How the 2020 Chiefs playoff run is different than 2019

The Evolution of Andy Reid

Who says you can’t teach an old dog new tricks? Andy Reid has long been criticized for being a poor clock manager, for running too many trick plays, and for being too conservative when playing with the lead.

When you look at last year versus this year, you see that he’s calling far less trick plays and that his clock management has gotten significantly better just over the course of one offseason. It would not surprise me to learn that someone on the coaching staff is managing the clock for him at this point, to be honest.

His conservative play calling may very well have cost the Chiefs victories during the regular season, but already here in the postseason we’ve seen Andy make yet another adjustment (improvement) to his long running philosophy: he never let up the gas against Houston.

Here is the other aspect a lot of people may have overlooked. Many Chiefs fans have struggled with how the offense “looked” for most of the season. It looked slower. It looked like defenses may have caught up to Mahomes and company. Instead, what happened was that Reid did not open up the playbook through much of the regular season as he’s done in the past.

Reid was saving plays and schemes for now, when it matters most. It’s not a coincidence that the best offensive performance of the season came in the first playoff game, and fans should expect to see another huge explosion with a litany of new looks on Sunday.

How is this year different for the Chiefs, you ask? In his 21st season as a head coach in the National Football League, Kansas City’s Hall of Fame Coach has adapted. He’s evolved. He’s gotten even better.

That should terrify the other three teams remaining in the tournament.

This year is different, Chiefs Kingdom. This is the Chiefs’ best shot to win a Super Bowl in a half a century, and all signs point to a much greater outcome this time.