Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are on the verge of making history. With a win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs would become the first team in NFL history to win the Super Bowl in three consecutive years.
It doesn’t look easy, though. While Reid’s Chiefs already beat the Eagles in the big game two years ago, only three points gave Mahomes and company the upper hand in Super Bowl LVII.
Reid, therefore, knows that his team may be required to do whatever it takes to emerge victorious on Sunday. That’s why the head coach encouraged Mahomes and his players to go for it on fourth downs when necessary.
“Fourth downs have been good for us. You’re seeing it more in this league now. We have trust in our guys, trust in Patrick, and trust in the game plan,” Reid told the media on Wednesday, via Charles Goldman of A to Z Sports. “If we have something we feel is viable for the situation, we’re going to use it within reason.”
Reid already let Mahomes, Chiefs go for it against the Bills
Reid’s comments should not be surprising, considering the risk that the Chiefs took during the second quarter of the 2025 AFC Championship Game against the Buffalo Bills.
Trailing 10-7 with 8:29 remaining in the first half, the Chiefs found themselves on fourth-and-one at their own 39-yard line. Reid called for a timeout, where the team prepared the play that saw Mahomes get the first down with a six-yard rush.
“That’s a trust thing,” Reid said after the game about going for it in that situation. “You have to have trust in your guys. We called a timeout so we could kind of calm the minds and take what we thought was our best play against them there. Between that one and the last one at the end that [Samaje] Perine had, we had some time to kind of digest those.”
Reid, Chiefs should also watch Eagles’ fourth downs
Reid definitely trusts Mahomes and the Chiefs enough to go for it on fourth downs rather than giving the ball back to the Eagles, but their upcoming opponent also refuses to give up possession so easily.
The ‘tush push’ has become Philadelphia’s signature play when facing short yardage situations on fourth downs, and it’s become unstoppable for the rest of the NFL.
Even Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo admitted, when asked whether he saw a way to stop the Eagles’ tush push (via Henry McKenna of FOX Sports): “I really don’t.”
With the stakes being so high on Sunday, we can expect both the Chiefs and Eagles trying to keep the football for as long as they can. And since it will probably be a game of inches, every down will matter.