The story behind the Chiefs’ biggest play vs. Raiders: ‘We’ve been saving that one’

Justin Watson smiled in front of his locker, recalling the most significant play from Sunday’s 31-17 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

Sure, the Chiefs hoped their offensive curveball might catch the Raiders off-guard.

What actually happened, though? It went better than the Chiefs could’ve imagined.

“We’ve been saving that one a little bit,” Watson said with a grin. “You see other teams around the league do it, and it was just our week to pull it out.”

The maneuver, in this instance, was a specific type of motion that the Chiefs used on a third-and-6 early in the fourth quarter.

And a few seconds later? Rashee Rice was running into the end zone with a 39-yard touchdown that helped give KC an 11-point lead.

That was the biggest moment of the game, according to the win probability calculator at rbsdm.com. Rice’s catch provided the Chiefs 5.0 expected points added, which was the single-biggest shift of the entire contest.

“It was a great play-call,” Watson said.

And the reason for that is worthy of another look.

Just before the play, Watson is the one who opens everything up. He sprints toward quarterback Patrick Mahomes with what the Chiefs call “gas” motion; the objective is to time things up to get full speed for your route (or stomp on the gas pedal, if you will) at the snap of the ball.

This type of movement has become more commonplace across the NFL. As Watson referenced, though, the Chiefs have used it sparingly this season.

Watson said Sunday after the game the Chiefs believed his sprint was “going to track some type of attention.”

It ended up, however, doing even more than that.

The replay shows that — while in man coverage — the Raiders are completely fooled. Two cornerbacks follow Watson on his route across the field, while a deep safety also rotates to the middle.

And while that eventually opens up Rice on a shallow cross, he’s actually the second-most open receiver for the Chiefs.

That’s because Marquez Valdes-Scantling is streaking down the left sideline — waving his arms — while completely uncovered.

“I wanted the ball,” Valdes-Scantling said afterward with a laugh. “That’s what I was thinking. ‘Throw me the ball. I’m wide open.’”

Mahomes instead found Rice, who said he wanted to run his route in front of the quarterback’s vision so he wouldn’t miss him.

“He put it exactly where I needed,” Rice said, “for me to run that 200-meter dash.”

Valdes-Scantling didn’t sulk either. That Raiders safety who rotated to the middle of the field — Tre’von Moehrig — tried to peel back to stop Rice from scoring, but Valdes-Scantling sealed him off to clear Rice’s touchdown path.

“He’s been a helluva player all year for us, making plays. So I’m excited to see what he continues to do,” Valdes-Scantling said of Rice. “I had the opportunity to kind of lead the charge for him so he could follow behind.”

Watson said all the Raiders defenders were behind him in coverage when he ran his route, so he didn’t see in real-time how many guys he’d dragged away from Rice and Valdes-Scantling’s side.

When he turned around, though, “Rashee got the ball, and there was no one over there.”

“So it looked pretty good on the sideline (tablet) picture,” Watson said.

It was a consequential moment for the Chiefs. They took a two-possession lead and were never seriously threatened again while improving to 8-3.

Valdes-Scantling said he believed the Raiders defense was hampered some Sunday by pass-rusher Maxx Crosby playing through a knee injury. Valdes-Scantling said the defense played more Cover 2 zone against the Chiefs than in previous games.

When Kansas City caught Las Vegas in man coverage on this snap, however, the Chiefs took advantage.

Watson said it was all part of the plan — with the Chiefs hitting the “gas” at the exact right time.

“It’s huge. Throw short, run long. That’s what we’re trying to be all about,” Watson said. “And Rashee’s the perfect embodiment of that.”