The big topic this week is Andy Reid and the Chiefs going conservative in the second half. This is an interesting take on that from HisDirknesS on the Amateur Hour podcast this week:
“Blaming (Andy Reid) for getting too conservative and that being a faulty strategy, I flatly reject. I believe Andy Reid knows how to win football games. He’s the 11th most winning head coach of all time. He has used this strategy his entire time in Kansas City essentially. It has bit them in the ass very rarely.”
Now that we’ve had a few days to cool off, he’s probably right. That doesn’t make the Titans loss any easier to swallow. A few of the games where Reid’s wait it out strategy came back to bite the Chiefs in the ass:
2016: Titans
2015: Broncos, Bears
The bizarre ending to the Broncos game where Denver scored and then recovered that fumble. That wasn’t really a conservative offense problem though. The Bears game was one of them they lost that way but the Chiefs were also in shock after losing Jamaal Charles. Everyone thought the season was over after that game.
2014: Cardinals
Eh, this one kinda qualifies because the Cardinals came back but it wasn’t a “gone conservative” game. The Chiefs were up 14-6 at half. The Cardinals scored 11 points in the third quarter to take the lead and eventually the win. This was the game with the Kelce fumble, which was a bigger problem than going conservative.
2013: Colts
Yeah. The Chiefs didn’t even really go conservative though. They were still throwing up big.
Again, it doesn’t make it any easier to swallow after that Titans game potentially screwing them out of a first round bye but HisDirknesS is right that this strategy has helped the Chiefs more than it’s hurt them. There are games that the Chiefs have won that they probably would’ve lost if they had been more aggressive. Overall, it’s a net positive.
All that said ... it’d be nice to see some second half touchdowns.
Listen to the whole episode here: