Chiefs’ Andy Reid explains why he chose to punt in fourth quarter against Packers

The Kansas City Chiefs and backup quarterback Matt Moore faced third-and-3 at their own 40-yard line on Sunday Night Football against the Green Bay Packers, trailing 31-24 with less than five minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the game.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce came across the middle past the first-down marker, and Moore fired a pass. But Kelce was well defended by cornerback Chandon Sullivan, and though Kelce appeared to get his hands on the football, he could not come up with it.

The ball dropped to the ground. Incomplete.

The clock read 5:13, and the Chiefs had three timeouts. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid sent Dustin Colquitt on to punt.

“Some of it is feel, some of it is momentum and all those things that you look at,” said Reid after the game.

Rookie Rashad Fenton downed the punt at the Green Bay 2-yard line.

“It was a phenomenal punt and we backed them up,” said Reid. “Our defense had been playing well throughout the night and I had confidence in them that we would get the ball back with good field position.”

But the Packers called seven straight runs, picking up two first downs in the process. Then, on third-and-5, an 8-yard Aaron Rodgers pass to running back Aaron Jones — who had 159 receiving yards in the game, including 75 in the fourth quarter alone — sealed the game.

“Listen, it didn’t work out,” said Reid. “You can be questioned either way with it and I chose to do what I did there. I thought it was the right thing to do at the time and it didn’t necessarily pay off the way I was hoping.”

Moore — spot-starting for an injured Patrick Mahomes — wished the Chiefs would have went for it on fourth down.

“I mean games, sometimes they go like that,” said Moore. “Obviously, yeah, you want to convert and stay on there. Especially with how the game was going I think we all knew that was a crucial situation and we came up short. Obviously, that’s something to look at but we needed that one to stay on the field there. “

Asked about Reid’s decision by a reporter, Kelce diverted back to his third-down drop.

”I should’ve caught the ball on third-and-whatever.”

Reid may have had a case regarding the defense’s momentum in the first half — and especially the second quarter, when the defense held the Packers to 28 yards and sacked Rodgers twice. But in the second half, the Packers had scored on every possession.

Keep in mind — when Monday morning quarterbacking, it is important to try to remember the full picture.

While it is understandable to question Reid looking back, without his outstanding game-planning that allowed Moore to keep up with Rodgers, the Chiefs would have never been in that position in the first place.