Andy Reid's reluctance to find offensive balance could cost the Chiefs in the end

Let's be clear: Andy Reid is a first-ballot Hall of Fame coach who's forgotten more about the National Football League than I'll ever know. His résumé is virtually unimpeachable at this stage of his career. In a perfect world, he'd be a perennial favorite to win the Associated Press's NFL Coach of the Year Award. Over the past five or six years, there's been no better head coach in the NFL. He's afforded himself some grace even where his offense has struggled. That said, it's time to have a difficult conversation about how he's handled the offensive side of the football in recent weeks.

My biggest concern with this Chiefs team is how often the coaching staff puts players in unfavorable positions. This season has been replete with examples of players, both individually and collectively, asked to do things for which they aren't well suited. Both head coach Andy Reid and defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo have been guilty of misusing talent this year. The latter seems to have rectified how he's leveraging defensive personnel. Reid's been enigmatic all season long.

It's puzzling why Kansas City's decorated but distressing head coach refuses to play to his offense's strengths.

It's no secret that Kansas City has an ensemble of offensive players who struggle to reliably get open. There are arguably only two offensive skill position players consistently creating separation. The ugly truth is that this is largely a room comprised of possession receivers. It doesn't help that this embattled offensive line group is dealing with injuries and a dearth of talent.

So, why is Andy Reid insisting on such a pass-heavy approach? In his last four starts, Patrick Mahomes is averaging 40 passing attempts per game, and over that stretch, he's taken dozens of hits. One, in Sunday's contest with the Browns, left him with a gimpy ankle.

Isiah Pacheco has been back in the lineup for three weeks now. This is the perfect time to pivot and run a more balanced, ball-control offense that works off of play action. The reality is that this complement of offensive players is unlikely to produce many explosive plays. The formula for success is in sustaining drives, keeping third-down situations manageable, and being efficient in the red zone. This isn't the Bombs-over-Baghdad cast of Kansas City's wonder years. This isn't the Legion of Zoom. Reid would do well to maximize the pieces he has. That could change a bit with the integration of a healthy D.J. Humphries and Marquise Brown, but they'll need a few weeks to dial that in.

I'm convinced this offensive group can produce down the stretch, but only if this coaching staff can get out of its own way. The Detroit Lions have the league's best scoring offense and it's largely been built on the backs of Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Prior to the Thanksgiving Day game, Jared Goff had just three games all season with 30 or more attempts. The Chiefs could stand to take a page out of the Lions' playbook if there's any hope of finding a serviceable offensive identity. There's time to find the right groove, but the return of Hollywood Brown might delay the process. I'm anxious to see how the team will approach the next two games with Mahomes playing on a sore ankle.

In life, and certainly in the NFL, tigers don't change stripes. Andy Reid is no Marty Schottenheimer, and that's a bygone era of the league. While this offense may not morph into the ground-and-pound units of yesteryear, it can certainly come into more balance. The season—and the health of QB1may depend on it. The Chiefs are well-positioned to secure the No. 1 seed, but offensively they need to avoid trying to force square pegs into round holes.