Did a Jaguars Play Help the Chiefs Win Another Super Bowl?
Did the Jacksonville Jaguars help influence a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl win ... again?
Remember last year's Super Bowl, where the Chiefs used motions to destroy the Philadelphia Eagles' secondary?
Remember how this was brought to the table largely because of the Jaguars and Doug Pederson?
It looks like it happened again.
In Jacksonville's 29-21 loss to the Eagles in Week 4 of the 2022 season, the Jaguars showed a blueprint to beat the Eagle's defense. It started with wide receiver Jamal Agnew, who lined up on the outside before the ball was snapped. He then motioned into the backfield before reversing course and flaring back out to the flat on the outside.
It was one of the easiest touchdowns of Jacksonville's season, a perfectly executed and planned play-call by Andy Reid disciple Doug Pederson. And it was exactly that play that the Chiefs used to score two touchdowns in last year's Super Bowl win over the Philadelphia Eagles, according to The Athletic's Rustin Dodd.
But they also utilized something they had noticed in their film study and spent the previous two weeks perfecting. According to Henne, the Chiefs’ coaches had discovered that when the Eagles lined up in man coverage, they would overcompensate if an offense used a motion that looked like a jet sweep.
On Saturday night, Bieniemy had put a play up on the screen for everyone on the Chiefs’ offense to see. It came from the Eagles’ game against the Jaguars earlier this season, and it featured Jacksonville receiver Jamal Agnew faking as if he were going in motion before stopping, reversing course and getting open for a touchdown.
Henne understood the offensive mind of Jaguars coach Doug Pederson, the Andy Reid disciple who had guided the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship five years ago. So he figured it would be open. He did not anticipate that it would lead to two touchdown passes for Mahomes, but that is what happened, the Chiefs using the look on a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kadarius Toney before running it again on the opposite side to Skyy Moore on a 4-yard touchdown pass that gave the Chiefs a 35-27 lead with 9:22 left in the fourth quarter.
“(Bieniemy) put it on tape and said: ‘Hey, like, if they do this, this guy is wide open. It’s man (coverage),’” Henne said. “They’re just trying to protect themselves from the jet sweep and trying to bubble over the top and get an extra player (on the other side of the field). But we faked the jet twice, and they didn’t figure it out.”
Why is this relevant now after the Chiefs' 25-22 win over the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl LVIII?
Because the Chiefs used a similar play on their game-winning touchdown pass from Patrick Mahomes to Mecole Hardman.
The Jaguars are still looking for their first Super Bowl win in franchise history, but there is an argument to be made that the franchise has now helped the Chiefs bring two of their Lombardi Trophies home.
