Andy Reid was prepared to make gutsy decision in OT?

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid was prepared to make a gutsy decision at the end of Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday, according to one of his players.

The Chiefs defeated the San Francisco 49ers in a 25-22 overtime thriller at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev. San Francisco won the toss in OT and elected to receive. The 49ers had to settle for a field goal before Patrick Mahomes led a game-winning touchdown drive.

With new playoff overtime rules that were implemented in 2022, each team gets an opportunity to possess the ball even if the receiving team scores a touchdown. After the game, Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones said Reid’s plan was to go for two and the win if the 49ers scored a touchdown to begin overtime and Kansas City answered.

“We talked through this for two weeks,” Jones told Lindsay Jones of The Ringer. “How we was going to give the ball to the opponent; if they scored, we was going for two at the end of the game. We rehearsed it.”

While that would have been a bold call from Reid, it also would have been the right one. His offense is excellent in short-yardage situations with Mahomes and Travis Kelce. We saw that on Kansas City’s game-winning drive in overtime when Mahomes easily picked up a first down on a designed QB run on 4th down deep in Kansas City territory. Mahomes then scrambled for 18 yards on 3rd-and-1 later in the drive.

Reid was obviously prepared for the overtime scenario. We may not be able to say the same for 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who appeared to let it slip after the game that he did not even know the OT rules.