It’s not the roster, well at least on offense, right? The defense has a top-notch safety and supposedly two top notch D-linemen. The roster has plenty of the same players as it did when they won one Super Bowl and played in a second one. So, if there are a solid core of players available, why does this team look completely unprepared week after week? Why can’t this team find a way to adjust their scheme for the way teams have been neutralizing Mahomes and company?
At 3-4, there is no shortage of topics to overreact to. But at the end of the day, it all lands on the desk of the man at the top, Andy Reid. The Chiefs have talent. If it’s not the roster, maybe it’s the coach. Andy Reid has said he takes responsibility, as he should. This team has been humiliated during two of their last three outings. Completely embarrassed.
In their latest masterpiece, something circa 2009, they were completely unmotivated, unprepared and clearly beaten before halftime. Frank Clark was having a wonderful time laughing on the sideline. Chris Jones decided he didn’t feel like tackling Derrick Henry. Travis Kelce was angry and Patrick Mahomes forgot there isn’t a 27-point play in football. This team is not focused on Sundays. They are unprepared when they take field and they were clearly not prepared for this season and what they were going to face from opposing teams. All of this leads to one man, Andy Reid, the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.
In 2011, Andy Reid’s Philadelphia Eagles started their slide ending the season 8-8. That off-season Reid assembled, what many thought, was a super team of free agents and mercenaries. That team went 4-12. Reid had lost the locker room and after 14 years, Reid was done in Philadelphia. Just a few years prior to the collapse, the Eagles were perennial playoff contenders and even made an appearance in Super Bowl XXIX.
Within a few seasons, the Eagles looked lost and ill-equipped to play at a dominate level. Now, we are starting to see an unfocused and ill-prepared team on a regular basis take the field donning Kansas City Chiefs uniforms. The man leading the way out of the tunnel seems to be on a similar trajectory as the one who lead the Eagles out onto the field in 2012. The Chiefs roster suggests they should not be this bad. Andy Reid has lost this team and his edge as an offensive guru.
Additionally, well known for his QB whisperer genius, his phenom QB Patrick Mahomes is having a downfall that no one expected from the NFL’s highest paid player and heir-apparent to Tom Brady. The Chiefs are supposed to be talking about a dynasty, instead we are talking about an historically bad defense and a possible record-breaking year for turnovers.
So, Andy Reid is heading down a path to early retirement because the expectations are far from the reality of this wanna-be dynasty franchise. What other solution is there? Andy has his ring and records galore. He will be enshrined in Canton on a first ballot when the time comes. But, the game is passing him by right now. Week after week, teams are neutralizing his offensive schemes and there are no adjustments, not unlike in the Super Bowl loss. Hubris is the culprit.
Andy Reid believes that his skill players still have the ability to execute the same game plan as 2019. The NFL has deciphered this scheme. After 7 weeks, Reid has provided no new answers with the talent he has. If or when this team finishes at or below .500 what choice is there? Fire Spags? Andy’s loyal to a fault (Hi Bob Sutton.) Spagnuolo should be fired tomorrow; the end of the season should be a no-brainer.
No, this team’s problems are too deep for a new coordinator, this needs to be a coaching re-brand, a fresh new start with a new scheme and new direction. That starts at the top, with the man who openly accepts the blame and the responsibility. There are some who could argue that Brett Veach has made some critical mistakes, a lack of investment into what is now the worst defense in the NFL comes to mind.
Veach was so focused on a new offensive line, he failed to consider there are positions other then offense. Perhaps this overreaction article should have been fire Brett Veach edition. If they lose on Monday night at home to a wretched NY Giants team, I guess I have next week’s topic. This week is about the head coach, a head coach who is losing games, losing his team, losing his touch with his QB, and if this ship isn’t righted, is losing his job. Fire Andy Reid…..time is yours.
