In the second quarter of the AFC championship game, the Kansas City Chiefs did something that could reasonably be described as "out of character" for the reigning back-to-back champions.
With 8:29 remaining in the first half, the Chiefs held the ball at their own 39-yard line. It was fourth-and-1. For all the ways in which Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is a forward-thinking football innovator, he has generally not been swept up by the league's increase in fourth-down aggression in recent years. But in the AFC championship game, the Chiefs kept their offense on the field.
Trailing 10-7, the Chiefs took a timeout before running the play that allowed quarterback Patrick Mahomes to run for a six-yard gain, keeping the drive alive. Several plays later, Mahomes threw a touchdown pass to wide receiver Xavier Worthy, giving the lead back to Kansas City.
After the game, Reid was asked about his decision to rely on his offense despite being in a dangerous spot on the field.
"That's a trust thing," Reid said. "You have to have trust in your guys. We called a timeout so we could kind of calm the minds and take what we thought was our best play against them there. Between that one and the last one at the end that [Samaje] Perine had, we had some time to kind of digest those."
How did Mahomes experience the decision, and how did he decide to keep the ball in order to pick up the first down with his legs? Mahomes explained after the game.
"Yeah, there was a conversation for sure," Mahomes said. "We just wanted to have a play that we liked, and coach Reid trusted us. He trusted us a lot tonight, and we were able to go out there and make a play happen. Obviously, you roll out and you want to throw it to a couple of guys but when you can run it, you just take it. It was a big moment in the game, and we were able to go down and get points after that."
Asked if the conversion had similarities to a play the Chiefs ran in overtime of last season's Super Bowl, Mahomes connected Sunday's scramble to a different play from the Chiefs' playoff past.
"No, there were differences to it," Mahomes said. "It's actually very similar, I don't know if you remember, to the play we ran for a touchdown to Travis [Kelce] in the first Super Bowl. Just getting me on the edge, having a couple of options for guys to throw it to, and then if they take that away in man coverage, just use your feet and get the first down."
