Given a redo, would KC Chiefs coach Reid let the Bengals score? Here’s what he says
The call is “freeway” in the Chiefs’ defensive playbook, and it essentially instructs the players to reverse the objective they have on every other play on the sheet.
When you hear “freeway,” just let them score.
It’s rarely implemented, but it is discussed over the course of practices in the season. And eventually on Sunday in Cincinnati, the call came into linebacker Anthony Hitchens’ head set.
Eventually.
The Chiefs were prepared to let the Bengals score the go-ahead touchdown — but only with 46 seconds to play, after the Chiefs had been exhausted of their timeouts and after they had already attempted to hold the Bengals out of the end zone for four plays. The Bengals didn’t oblige with just 46 seconds left, and instead took a knee to set up a game-winning field goal. Easy call, really.
The Chiefs could have made the more difficult call — they could have busted out “freeway” — earlier and offered Patrick Mahomes a chance to match, even if it meant needing the full seven points. They didn’t.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid has been short in explaining how he arrived at that decision — to be fair, it is not a clear-cut call — which has only fueled the ongoing debate.
This week, as the Chiefs prepare to face the Broncos in the regular season finale, Reid did bring up the topic with the team, he said, albeit briefly.
And two days after the scenario unfolded in a 34-31 Bengals win, Reid was asked if he’d like a do-over.
“I’ve mentioned this to the team, and I’m going to mention it to you — I’ve moved on,” he said. “We’re on to the Broncos. It’s a short week. We’re past that and going forward.”
A proverbial shoulder shrug.
In playing it straight, Reid essentially asked his defense to do the heavy lifting, shortening Mahomes’ time to operate but ideally simultaneously lessening his necessary output. If the Chiefs defense holds to a field goal, the offense’s march becomes shorter.
The strategy nearly led to a defensive stop altogether — the Bengals opted to go for it on fourth down, but Chiefs were called for a penalty that prompted a first down. The Bengals knelt the ball, burned more time and kicked the field goal with zeroes on the clock.
Each option — letting the Bengals score or playing it straight up with your defense — is going to have its faults. Neither is fool-proof. But ultimately, the Chiefs kept Mahomes as a spectator for the final 6:01 of the game.
“I think we all handled that pretty well,” Hitchens said. “If you just look at the guys, we fought all the way to the end. Obviously there’s a lot of things we have to clean up, but in that situation, those stops we were making, it just shows you what type of guys we have on this team. I don’t think (anyone) panicked. We rose up to the occasion. A couple penalties here and there, (and) it could be a different ball game.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2022 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Given a redo, would KC Chiefs coach Reid let the Bengals score? Here’s what he says."