Enough should be enough when it comes to Andy Reid

After two epic playoff meltdowns, it’s clear that Andy Reid can only take the Kansas City Chiefs so far and it’s not far enough.

There have been four times that a team with an 18 point or more lead at halftime has lost a playoff game in NFL history. On two of those occasions, Andy Reid was the head coach. Players have come and gone, yet the one constant in Reid’s 19-year head coaching career is Reid.

I started writing for Arrowhead Addict in August 2016, since then I have written no less than three articles in which I have said Reid was the wrong hire five years ago and he should be fired. I know that Reid is a really good coach—specifically a great regular season coach. Winning 50 games the last five seasons has been a lot of fun and Clark Hunt has enjoyed seeing a full stadium week in and week out.

I tweeted it five years ago when he was hired, and I’ve said it in every article I’ve written about Reid since I’ve been here” he is Marty Schottenheimer 2.0.

Before I go any further, yes I know he’s not getting fired. I know that Kansas City Chiefs team owner Clark Hunt just signed him to a new five year deal. It’s fairly obviously that Hunt’s number one priority is filling the parking lot every week and winning the Super Bowl is secondary. He’s a business man and making money is what business men do so that is fine, but just make sure we all know what score is.

Reid is not keeping his job because he gives us the best chance to win a Super Bowl. It’s because he almost gurantees winning seasons which keeps cars in the parking lot at $30 to $60 a piece. Despite what will happen, however, let’s take a serious look at what should happen—that Reid should be fired.

Strike One: Playcalling Duties

After 19 years in coaching, Reid still makes the same mistake game in and game out. How can you expect a coach to make players better when he can’t even make himself better? I’m sorry if you fell for the idea that Matt Nagy was in charge of playcalling duties the last month. At the time it was announced that Nagy would be taking over playcalling, there were plenty of other things said that everyone forgot. Reid stated he would still be in charge of the gameplan and the first 15 plays, which we all know he loves. He also said he would be over seeing the playcalling, and we’ve all seen that he’shad a play sheet every game.

Nothing to see here. Just Andy Reid's play sheet for the world to see. pic.twitter.com/s4GHPkBsgT
— Renato (@RPMSports18) January 6, 2018

Does that look like a guy not calling plays? Sure maybe Nagy was calling some plays, but every play call was going through Reid basically asking permission to call that play. Does that sound like a situation where someone has given up control of playcalling? No, Reid has had his finger prints on this playcalling during the hot start, the dead middle, the hot push and this dead finish. After 19 years it’s time to end the “well, if he’d just give up play calling” fantasies, because he’s never giving up that control. Consider it strike one.

Strike Two: Going Conservative

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As I said earlier, this is the fourth playoff game in NFL history where a team winning by 18 points or more at half has lost, and Reid has been the coach of two of those. We have heard since his Philadelphia Eagle days that a knock on him was that he got scared in the playoffs and played not to win. The offensive genius disappeared and a conservative idiot appeared in his place. Well clearly Jekyll and Hyde Reid has made his way to K.C.

The funny thing about Reid is that unlike his doppelganger Schottenheimer, Reid got conservative after he got a lead. Schottenheimer was conservative from the get go. He let his defense do the job and just hoped he scored enough points by the end of the game. Reid on the other hand loves to start strong and get a lead, but then turns out the lights and can’t get them back on. Tonight’s loss was almost an identical game plan to the Indianapolis Colts loss four years ago.

The Chiefs got out to a fast start and looked dominating. But then rather than run the ball or call pass plays that had been working he completely changes his game plan. He stops being aggressive in the passing game and starts calling bubble screens and dump offs in the flat. At least in 2013, he had an excuse since Jamaal Charles left the game in the first quarter with a concussion. This game the league leading rusher Kareem Hunt was 100% healthy and still only had 14 touches the entire game.

Once again Reid’s reputation of choking in the playoffs followed him to K.C. from Philly. Despite going through one of the worst five game stretches in team history which showed what didn’t work, he did those same things against the Titans. I know Travis Kelce got hurt and that put a damper in the team’s plans, but that is no reason to ignore Hunt and to stop throwing crosses or deep balls to Tyreek Hill. If a reason to keep Reid is because you hope he’ll learn from his past playoff mistakes and make changes to help the ball team, well that’s strike two.

Foul Tip: QB Whisperer?

The one positive take away from this disaster of a game is that the Patrick Mahomes era has officially begun in K.C. I hear a lot about how Reid is the quarterback whisperer and that to lose him would be a detriment to Mahomes future. While it would be a bit of a setback for Mahomes to have to learn a new playbook, all we’ve heard is how quick of a study he is. I have no worries that given an entire offseason he wouldn’t be able to pick up a new playbook, especially one that we can all agree would be easier than Reid’s.

Plus let’s take a look and see just how much of a “quarterback whisperer” he really is. The list of quarterbacks under Reid are: Doug Pederson, Donovan McNabb, Kevin Kolb, Jeff Garcia, A.J. Feeley, Michael Vick, Nick Foles, Mark Sanchez, Sam Bradford and Alex Smith. I’ll save you some time and let you know that none of them are Hall of Famers or all time greats. In fact, what they are is a rogues’ gallery of soft game managers who crumble under pressure.

The best one of the bunch is Donovan McNabb who couldn’t ever get over the hump until, when he finally did, he got tired in the fourth quarter. I don’t blame the quarterbacks for this as much as I blame Reid because a soft game manager is who he is. He’s never been the head coach to a gun slinging risk taker like Mahomes. He’s never been the head coach of a guy with the arm talent that Mahomes has.

All we know about Reid’s quarterback tree is that they all choke under pressure and they are all game managers. So is it more likely that Reid will unleash Mahomes and help him harness his power to become an awesome quarterback who can sling it all over the field, or that he’ll try to put a leash on him and make him fit his style. I’ve already discussed how Reid can’t give up offensive control, how do you think he’ll do with a QB who loves to take chances and make plays that nobody else should even try? If you think Reid is some QB whisperer who is perfect for a prospect like Mahomes, well that’s strike three.

Actually I’ll tell you what, I’ll count that as a foul tip. After all McNabb had some good seasons and he’s gotten the most out of Smith. So while I think he’s bad for Mahomes, he has done some magic with average quarterbacks, at least in the regular season.

Strike Three: Demeanor

The strikeout pitch comes from Reid’s attitude. All of his teams take on his personality: soft and disinterested. Just listen to the Fescoe in the Morning show on 610 Sports Radio when they play this year or last year. They take press conferences from Reid from the current and previous seasons and ask callers to decide if it’s this year or last. Most of the time people fail because they sound identical, his mood never changes.

This mirrors his in-game personality because his attitude there never changes. Derrick Johnson destroys Marcus Mariotta and causes a fumble but the refs completely blow the call and say it wasn’t a fumble. Reid barely acted like it mattered other than to look a little confused. Later the Chiefs score an amazing touchdown at the half and Reid had the same look. Smith throws a bad pass after to end the game and the camera pans to Reid, who looks exactly the same.

We’ve all heard a million times that teams take on the personality of their coach. Well the Chiefs are soft team who don’t show much energy and emotion during a game. If the coach seems like he doesn’t care, what can you expect from the players? I mean he just “looks forward to the challenge” of playing the next team only to find that “they played tough.” The idea that somehow this Chiefs team will get tougher or they’ll care more because Reid is some great leader is strike three.

Despite 19 years of being a failure in the playoffs Reid refuses to change anything. He has struck out as a coach with a chance to win a Super Bowl. Can he win 10 games a year, keep cars in the parking lot and line Hunt’s pockets with cash? Yes. At those things he is an all-time great coach. In terms of benchmarks that truly matter, he’s a bad coach.

I’ve said it before and I’ll continue to say it until he makes me eat crow by winning or he’s out of K.C., whether you want Reid or not depends on your goals.

If your goal is the same as Hunt’s in that you just want to win games and have a reason to go out to Arrowhead every week, then he’s your man. Sign him to a Jon Gruden type contract right now and enjoy the mediocrity and hand out that parking money.

Next: Will DJ return to the Chiefs next year?

If your goal however, is to win a Super Bowl, then he’s not your man. You should want him fired immediately and someone like Josh McDaniels, Matt Nagy or another good candidate hired. I was at a parade and party that turned K.C. blue, and I’d sure love to see that in red at least one time in my life.

I think we have the talent to make that happen sooner rather than later. I do believe Mahomes has the ability to be a top quarterback in the league. I believe we have a great combination of young stars and veteran leaders to take us to that next level. We’re just missing the general on the sidelines who can command the players to live up to their potential.

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