Getty Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid reacts to a play-call in Week 6.
The Kansas City Chiefs had a few bold play-calls against the Denver Broncos in Week 6, including the failed fourth down “tush push” attempt with the special teams unit on the field and two yards to gain during the second quarter.
When you’re one of the greatest offensive minds of all-time — if not the greatest — you’re allowed to take a few liberties here and there, but head coach Andy Reid shouldered the blame for the botched fake field goal after the game. “Yeah, I shouldn’t have called it,” the Chiefs HC responded candidly when asked about the fourth down miss. “I mean, it was two yards right there and probably a little bit too far.”
He added that “we were trying to stay aggressive” with that decision, but also acknowledged that KC would “probably want that one back.” Later, during a follow up, Reid noted again that “I’ll take that one,” and that “obviously, that wasn’t good enough.”
Chiefs Attempted Multiple Trick Play-Calls vs. Broncos, Most of Which Failed
Kansas City has always been one of the more creatively confident NFL offenses under Coach Reid. They showed that on Thursday night, opening up the bag of tricks early and often against the Broncos.
Unfortunately, most of these attempts failed miserably — like Kadarius Toney’s flea flicker pass attempt that was nearly intercepted, or his two rushing tries for negative five yards. On one “jet sweep” carry, Toney actually motioned past quarterback Patrick Mahomes II and had to go back and restart his pre-snap movement.
Not sure if this was designed or not, but still funny😂
Chiefs called an end around for WR Kadarius Toney and he went in motion and past Patrick Mahomes too early.
Mahomes: “Get back here.”
Chiefs redo the motion and run the play.
Mahomes very clearly tells Toney to “come back here” mid-play, and the entire thing ended up being a disaster from start to finish.
Tight end Noah Gray was the ball-carrier on the fake field goal try, so it wasn’t all Toney — but the wide receiver’s mere presence as a gadget threat has led to a lot of these aggressive Chiefs play-calls in 2023. Some have worked, most haven’t.
“You know what, they were playing soft on us,” Reid explained while talking about the offense’s overall struggles in Week 6. “I could have called some different plays, to be honest with you.”
Chiefs’ Andy Reid & Patrick Mahomes Reveal That Travis Kelce Trick Play Was Improvised
Ironically, the one trick-play that did work versus Denver was unplanned, according to Reid and Mahomes.
“That was on his own,” Big Red confirmed with a smile while discussing the Travis Kelce catch and lateral. The coach did add that the Chiefs practice that every day, so while it “didn’t surprise me,” it also was not called by the coaching staff.
Mahomes echoed that sentiment during his postgame presser, joking that Kelce is “definitely not supposed to pitch the ball” after a question on whether or not the tight end is allowed to go rogue on his receiving routes.
Again, when you’re one of the greatest tight ends of all-time, you’re allowed to take a few liberties here and there.
Chiefs Defense Continues to Carry Offense & Coaching in 2023
Reid and Mahomes have been carrying the Chiefs organization for years — so this isn’t meant as a knock on either — but roles have certainly reversed in 2023. This season, it’s been the defense that has won games for KC, bailing out questionable coaching decisions and offensive turnovers.
Mahomes has already thrown five interceptions over the first six games. In 2019, he only threw five in 14 starts, with just six INTs in 15 starts the following season.
To be fair, Mahomes might be “doing too much” because of the lack of help from the wide receiver position.
As for Reid, the future Hall of Fame head coach seems to be perplexed by short-yardage situations, overcomplicating matters with direct snaps to tight ends and alternatives to a QB sneak or an Isiah Pacheco hand-off.
Similar to Mahomes, offensive struggles could be a contributing factor as Big Red dials up trick plays rather than a more prototypical gameplan. In the end, most NFL fans would bet on the KC offense figuring things out, but it’s a good thing the defense is having a renaissance campaign in the meantime.