Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid’s mind never strays too far from food and it’s one of the many reasons why everyone loves him.
For the play that helped the Chiefs defeat the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII — one that they used once with Kadarius Toney and then used a variation with Skyy Moore to score touchdowns in the red zone — food was on the mind when the team installed that play.
“I’m going to give you a name for it,” Reid told NBC Sports’ Peter King. “It’s called Corn Dog.”
“It’s not called Corn Dog,” King questioned. “Is it called Corn Dog?”
“There’s nothing better than a good Corn Dog with some mustard and ketchup,” Reid said.
We can assume that “corn” has something to do with the corner whip route run by Kadarius Toney. Meanwhile “dog” probably is derived from the drag route that leads the Eagles’ defenders astray.
Funny enough, Chiefs WR Mecole Hardman, who didn’t play in the game due to an injury, actually shared the name of the play when it happened in real-time.
CORNDOG!!!! Yesssirrrr TURN ME UP KT !!!
— Mecole Hardman Jr. (@MecoleHardman4) February 13, 2023
“Corn Dog” will go down with the likes of “2-3 Jet Chip Wasp” and “Shift to Rose Bowl Right Parade” which helped lift the Chiefs over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LIV. We know who came up with the name of the play call, but who came up with this tremendous play design? The Chiefs actually swiped the concept from Jaguars HC Doug Pederson, who had beaten the Eagles with the exact play earlier this season.
KC showing fly motion in the red zone. PHI rock and rolls it which gives them the green light to call their “corn dog” plays pic.twitter.com/KtZreAQQaC
— Ted Nguyen (@FB_FilmAnalysis) February 13, 2023
According to recently-retired backup QB Chad Henne, it was actually Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy who identified the play and showed it to the team on Saturday night ahead of Super Bowl LVII.
“(Bieniemy) put it on tape and said: ‘Hey, like, if they do this, this guy is wide open. It’s man (coverage),’” Henne said, via The Athletic’s Rustin Dodd. “They’re just trying to protect themselves from the jet sweep and trying to bubble over the top and get an extra player (on the other side of the field). But we faked the jet twice, and they didn’t figure it out.”
The Chiefs tested the Eagles, in an attempt to figure out just how they’d react defensively to a certain motion in man coverage. That informed the team that the play would actually work and it did. . . twice. Well, the second time, things just sort of worked out on a play that used a similar concept to beat man coverage. Apparently, Moore was supposed to be on the other side of the formation, but the play still resulted in his first career touchdown.
One of the biggest plays of the game for the Chiefs last night appears to be a busted play. Patrick Mahomes says the formation was “messed up” on Skyy Moore’s TD, he was expecting Moore on the right side. Yet the motion still worked and Moore was wide open for the score. pic.twitter.com/eK4IWRhrdZ
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) February 13, 2023
Sometimes you need a little bit of luck to go along with incredible play designs, but the proof is in the pudding. Bieniemy found a weakness for the Chiefs to exploit and they hammered that weakness in the second half to help secure a comeback win over the Eagles. The creativity of this group of offensive play-callers knows no bounds, whether it’s finding something to give their team and edge, or coming up with a name inspired by a food popularized at your local fairgrounds.
