Patrick Mahomes is calling his shot, predicting that the Kansas City Chiefs will go back to the well and run a play that’s given them a lot of success to help win another Super Bowl.
After running the motion play called “Corn Dog” for a touchdown in their last two Super Bowl wins over Philadelphia and San Francisco, Mahomes is already envisioning that the Chiefs will call it again for a touchdown in Super Bowl LIX.
“That play was frickin’ sweet,” Mahomes said, referring to his touchdown pass to Mecole Hardman to beat the 49ers. “It was not supposed to go to the guy that caught the touchdown. We ran the ‘Corn Dog’ one against the Eagles. Touchdown. Won the game.
“And then we were gonna run a fake version of that and we were gonna do a little shovel pass, and it was wide open again. So next year in New Orleans, we’re gonna do it again. Put it on the table. We’re gonna do it again. Telling you now.”
The “Corn Dog” play is actually just the motion element of the specific play, Chiefs coach Andy Reid explained to NBC Sports in February. The receiver lined up the furthest outside moves a few yards closer to the line of scrimmage before the snap, but then quickly turns back right when the ball is snapped. Hardman was the motion man for the game-winning 3-yard catch in Super Bowl LVIII, which surprised Reid.
“We built Corn Dog saying, ‘Well for sure they’ll cover Corn Dog because we called it twice. They’ve seen it,'” Reid told NBC Sports.
The Chiefs ran the play in a similar spot twice against the Eagles a year prior. Trailing 27-21 in the fourth quarter, Kadarius Toney was the motion man as Kansas City ran a third-and-3 play from Philadelphia’s 5-yard line. Toney was wide open as a result, easily getting into the end zone to give the Chiefs the lead at the time. Later in the fourth quarter, the Chiefs flipped the play, with Skyy Moore being used as the motion. The play also got Moore wide open, resulting in a touchdown that gave the Chiefs a 35-27 lead.
If the Chiefs make it back to the Super Bowl, they have a pair of new candidates to call “Corn Dog” for. They signed Marquise “Hollywood” Brown in free agency and selected Xavier Worthy in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, with both making a name for themselves due to their speed.
Of course, the Chiefs have to make it back there, first — and history says it’ll be difficult. Only three teams have made it to the Super Bowl in three consecutive seasons (Miami 1971-73, Buffalo 1990-93 and New England 2016-18) and no team has ever won three straight Super Bowls.
But Mahomes and the Chiefs could be the team to do it. They became the first team since the 2003-04 Patriots to win back-to-back Super Bowls this season as the two-time MVP quarterback has already smashed records through his first six seasons as a starter.
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