Chiefs players describe Bryan Cook’s fumble return touchdown

FRANKFURT, Germany — The Kansas City Chiefs have a strong argument for the best play of the year with a fumble recovery touchdown return against the Miami Dolphins.

Just before the end of the first half, cornerback Trent McDuffie hit former Chiefs star receiver Tyreek Hill. He clawed his way into Hill’s hands and forced a fumble that was picked up by safety Mike Edwards.

As Edwards was getting wrapped up by Hill, he tossed the ball back to second-year safety Bryan Cook who galloped down the sideline for a 59-yard score that increased the Chiefs’ lead to 21-0.

The Chiefs were in man coverage during the screenplay, so McDuffie said it was easy for him to read.

“Lucky enough, just saw the play happen and made a play on it,” McDuffie said. “Luckily, there [were] guys on the back end to help me clean it up.”

The second-year corner said he always focuses on the ball when making tackles.

“When I made the hit, definitely felt it get loose and tried my best to strip it out, and luckily I was able to.”

Edwards felt Hill wrapping him up and didn’t wanna give up on the play.

“We gotta get this home, we gotta do something else,” Edwards said with a big smile. “I kind of looked back, and I seen my boy BC.”

“You gotta have trust to do some stuff like that. I trusted him, I just pitched it back, and he did the rest.”

Laterals are no stranger to the Chiefs.

Star tight end Travis Kelce put them in the spotlight when he began lateraling the ball to teammates to keep plays alive since at least 2019. Kelce recently sent a lateral to tight end Noah Gray when the Chiefs faced the Broncos in Week 6.

Head coach Andy Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes were among the millions of viewers who were impressed by the play.

“[McDuffie] came up and smacked him,” head coach Andy Reid said.

“That was sweet,” Mahomes said. “Cook was rolling man. I said it looked like he’s like the anchor leg in a 4×1 in track so you get those knees up and was rolling down the field. Huge play that obviously mattered a ton at the end of the game.”

Cook said it isn’t the fastest he’s ever run but he ran track in high school so Mahomes’ comparison is spot on.

“Tried to bring [the track technique] out,” Cook said after the game. “Trust in my guys. They gave me the ball in the situation so I tried to do my best to put it in the endzone.”

Cook’s last touchdown was when he played safety for Howard in 2018 against Morgan State.

He caught an interception and returned it 41 yards untouched. Cook still has the same stride that he had back then.