use aircraft to label their jet motions.
A player going back to where he first started? That would be a shuttle.
And that’s what Hardman did just before the snap, before breaking free in the flat for the touchdown catch from Mahomes.
This play actually had a different name, though, with its own history: “Tom and Jerry.”
And something else? Bleymaier says Hardman wasn’t supposed to catch Sunday’s final touchdown pass at all.
Or, rather, he wasn’t supposed to catch it when he did.
“It was supposed to be the shovel to Jet (McKinnon),” Bleymaier said.
‘Tom and Jerry’ history
“Tom and Jerry” is a call the Chiefs have succeeded with plenty in the past — with a shovel pass to the inside.
One of the earliest examples was in 2021, when Clyde Edwards-Helaire scored on an almost-identical version in a one-back set against the Philadelphia Eagles. Mahomes faked a handoff to Edwards-Helaire, rolled to the right, then underhand-scooped it back to Edwards-Helaire, with the Chiefs pulling their left guard around to block.
(Mahomes said Sunday the “Tom and Jerry” moniker referred to nicknames for Edwards-Helaire and Travis Kelce, the two main characters on that play against the Eagles.)
Over time, the Chiefs tinkered to make the play even more dangerous. They recently added the “Shuttle” motion to it, giving Mahomes a read to throw it to the flat before having the underhand toss available.
Here’s the tricky part: The Chiefs offensive linemen are essentially run-blocking for the shovel pass on the play. That means if Mahomes is going to throw it to Hardman on the outside, he has to do it quickly to avoid an illegal-man-downfield penalty.
And that’s where the Chiefs almost went wrong on their championship-clinching play Sunday.
What made Mahomes hesitate
Bleymaier says Hardman could’ve started in a better spot. He’s supposed to be lined up wider, which would’ve allowed him to sprint faster toward Mahomes to sell to the defense he was cutting across the formation, before reversing field.
“The timing wasn’t perfect,” Bleymaier said. “But it’s a tough route.”
As it was, Hardman’s alignment meant he didn’t get immediate separation — the type Mahomes was looking for right after the snap.
“They actually covered it pretty well at first,” Mahomes said.
So the only option then is supposed to be the forward pitch to McKinnon. Remember, McKinnon is the same guy who slid at the 1-yard line in last year’s Super Bowl when he could’ve scored, a selfless act ensuring the Chiefs could run out the clock and kick the game-winning field goal with almost no time left.
McKinnon would’ve had the chance to come full circle with a Super Bowl-winning touchdown this season, against his former team no less, if not for 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa. He had quick penetration while unblocked on the edge, crashing hard on McKinnon after Mahomes faked handing it off to him.
So Mahomes didn’t throw it to McKinnon through a messy look. That meant he’d exhausted options No. 1 and 2.
On a play, mind you, that only has two reads.
Was it a penalty?
Mahomes didn’t panic — even with his internal alarm clock indicating that his linemen were headed downfield in a hurry. He sidestepped Bosa, then looked again to Hardman, who had further cleared himself on the perimeter.
“That’s a little risky always,” Mahomes said of looking back to Hardman again. “I was a little like, ‘Hey, let me make sure it’s open.’”
Bleymaier said the underrated key to the pass was the linemen avoiding a penalty. Replays show that by the letter of the law ... maybe they shouldn’t have; when Mahomes released his pass, right guard Trey Smith and right tackle Jawaan Taylor pursued their blocks near the 1-yard line, which could be deemed further than the allowable one yard past the line of scrimmage.
A part of Chiefs lore
What can’t be disputed now is that Chiefs fans will fondly remember “Tom and Jerry” for years to come.
Bleymaier said it was one of the team’s top red-zone calls for inside-the-5 situations Sunday. QBs coach David Girardi added that coach Andy Reid “loves those concepts. He has some great calls.”
Bleymaier remembers his thought when KC dialed up the play in overtime Sunday: “Man, how sweet would this be if Shuttle popped open again?”
It did eventually ... even if not as originally planned.
With Hardman providing a perfectly imperfect end to another Chiefs championship season.
“Just like the last Super Bowl, you never know who it’s gonna be, but it’s about everybody being ready for the moment,” Mahomes said. “And he was ready for that moment.”
This story was originally published February 12, 2024 at 6:00 AM.
