Make a list of Kansas City Chiefs stars and playmakers. We can wait. Come back when you're finished. The Internet should still be functioning.
How long did it take before you hit Daniel Sorensen's name? Did you even get that far?
The safety and special-teams stud made the tide-turning play that unleashed the Chiefs' onslaught in Sunday's 51-31 come-from-behind playoff victory over the Houston Texans.
The second quarter was still young, with 8:32 seconds remaining. K.C. just scored to cut the deficit to 24-7. The defense forced a 3-and-out. Texans coach Bill O'Brien, knowing he'd have to keep scoring, elected to call a fake punt on fourth-and-4 from his own 31-yard-line.
Safety Justin Reid took the direct snap and ran right. The play could have worked, and perhaps authored a different ending than the blowout that later ensued. If Reid sidesteps the safety, he likely picks up the first down with ease. But Sorensen stepped into the void and blasted Reid short of the sticks.
"That's my responsibility. I did my job, just like anybody else would have done their job," Sorensen told BJ Kissel of the team's official website about the play.
Sorensen did his job, and it was stellar. The safety read the play the whole way, seemed prepared for a potential fake, and didn't whiff on the tackle.
"He's one of our best special-teams players, if not the best one. That's how he got into the league, and really made his name," coach Andy Reid said of Sorensen. "We put him in those kinds of situations, and he made a big play. That was a big call, and a big play, by (special teams coordinator Dave Toub) -- he works on that kind of stuff -- and then a nice play by Sorensen."
Sorensen not only made the stuff on fourth down. After Patrick Mahomes led a TD drive in 23 seconds to cut the lead to 24-14, Sorensen was credited with a forced fumble on the ensuing kickoff, which turned into yet another K.C. TD. And so, the tide was turned.
Sorensen also tied for a team-high eight tackles, as the Kansas City defense put the clamps on Houston after the first quarter.
"We talked on the sideline about taking it one play at a time and stacking up positive plays," Sorensen said. "We were able to do that. We had a couple plays that turned in our favor, gave the offense the ball back, they capitalized, they scored. From there, we just kept carrying the momentum. We worked together as a team, we played together as a team, and you saw a great team victory out there."
Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Frank Clark, Tyrann Mathieu, et al. all played extraordinarily in Sunday's comeback win. That effort was aided by a guy doing the dirty work and making a game-changing play in a big spot.
