Arrowheadlines: Andy Reid shares ‘Corn Dog’ nickname for Toney touchdown

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The ‘Corn Dog’ that won Super Bowl LVII For Kansas City Chiefs | NBC Sports

Then, with the ball at the Eagles’ five-yard line early in the fourth quarter, on third-and-three, Reid looked at his play sheet and called a play he loved.

“Corn Dog,” Reid said.

Seriously. That’s what the play was called.

Corn Dog, with the formation on one side of the play call, and a run portion (if Patrick Mahomes chose to hand it off) on the other side.

The first Reid-Mahomes Super Bowl title, three years ago this month, produced 2-3 Jet Chip Wasp, the long fourth-quarter pass from Mahomes to Tyreek Hill that gave the team life in the comeback win over the Niners.

Now, Philadelphia led 27-21 and the most important play of the game was facing Reid and his offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy. A field goal wasn’t good enough here, because KC had already allowed four scoring drives of 60 yards or longer to stoic superstar Jalen Hurts, who played one of the best games of his life in the biggest game of his life. To keep up with Hurts, Mahomes needed touchdowns.

That’s where this weird, very Reid-like formation and stilted motion came into play. Two wide receivers split wide, JuJu Smith-Schuster to the left, Kadarius Toney to the right. Two tight ends sat in the slot, Noah Gray left, Travis Kelce right. Mahomes had all the power in his hands, and Reid trusted him to use it: It was more likely a run call, but depending on how Eagles cornerback Darius Slay played Toney, Mahomes could check to a pass. Reid was pretty sure the check would come, but the reason he loved this play was he knew Mahomes would make the right call. He knew his quarterback wouldn’t be greedy. He’d choose the right variation of the Corn Dog, a smart play given the quirky name by his coaches.

Now this Mecole Hardman tweet makes sense

Super Bowl LVIII Odds: Top Teams, Sleepers and Dark Horses for 2023-2024 NFL Season | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report

Favorite: Kansas City Chiefs +600

After reaching the AFC Championship Game each season for the last half-decade and winning two Super Bowls, the Kansas City Chiefs unsurprisingly remain atop the list of favorites going into next season. The Chiefs will likely stay in the league’s upper echelon for as long as Patrick Mahomes remains under center and Andy Reid keeps calling the shots on the sideline.

The offensive line—which was the Achilles’ heel of this team in past years—has morphed into one of the league’s finest units and should remain as such with talents like Joe Thuney and Creed Humphrey locked into long-term deals.

While Travis Kelce is well on the wrong side of 30, the superstar tight end remains the class of his position and has shown no signs of slowing down. His reliable presence affords plenty of time for the Chiefs to unearth the next generation of star pass-catchers to keep this team contending for years to come.

Although the defense doesn’t get much fanfare, Kansas City did rank a respectable No. 11 in yards allowed and No. 16 in points conceded during this past regular season.

Super Bowl 2023: Patrick Mahomes may already be a Hall of Famer after gutsy performance that earned him MVP | CBS Sports

At 27 years old, he might not quite be in the conversation for the best quarterback of all-time, but he’s certainly inching his way there. Tom Brady currently holds that title, but Mahomes is already doing things that Brady never did.

Mahomes won regular-season MVP and the Super Bowl in the same year. Brady never did that.

Mahomes led the NFL in passing yards and won the Super Bowl in the same year. Brady never did that. (Actually, no QB in NFL history had ever done that before this year.)

Mahomes has now won two Super Bowls MVPs and two regular-season MVPs in a five-year span. Brady never did that. (Actually, no QB in NFL history has ever done that.)

Mahomes now has two comebacks of at least 10 points in the Super Bowl, which ties Brady for the most ever.

Mahomes has two Super Bowl wins, two Super Bowl MVPs, two regular-season MVPs, and he’s appeared in five straight conference title games. And he’s done all that in just five years as a starter.

Early NFL power rankings: Chiefs lead the way; surprises in top 10 | FOX Sports

1. Kansas City Chiefs: This was a Chiefs team that was supposed to take a step back in a crowded AFC, having traded away Tyreek Hill. Without him, they looked different but just as dominant, en route to a 17-3 record and a second championship in the last four years. They’ll have to figure out what to do about a few notable free agents, namely left tackle Orlando Brown. But if this version of the Chiefs can win the Super Bowl, why would you bet against the next one?

Monson: A look back at Super Bowl 57 and the ending that brought us all back to reality | NFL News, Rankings and Statistics | PFF

This year’s Super Bowl suffered from the same flaw that besets a lot of great stories — the ending. One of the most dramatic games in NFL history just sort of petered out as Kansas City controlled the clock, and the holding call removed almost all doubt.

Talk of the league being scripted has become an internet meme this season, and this game’s script felt like the ending to Game of Thrones — universally lambasted and an unfortunate end to a great work of art.

Super Bowl 2023 was a masterful performance by Chiefs offensive line | USA Today

“Guys talked in the locker room and we just said, ‘Let’s leave it all out there. Leave it out there for 30 minutes and see what happens at the end of the day,’ “ said Mahomes, who threw for three TDs with zero picks. “I thought guys did that.

“I think the biggest thing was the offensive line. I mean, the way they were able to protect me in that second half when we couldn’t use those chips, we couldn’t use that stuff to help them out against a great, great defensive line, that’s the reason we won this game.”

Around the NFL

Source: Jets hire Todd Downing as passing-game coordinator | ESPN

Downing, who was fired after the season, has ties to two quarterbacks who might be potential offseason targets for the Jets — the Titans’ Ryan Tannehill and the Las Vegas Raiders’ Derek Carr.

Downing was the Raiders’ quarterbacks coach in 2015 and 2016 and their coordinator in 2017 — three Pro Bowl years for Carr, who is expected to become a free agent this week.

The Jets also have checked into the availability of the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers, sources told ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler on Sunday.

Former Cardinals guard Conrad Dobler dies at age of 72 | NFL.com

Dobler was infamously regarded as the league’s dirtiest player in the game during his time, a title he did not shy away from, as he told Sports Illustrated in a 1977 article, “I’ll do anything I can get away with to protect my quarterback.”

A fifth-round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1972 NFL Draft, the Wyoming product played the game how he wanted, which led to Dobler earning three Pro Bowl selections in his 10 NFL seasons, which included time with the Cardinals, New Orleans Saints and Buffalo Bills.

“Our hearts go out to the family, friends and former teammates of Conrad Dobler,” Cardinals owner Michael Bidwill said in the team’s statement “He was the kind of tough, physical and fierce player that you love to line up with as a teammate and hate to line up against as an opponent. On the field, Conrad was a big reason for the success of the Cardiac Cards of the 1970s. Away from it, he brought authentic joy and caring to everyone who had the privilege of being his friend and that is what I will remember most.”

In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride

Chiefs-Eagles Super Bowl 2023: 5 things we learned in Kansas City victory

4. Humilty in leadership breeds success

Mahomes is the greatest quarterback in the league’s history — but you will never hear him say that. You will, however, hear him take responsibility for his mistakes and shortcomings. If he ever brags, it’s to give credit to his teammates.

At his core, Mahomes plays the game like a big kid who is out there having fun with his friends. There is purity in his approach to the game. When you were a child — playing football in the backyard with your friends — nobody really cared about the group’s best player (well, except for when you were picking teams!) You were just kids. You were playing a game and having fun being around each other.

Mahomes knows he is the best player on the playground, but he doesn’t need to talk about it — because to him, being the best player is only useful if it helps his team win. That way, his friends can have more fun.

People flock to authenticity. They can smell a fake from a mile away. If Mahomes’ humility wasn’t legitimate, we would sniff it out. But it’s not an act. Mahomes is the real deal.

When the best player on the team is humble and accountable to his teammates, it’s infectious. The rest of the team has no choice but to follow suit. In large part, the Chiefs’ culture is due to the childlike enthusiasm with which Mahomes plays football.

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