How the ‘Snow Globe’ spinning huddle play came to be, and what it says about the Chiefs

The ol’ spinning huddle look might just as easily have been inspired by the 1948 Rose Bowl, from which Andy Reid has drawn before, as it could have been concocted from scratch — as Reid still does plenty even in his 24th season as an NFL head coach and 10th with the Chiefs.

It might have been called Ring Around The Rosie. Or the Vicious Cycle. Maybe Wheel of Fortune. Or even just Roulette.

Except you had to know there would be something more colorful to it from the man who engineered the “Hungry Pig” series to get 350-pound defensive lineman Dontari Poe into the offense.

“It was in the Christmas spirit,” Reid said after the Chiefs clobbered the Raiders 31-13 on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium to finish the regular season 14-3 and claim the top seed in the AFC. “It was ‘reindeer personnel,’ and then ‘Arctic Circle.’”

Or, more fully, “Arctic Circle of death,” as receiver Kadarius Toney confirmed to a question in the locker room.

With the final flourish of “Snow Globe,” which quarterback Patrick Mahomes calls the elongated play name to simplify it.

By any name, it had a mesmerizing effect.

Not just to audiences all around the country. Not just to the Raiders, who were transfixed as the Chiefs broke the spin cycle after about three revolutions and lined up to bewildered looks across the ball.

“A little clueless,” tackle Trey Smith said. “A little ‘don’t know what’s going on.’”

But the play also was spellbinding for the Chiefs in its own distinct way.

“Honestly, when we called it, it was almost like, ‘Oh, my God, it’s happening,’” Smith said, laughing. “That type of excitement: ‘Here it comes. Here it goes.’”

Here it went late in the first half: a direct snap to Jerick McKinnon … who pitched right for Mahomes … who threw back across the field to Toney … who burst around the left end for a 9-yard touchdown.

Sure, you could quibble over the play being called back for Creed Humphrey’s WWE-like throwdown of a Raiders defender.

But you’d be missing the broader point.

And not because Toney ran it from 11 yards out on the next play to cap a 98-yard drive and give the Chiefs a 21-3 lead.

Now, the play in itself (not to mention a pass later set up for defensive lineman Khalen Saunders) obviously was in no way the most substantial or significant of the game. Especially on a day when Mahomes hit Justin Watson for the team’s season-long offensive play (67 yards), the defense had six sacks and Toney flashed more of his unique skill-set. Etc.

But it stood for something vital to this team: the creative energy that animates everything else.

Particularly when it comes to an offense that entered the game leading the league in scoring (29.1 points a game), yards a game (417.7) and yards a play (6.4) ... in the season in which it was widely anticipated it would step back after the trade of Tyreek Hill.

Instead, the offense will enter the postseason as potent as ever, more diverse than it’s been and even enhanced by the rejiggering.

It’s true that the Chiefs change it up every year. But at least from where we sit, it’s been more expansive this time around.

That’s symbolized nicely by the “snow globe” but of course is about so much more.

It’s not just because Reid’s considerable ingenuity and vast reservoir, which included that “Rose Bowl Right Parade” play in Super Bowl LIV that Reid conjured from game tape that his brother’s high school coach had furnished as a player in that 1948 game for USC.

Reid likes to use the phrase “let your personality show,” something he’ll typically only do off-camera and out of public view … though it sure looked like he flashed a brief smile on the sideline after that play.

Typically, though, Reid most consistently demonstrates his personality with on-field creativity. (Which is what makes it really puzzling when he gets predictable and stale at times, but we digress …)

His approach also is reflected in what he welcomes: empowering collaborative dynamics.

That might be most evident in the uncanny mind-meld between Reid and Mahomes. But it extends to the sharing of play design among assistant coaches and players … and to what Mahomes calls the freedom to “add some of our own flair to it.”

Between that and the sheer joy of these sorts of inventions, well, let Mahomes tell you how it lands:

“We practice hard. We go out there and we try to get the best out of every single day. But the coaches let us have fun. That’s what keeps us going. It’s a long season. A lot of practices. And sometimes you just want to play (in) the games.

“We built this culture of, ‘Let’s go out there and practice, have a great time doing it, enjoy it, have fun. But at the same time, let’s be great.’ ”

The concept of this particular play, among others, was hatched in what Reid calls “the laboratory” with Mahomes and other coaches.

Or as tight end Travis Kelce put it: “I feel like that was (from) the QB room. I’m not sure exactly who came up with it. I walked in the building on a Friday, and that’s what we had on the board.”

From that research and development mode, the play basically then makes its way to Reid’s desk. Since he’s got what he likes to call “51 percent” of the vote, he said, “If I like it, then we will call it.”

Reid liked this essential notion of creating confusion enough that it was in the arsenal last season, Mahomes said.

But with so much other stuff bubbling …

“It kind of got thrown, not away, but as your season gets started up you go back to the basics,” Mahomes said. “As the season went back on, I was like kind of nudging Coach Reid, like, ‘Hey, let’s bring it back in a different way.’ ”

This version began with 11 grown men, arm in arm, whirling in circles. Frankly, it looked absurd ... and yet I can’t stop watching it.

It also was a wonder no one was dizzy breaking the huddle, though Toney laughed when asked about that and said, “I tried to duck off in there.”

Replays show the Raiders in disarray as the Chiefs then hurried to the line with McKinnon lined up in a wildcat formation to take the snap. Kelce was aligned just behind McKinnon to his left, Toney just in front of him to his right and Mahomes behind him.

The play began with McKinnon faking a handoff to Toney cutting in front of him to the left, following Kelce to the right and pitching to Mahomes drifting right.

If you freeze the frame at this point, you’ll see five Raiders on that side of the hash mark, two more on their way over and an eighth in the end zone recognizing he might-ought to get over the other way.

Yes, it was called back.

But it’s still unforgettable.

Because of both the optics and what it says about how fresh this all still is for Reid and the Chiefs and their ability to keep breaking boundaries of all sorts.

Including at the simplest of levels:

The play, Smith said, brought “a lot of juice.”

An “eye-opener,” rookie running back Isiah Pacheco said, “that definitely puts more energy on the offensive side.”

“It’s just fun, man,” Kelce said. “It’s fun.”

And part of the never-ending repertoire, and appeal, of this team.