Here was something that I ran across on Sunday evening, and which I found frankly stunning.
This was a blog, I believe, where the author – apparently a Chiefs fan – was actually wondering if it might not be time for his team to think about getting rid of their head coach, Andy Reid! His rationale was that, under Reid, the Chiefs have never really had a very good defense. Also, he said that while Reid is considered an offensive genius, their numbers are down this season, and Reid should have figured something out by now.
Now mind you, I understand that most people, myself included, are surprised that Kansas City is off to what for them is a poor start. They are 3-4 at this point, as they are about to host the Giants on Monday Night Football. Most likely, the assumption for most people would be that they might be 5-2 or better, based upon their level of success in the three seasons prior to this, as well as the talent level on the team, particularly on offense.
That said, let us remember where the Chiefs were before Andy Reid took over the helm as head coach in 2013. They were coming off a very dismal 2-14 season in 2012, and had suffered through losing seasons in five of the previous six seasons. Beyond that, the Chiefs kind of rivaled the Jets as a team that had enjoyed Super Bowl success many decades ago, only to see this followed by literally decades of bad fortune and bad luck (and bad management, perhaps). If anything, the Jets seemed to enjoy more success, having reach the AFC title game four times between 1982 and 2010, while the Chiefs had only reached the AFC title game following the 1993-94 season, after they had acquired legendary quarterback Joe Montana. That is where the Kansas City Chiefs were before the arrival of Reid, who had enjoyed incredible success in Philadelphia, turning that franchise around from one of the worst teams to a perennial playoff contender, qualifying for the NFC Championship Game five times and reaching the Super Bowl for only the second time in that franchise’s history.
In 2013, Andy Reid became the head coach in Kansas City, and the Chiefs raced off to a stunning 9-0 start, and would reach the playoffs with an 11-5 mark. They missed the playoffs the next season, after posting a 9-7 record, and started the 2015 season at 1-5. But they became the first team to recover from such a poor start that late in the season to qualify for the postseason after winning 10 straight, and then they shut out the Texans in Houston, 30-0, in the AFC Wild Card Game, before losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Patriots up in New England.
Indeed, the Chiefs have ultimately won the AFC West every season since 2016, and have reached the playoffs every year since 2015, the longest such active streak in the NFL. They have finished 11-5 or better every season since 2015, except for 2017, when they finished 10-6. And let us remember that, under Reid, they reached the AFC Championship Game for only the second time in nearly half a century in 2018-19, after the addition of Patrick Mahomes at quarterback, although again, they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champs, the Patriots. The next season, they won the AFC Championship, and then won the Super Bowl for the first time in literally half a century. They followed that up last season with a hugely impressive 14-2 record in their title defense season, with all of the pressure that they faced. They survived in the AFC playoffs, and then suffered an upset loss in the Super Bowl against Tampa.
So far this season, it is true that their mark of 3-4 has been disappointing to many. But is it really time, after not even fully half a season, to think about tackling Reid as the head coach?
Personally, I think that this is ridiculous. So absurd did this seem, in fact, that I had assumed – wrongly, as it turns out – that this surely had to be a joke.
But it was no joke.
Granted, this was posted by an apparently extremely impatient fan who seems to believe that success should come immediately and automatically, and without fail. In real life, that almost never happens. And while I seriously doubt that the Chiefs management would even consider firing Reid anytime soon, all I can say is that, being a native of the greater New York/New Jersey metropolitan area, either the Jets or the Giants would likely feel very, very happy to acquire Andy Reid as their new head coach.
Since that is very unlikely to happen, this is how I commented – and I rarely comment on Facebook posts like this by strangers – on this guy’s post. It was posted by somebody other than the author of this piece, although the guy who posted it did feel that it was time to face, as he put it, “tough questions that have to be asked.” As for the article or blog post itself, the guy’s rationale was that the Chiefs have been weak in particular on defense under Reid.
Maybe. Indeed, this version of the Chiefs is obviously known much more for their offense than their defense. Then again, that seems to be the trend for the most successful teams in this new era of the NFL. Also, again, it bears repeating: the Chiefs have reached the last two Super Bowls, and won one of them. They reached the AFC Championship Game three seasons in a row, and they have reached the playoffs in each of the past six straight seasons. Those are marks that no other team right now can boast. Since Reid took over in 2013, the Chiefs have not had to endure a single losing season, and in fact, have posted only winning records during his tenure.
So with all of that in mind, this is how I responded to this guy who posted this article, and seemed to think that it might be time to think about getting another head coach in KC. Oh, and before I mention this, fans of other franchises seemed to have the same reaction, and said that they would welcome him in their head coach, should he be dismissed from Kansas City (which again, he won’t be). Fans of Chicago and Buffalo and Philly and even another fellow Giants fan
“This man is one of the greatest coaches in recent NFL history. He just led the Chiefs to their first consecutive Super Bowl appearances in franchise history, and won the first Super Bowl title for the franchise in half a century. Yet literally the very next season, after an admittedly disappointing 3-4 start, you are wondering if maybe you should get rid of the guy? Talk about impatience and a lack of appreciation for what you have and what he has done, to say nothing of such an extreme example of short term memory! Perhaps I could understand - maybe - after a steady decline and loss of talent into irrelevance over the course of several seasons. But after not even a full half season? If the Chiefs were to do actually do that, which I do not believe they will, maybe they would acquire the NFL's answer to the "curse of the Gambino," and go more than half a century this time without another Super Bowl title. It would likely be deserved. Stunning levels of impatience and ingratitude!”
Should The Chiefs Fire Andy Reid If They Miss The Playoffs?
https://borderfuelsports.com/should-the-chiefs-fire-andy-reid-if-they-miss-the-playoffs/?fbclid=IwAR1drVkFuPXcSc1J1gImJ3OUEdq7xBq9xdj_GJXkZrxh0SNhT3TV8K-dka8
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