Chiefs’ unmatched offensive creativity, fun shows again with ‘Arctic circle’

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — There is no more creative offense in the NFL than the Kansas City Chiefs.

That fact was on display again late in the first half Saturday in a win against the Raiders at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas with a silly and festive play call that nearly netted a touchdown.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes called it the “snow globe” play and coach Andy Reid called it “Arctic circle.” Both agreed that the grouping — 11 personnel with Jerick McKinnon at running back and Travis Kelce at tight end with three receivers in the formation — was called “reindeer.”

“I just call it snow globe, because that’s the easiest way to say it,” Mahomes said with a laugh after the Chiefs’ 31-13 win. “It’s a long play call.”

The Chiefs huddled up then spun in a circle together for several seconds before spinning out of the huddle and running into formation.

The starting offensive line took its positions, while wide receivers Justin Watson went to the left and JuJu Smith-Schuster went to the right, lining up relatively tight and covering the tackles.

McKinnon lined up in the Wildcat formation with wide receiver Kadarius Toney to his right and Kelce a step behind to his left.

Mahomes was 9 yards deep lined up behind McKinnon.

“I’ve never seen that before in my life,” ESPN color analyst and former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky said with a chuckle.

Toney and Kelce cut across the formation with a sort of dual counter action and McKinnon, who started his college career as a triple-option quarterback, faked a handoff to Toney before pitching the ball back to Mahomes, who had rolled right.

With the offensive line having released on a throwback screen, Mahomes connected with Toney, who ducked out of a tackle at the 13-yard line then dashed into the end zone.

“We work on stuff throughout the entire season then try to call it at the right moments,” Mahomes said. “Coach Reid gives us some freedom to do some of our own flair to it.”

The touchdown was waived off because center Creed Humphrey was whistled for a hold at the goal line for slamming cornerback Nate Hobbs to the ground rudely away from the play.

Still, it was a fun play to discuss and dissect, especially after Toney scored on an 11-yard end around one play later.

“The guys executed it well,” Reid said, “... and the players enjoy doing that sort of stuff, so a little creativity that they come up with.”

Mahomes said it was actually a play he and some teammates first conceived last season as a way of “getting confusion going” for the defense, but it was never used in a game. It was resurrected earlier this season and tweaked.

“As the season went on, I started nudging Coach Reid about, ‘Let’s bring it back, but in a different way,’” Mahomes said. “We didn’t have that throw back on it the last time we ran it. Hopefully, we can maybe do it again and get back to what we ran last time and get another touchdown.”

Reid said Mahomes and the Chiefs’ players often bring ideas for trick plays to him.

“We call it the laboratory,” Reid said. “Pat, he gets the guys down there and they don’t put their name on it. They just bring it to me. I’ve got 51% of the vote. If I like it, we go with it.”

The play has to have a high chance of success for Reid to give it the green light, but it’s a way to keep the players engaged and excited during a grueling NFL season.

“You have to have fun out there,” Mahomes said. “We practice hard. We go out there and we try to get the best out of every single day, but the coaches let us have fun. And I think that’s what keeps us going.”

Might Kansas City have some tricks up its collective sleeve come playoff time? Anything’s possible with a bye week to scheme and work in the lab.

“We’ll have to get some good stuff going for the playoffs — and whenever we run it, it has to work,” Mahomes said.

Winning helps make sure it's even more fun, of course, and the Chiefs earned a first-round postseason bye with the win.