Travis Kelce knew that the Kansas City Chiefs were going to win Super Bowl LVIII before Patrick Mahomes even threw the ball on the final play of the game. His mid-play reaction was ice cold.
The play call, formerly known as ‘Corn Dog,’ was renamed as ‘Tom and Jerry.’
Mahomes stepped into the huddle and relayed the call from Andy Reid:
“Tiger 12, Tom & Jerry right, Gun trips, right bunch, F shuffle”
It worked to perfection, just like last year.
Mecole Hardman ran the pre-snap jet motion hard toward the line of scrimmage before breaking out toward the sideline as soon as the ball was hiked. Mahomes threw a quick pass right on the money to a wide-open receiver and the rest is history.
Tony Romo did a great job of breaking it down on the broadcast. Kansas City hoped that San Francisco’s furthest-most defender would shift his focus back to the inside as a result of the motion. That is exactly what happened.
Kelce knew that it was a success as soon as he broke to the outside. Charvarius Ward followed him the entire way, which allowed Hardman to cut back and slide into the pocket right behind him. If Ward tried to step back in to make a tackle, Kelce was there to block.
That was not even necessary!
Travis Kelce was so confident that Tom & Jerry was going to work that he literally stopped running, looked up at the jumbotron, and watched it unfold in real time. He even appeared to point back at Hardman during the play and indicated to Ward what was going to happen.
The Chiefs have practiced this play countless times for two or three years. Reid continues to throw wrinkles into the mix to keep it fresh. And then, when the opportunity presents itself — he dials up Tom & Jerry and it wins the Super Bowl in the closing moments.