Chief fans not impressed with Andy Reid’s game management

Andy Reid is one of the top coaches in football history. This is partly due to his smart offensive tactics, which have earned him a notable reputation. Lately, however, many fans have been dissatisfied with his game management, especially with the recent loss of the Chiefs against the Bengals. Now that a little time has passed and initial fires have burned down, is this still the case? 

This time, fans have been complaining about his game management tactics, which they believe cost them the game. The experts at Sidelines.io have some brilliant aggregates of odds on Andy Reid’s future, but first, let’s have a look at what Andy Reid has achieved to date.  

Andy Reid – his achievements 

Andy Reid is categorized as one of the older coaches still managing to make a mark. He is also quite underrated, considering he is one of the most accomplished coaches to date. He has worked alongside great quarterbacks and helped them to boost their careers using his offensive tactics.  

However, many people who speak about his coaching career tend to focus on his questionable play-calls, post-season miscues, and poor clock management. All of these, especially his poor clock management, are why many fans believe the Chiefs lost to the Bengals. But is this true? Let’s find out.  

The big mistake – calling a timeout  

During the first drive of the game on Sunday, Michael Burton was initially ruled short when he picked up the first down. This caused Reid to call a timeout to think about the next 4th and 1. Then he threw his challenge flag, a tactic that many NFL coaches use. He did this in the hopes of mulling over the decision made by the officials.  

However, not many coaches have been able to correct a call by dropping the challenge flag. This was the case here, as Reid ended up using the remaining timeouts, they had left during the first half. At the end of the half, with only five seconds to spare, Mahomes threw a bad pass to Hill, ending the half badly. If the Chiefs had managed to make this play, it would have made a significant difference in the game, as it would have increased the halftime lead to 24-10.  

And since the Chiefs had already exhausted their timeouts earlier in the half, there was nothing that they could do. Eventually, the game ended with the Kansas City Chiefs suffering a loss of 27-24 after an 18-point lead.  

Andy Reid takes the blame  

Reid stated that he hoped to get the ball in the end zone and that he most likely gave them the wrong play. He also stated that he could have offered them something better with an open play in the end zone. Reid concluded by saying that he would take complete responsibility.  

What Mahomes had to say 

Mahomes stated that the first read was covered, which caused him to send a pass into the flats for Hill, who had signaled across the formation. But Hill was quickly tackled by two Bengals, causing the play to fall short of the line. This failed play was also a major cause for the Chiefs losing the game, and Mahomes takes part of the blame.  

He added that he was aware they had to obtain points, and they had called a play in which they were trying to get a receiver over the middle. He said that he was meant to throw the ball away if he could not make his pass to the receiver, but got a little greedy and tried to complete a pass to Hill for a touchdown. He concluded by stating that he would have gone for another play if given the chance.  

What did the fans have to say? 

Playing the blame game, it was observed that up to 31% of the fans blamed Andy Reid, with many claiming it was déjà vu. This is because Andy Reid has called the same play for the Chiefs many times in the past, and it generally does not end well. However, about 46% of the fans also blamed Mahomes, while 24% blamed somebody else.  

What is next for the Chiefs? 

Now that the Chiefs are going into the off-season, there will be many decisions to be made by the home office. This is because a number of players are prepping to go into an unrestricted free agency. For instance, Tyrann Mathieu has been an anchor for Kansas City’s secondary and has expressed his desire to remain on the team. Arrowhead may be playing host to a very different looking team next season. 

However, the final decision lies with the home team. Even though there are some difficult decisions to be made by the Chiefs, they will certainly be looking to make changes to keep themselves ahead this coming season.