We all remember “Corn Dog” — the reverse motion play the Kansas City Chiefs used to score two touchdowns against the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII. The Chiefs love to use that motion, because it tells Patrick Mahomes everything he needs to know about what red zone defense he’s going to see, what the coverage is, and how he can beat it.
There was this five-yard touchdown pass to Kadarius Toney with 12:08 left in the game, and the Chiefs down, 27-20. The Eagles were in Cover-1… until they weren’t.
Then, with 9:26 left in the game, it was time for Skyy Moore to hit the Eagles’ Cover-0 with the same basic concept to the left side.
“Corn Dog” won the Chiefs one Super Bowl, and it was back — with a new name — at the best possible time for Andy Reid and his team in Super Bowl LVIII.
With six seconds left in overtime, Kansas City had the ball at the San Francisco 49ers’ three-yard line, down 22-19. One play later, that same return or zipper motion thing placed another Lombardi Trophy in the Chiefs’ facility. This time, it was to the right again, and Mecole Hardman as the target. Hardman was wide open on the return, with defensive back Logan Ryan wondering what just happened.
Same play, new name, per Peter King of NBC Sports.
So here came Mecole Hardman—whose KC career ended when he wasn’t re-signed last year, and whose Jets career ended when he was traded back to Kansas City for a bag of footballs in October. Reid called the play into Mahomes’ helmet and Mahomes said to the huddle: “Tiger 12, Tom & Jerry right, Gun trips, right bunch, F shuttle.” That last part was the Corn Dog motion from last Super Bowl—speed in, speed out. Hardman ran the precise jet motion, right to left, into the formation, and then quickly turned around to catch the game-winner. This year, instead of colling the play Corn Dog, Reid called it Tom and Jerry. (Reasons unknown and unexplained.) “We built Corn Dog saying, ‘Well for sure they’ll cover Corn Dog because we called it twice. They’ve seen it.’” Nope. Hardman wasn’t wide open, but he was open. Really open. And KC had its third Super Bowl in five years.
After the game, Mahomes explained the logistics of the name change.
“I think it started because Clyde [Edwards-Helaire] was the first one to run it and Trav [Kelce] was the other guy part of it, so it was like Tom and Jerry — you know, that that whole thing, but that’s the concept of the play. And then the motion was the exact same motion that we ran in the Super Bowl last year, and they actually covered it pretty well at first. Then I went back to them, and that’s a little risky always. So I was like, ‘Hey, let me make sure it’s open’. But obviously coach Reid knows when to call those plays at the right time.”
Yes, Coach Reid does. And for the second straight season, “Corn Dog,” or “Tom and Jerry,” or whatever you want to call it — we’re sure the Eagles and 49ers have some NSFW names for it — was the go-to play to help secure the NFL’s next dynasty.
