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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Andy Reid often describes himself as more than a coach. He considers himself a teacher.
The classroom for Reid — the NFL’s oldest head coach at 66 — is a major reason he continues to arrive at the Chiefs’ training facility around 4 a.m.
“I enjoy teaching,” Reid said.
From his voluminous playbook, Reid loves instructing his players on his massive collection of screen passes. The Chiefs have installed more than 100 screens this season, variations meant to surprise opponents — and some they have yet to unveil.
Reid is known for many things — his deep passing attack, his penchant for trick plays, his affection for cheeseburgers and Tommy Bahama Hawaiian shirts. In 26 years as a head coach, Reid has become most known around the NFL as the screen master, his schematic innovations of the play being one of his core contributions to the sport.
Since Reid joined Kansas City in 2013, after 13 years in Philadelphia, the Chiefs have been one of the league’s best teams at executing screens. Since quarterback Patrick Mahomes arrived in 2018, the Chiefs have been the league’s best team at screens. During that time, in the regular season, the Chiefs have attempted and completed the most screens (433 of 483), have generated the most yards on screens (3,062) and have been the most effective team in the NFL on screens in terms of passer rating, expected points added per dropback and percentage of attempts going for a first down or a touchdown, according to TruMedia and Next Gen Stats.
The Chiefs have scored 19 touchdowns on screens since 2018 — eight more than any other team.
“He’s got a great feel for when to dial those up,” Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay said of Reid. “We always talk about how no screen is the same — every screen has its own story. But for some reason, everywhere Andy Reid has been, that team has a good feel for it.
Big Red is the man. There are so many layers to it. I’ve studied them every year. That’s one of the things you’re going to spend an offseason studying.”
Over the past year, The Athletic has asked many in the Chiefs organization a simple question: Why is Reid so good at screens? Almost every player and coach touched on the same sentiment: Reid’s success is in the details.
“He’s really good at teaching the base screens, even more than I had ever been taught,” Mahomes said of Reid. “Every day (in camp), we have a part of our install where we talk about screens, how we’re setting up this screen and what it goes off of and how we want to make it look like this different (play).”
The screen pass was invented in 1906, more than 50 years before Reid was born.
Bob Zuppke, who became a coaching legend at Illinois, invented the screen while coaching at Hackley Manual Training School in Muskegon, Mich. Zuppke drew up several screens, including one in which the punter, while in punt formation, passes the ball to a receiver on a crossing route with offensive linemen in front of him. Notre Dame, under coach Knute Rockne, further advanced the play in the 1930s.
As a player in the ’70s, Reid was a talented tackle before he suffered a knee injury that altered his college career.
“In high school, we ran the Veer,” Reid said, smiling. “There wasn’t a lot of screens going on.”
Reid was introduced to the intricacies of the screen when he arrived at BYU, learning why the play could be a strong option for any offense under coach LaVell Edwards, who in 1981 convinced him to become a coach. Eleven years later, Reid entered the NFL as assistant offensive line and tight ends coach with the Green Bay Packers. Coach Mike Holmgren paired Reid with Tom Lovat, the offensive line coach.
For much of the ’90s, the Packers, with Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, were consistent at gaining chunk yards with screens. They had more variations of screens than most teams.
One highlight in Lovat’s seminar was from the 1995 season. He showed how the Packers’ offensive line slid its protection to the right, giving the Minnesota Vikings the appearance of a traditional, dropback pass.
“Watch the center (Frank Winters) using the numbers as a reference point to clean up the (linebacker) — and boom!” Lovat shouted. “It’s like a fullback. (Running back Dorsey Levens) goes right down the (sidewalk). He’s trusting what we’re telling him.”
The Packers gained 20 yards, setting up an opening-drive touchdown in their victory. When Lovat finished showing his clips, a coach asked him how many screens Holmgren has in a game plan.
“Probably three,” Lovat said. “We’d put a special one in for the red zone, something to take advantage of what they’re doing down there. … Who do we want (the defense) to put on t…Rosie” on the playground at recess. After the Chiefs’ antics, several Raiders defenders looked at one another.
McKinnon received the snap in the pistol and went through a run-pass option action with receiver Kadarius Toney. Next, McKinnon pitched the ball back to Mahomes, who threw a pass across the field — from the numbers to the numbers — to Toney, who went 9 yards into the end zone.
There was one problem, though. The touchdown didn’t count. The score was nullified by a holding penalty on Humphrey. The Chiefs, though, scored on the next play.
“One of the Chiefs’ slowest screens came against McVay’s Rams in a memorable 2018 game. Inside the red zone, receiver Tyreek Hill sprinted in motion, confirming the Rams were in man-to-man coverage. Mahomes executed three play-action fakes — to Hill, Hunt and a fake end-around to receiver Demarcus Robinson.
One of the Chiefs’ slowest screens came against McVay’s Rams in a memorable 2018 game. Inside the red zone, receiver Tyreek Hill sprinted in motion, confirming the Rams were in man-to-man coverage. Mahomes executed three play-action fakes — to Hill, Hunt and a fake end-around to receiver Demarcus Robinson.
Mahomes’ favorite screen from last season came in the Chiefs’ biggest drive on the NFL’s biggest stage: overtime of Super Bowl LVII.
Before overtime, the Chiefs scored only one touchdown in five red zone trips. Needing a touchdown to win the game, Reid called two screens. The first was a traditional screen to running back Isiah Pacheco, who gained 5 yards. Once the Chiefs entered the red zone, Reid looked down at his large, laminated play sheet.
It’s a way of getting the ball in your good players’ hands at a low risk. We had done some blocking things with our tight end, so keeping Kelce in there to help out (against 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa) made sense. He’s deadly with the ball in his hands.
One play later, Kelce lifted his arms, signaling the game-winning touchdown just as Mahomes completed an easy 3-yard, walk-off touchdown to receiver Mecole Hardman, who was wide open in the corner of the end zone.
— Jourdan Rodrigue contributed to this report.
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