Arrowhead Pride
Hardman explains how the infamous training camp drills is paying dividends for the team months later in the regular season.
The Kansas City Chiefs won a hard-fought game in Week 9, edging the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 30-24 in overtime. The conditions were grueling. Rain was pouring down — when overtime began, players on both sides were exhausted from 60 minutes of physical, hard-hitting football.
Four of the Chiefs’ 10 drives during regulation had at least 10 plays, which had already tested their stamina. But when Kansas City won the toss in overtime — and chose to receive — the offensive players knew they needed just one more push to take the victory.
In these moments, veteran players like wide receiver Mecole Hardman credit head coach Andy Reid’s infamous long drive drill — a training camp staple where the offense grinds through a drive of 18 to 20 scripted plays starting from their own goal line. With that grueling preparation, the Chiefs’ game-winning 10-play, 70-yard drive seemed much more manageable.
“I think it’s something that prepares you for drives like that in the real game,” Hardman said of the drill. “The long drive is probably a little bit harder, but those are the type of things we do in practice to try to make the game a little bit easier, especially when you go into a long drive drill. As a receiver, it’s more so just trying to get lined up, making sure you’re doing your assignment right, and making the play when it comes to you. Those things that we do in training camp or even practice are just trying to make things easier when you do it in the game.”
Now in his sixth year with the Chiefs, Hardman is no stranger to the long drive drill. While he admits to dreading it in the moment, he understands its value in preparing the team for high-pressure situations like they saw in Week 9 against the Bucs.
“You can look at it two ways, either you can dread on it or you can look at it as getting better and try to attack it,” Hardman explained. “So, that’s kind of how everybody looks at it. First, it might be a down reaction, but then you know overall it’s like we’re going to get better from it.”
Long drives are especially rewarding when they end in a touchdown. In Week 9, four out of the Chiefs’ five drives lasting 10 plays or more ended with a touchdown, including two courtesy of new wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins.
In just his second week with the team, Hopkins delivered big, finishing with eight catches for 86 yards and two touchdowns.
Hardman, who grew up a fan during Hopkins’ collegiate days at Clemson, says he wasn’t surprised by the big night from the five-time All-Pro wideout.
“[DeAndre Hopkins] was a big thing around my town,” Hardman noted. “He definitely was a receiver that everybody knew about. He probably was like 40 minutes away from my...
