This unlikely Kansas City Chiefs ‘receiver’ had game’s most joyful TD vs. Bengals

No play in football is more joyful than the touchdown pass to an offensive lineman.

Uncommon in nature, they’re typically followed by an end-zone party, a goofy dance by a 300-pound hero and — if his team wins — more locker-room revelry afterward.

So it was for Wanya Morris on Sunday after the Chiefs’ 26-25 triumph over the Cincinnati Bengals.

The reserve left tackle entered the game — along with linebacker Leo Chenal — in a jumbo package with the Chiefs facing a second-and-goal from the Cincinnati 1-yard line. Both players reported eligible to the official, and that’s usually a formality.

They’re usually in the game for their blocking ability in short-yardage situations.

Not often does a tackle slip away from the line after the snap and find himself unguarded in the end zone.

But that’s precisely what happened here.

“I saw where the (defensive) end was about to crash,” Morris said. “And I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m going to be wide open before we even snap the ball.

“My job is to not get too excited and rush it.”

That was Chiefs coach Andy Reid’s fear.

“When you’re that open, sometimes you can freak out,” Reid said.

Morris admitted to some nerves as he broke from the pack after the snap, found himself in the end zone and waited for Patrick Mahomes’ floater to land in his arms.

“It seemed like it took forever,” Morris said. “I turned around and ... it’s in the air, it’s in the air, it’s in the air ... OK, I got it.”

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The touchdown capped the first possession of the second half and gave the Chiefs a 17-16 lead. It was Mahomes’ third scoring pass to an offensive lineman: He hit tackle Eric Fisher in 2000 at Baltimore and guard Nick Allegretti during a 2021 playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

To Mahomes, it helped that Morris had been in the game earlier in the drive as an additional blocker in a short-yardage situation. The TD play was set up by the Chiefs’ success on the ground.

“(Reid) dialed it up at the right time,” Mahomes said. “They had to bring more and more people in the game, big people. Just when you thought they were going to shoot and make a play, (Morris) released into the flat. That comes with getting your running game going.”

Morris is a second-year pro who lost a starting left tackle competition to rookie Kingsley Suamataia in the preseason. During the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, with Suamataia struggling against Bengals pass-rush specialist Trey Hendrickson, Morris was summoned to replace Morris.

From there, Morris was part of the Chiefs’ game-winning drive. He was called for an illegal-use-of-hands penalty, wiping out a potential 21-yard gain — which meant the Chiefs had to convert a fourth-and-16 to keep alive their last-gasp drive (and that only happened because of a pass interference penalty on Cincy’s Daijahn Anthony).

Two plays later, Harrison Butker kicked a 51-yard walk-off field goal. Those were the game-winning points.

But Morris had already contributed the game’s happiest touchdown.