Michigan's 1948 Rose Bowl team inspired Kansas City's 4th down play in Super Bowl
Kansas City went way back in the annals of football history to find the perfect fourth-down play in Sunday night’s Super Bowl.
Late in the first quarter, the Chiefs were faced with a 4th-and-1 from the San Francisco 5-yard line. While a field goal would’ve tied the game at 3-3, head coach Andy Reid was confident his offense could get that one yard and have a chance to put seven points on the scoreboard.
It worked.
Some interesting pre-snap motions and a direct snap to Damien Williams was enough to clear four yards for Kansas City, picking up the first down and eventually punching the ball across the goal line for a touchdown. And while the play may have looked like something brand new, it actually was pulled from Michigan’s 1948 Rose Bowl game against USC.
According to Kevin Boilard of CBS Sports, Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy said he got the play design from the old Rose Bowl game from Michigan. It was a play the Wolverines ran effectively throughout the game in a 49-0 win over USC.
Below is the side-by-side of the two videos.
Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy says he got this play design from watching this old Rose Bowl game. Michigan ran it over & over in a 49-0 win over USC pic.twitter.com/0uGYxxUnST
— Kevin Boilard (@KevinBoilard) February 3, 2020
Who says old-school football can’t work in the modern era?
Kansas City would go on to defeat San Francisco 31-20, overcoming a 20-10 deficit in the final seven minutes to claim a Super Bowl title.