Media starting to take "A Hard Look" at Andy Reid

[Chief Roundup]

http://profootballspot.com/_/nfl/afc...s-part-1-r5430



The latest loss for the Kansas City Chiefs may be the hardest to reconcile. When a team struggles like they did in Arizona the entire organization needs to be ready to find the issues and correct them. Nothing is more corrosive to a team’s confidence than not knowing why its losing. It is the responsibility of both the players and staff.
Today, Andy Reid is in looking glass. I’ll discuss the players later this week in a special 2-part Chiefs’ Truths.

Evaluate Team including Andy Reid
John Dorsey was brought to Kansas City after Andy Reid was hired as Head Coach, supposedly on the recommendation of Reid. Now, he will be in the possibly difficult position of evaluating Reid’s performance leading the team.

There are 2 very disturbing trends.

The 2013 Kansas City Chiefs started 9-0 there first season on Reid’s leadership. Then came the bye week. After the bye, the Chiefs lost 6 of their next 8 games, bouncing from the playoffs in the first round (again). They were swept by Denver and San Diego and lost twice in three weeks to Indianapolis. For a squad that was young and somewhat cobbled together after the final roster cuts, it was a solid first season.

It’s a very big red flag to see the last 3 contests all come out as losses. It hints at 2014 repeating the pattern of 2014’s last 8 games where the Chiefs had two runs of back-to-back-to-back losses. The team was playing for a share of the AFC West lead 3 weeks ago and now will have to claw their way to be in position for the last Wildcard slot. To the eyes outside of the building at Arrowhead Drive, this is looking like a systemic issue with Reid and his staff fading as the season closes. Positions and even careers cannot withstand that kind of trend for long.


Stop saying “Its Fixable” and Fix It
The second trend seen in Kansas City has been a lack of answers. Reid has been unable to correct any of the issues with his offense. Alex Smith has been sacked and average of 3 times per game in 2014. Even worse, he’s had to deal with 11 sacks in the last 2 contests alone. Yet, there have been no personnel changes and no apparent scheme changes along the offensive line. One notable change was made to the wide receivers by getting some fresh blood, some old and some new, into the lineup. That was generally successful. (more on the players later this week in part 2)

Sutton did get a much better performance from his defensive line in Arizona. While Joe Mays bolstered the run defense while he was on the field, Josh Mauga and James-Michael Johnson continue to have assignment breakdowns that allow huge chunks of yardage. Overall his defense still was gashed by the run and unable to get off the field when it counted most. The secondary still has Ron Parker playing out of position at cornerback. Chris Owens has not been as advertised in the slot and Sutton, Emmitt Thomas and Al Harris have not been able to rebuild Marcus Copper’s confidence. At this point in the season, they defense could really benefit from a re-built Cooper.


13
Yes, that is how many running plays Andy Reid called against the Cardinals. The imbalance in Reid’s offense has been a concern all season, regardless of how many men the defense puts in the box. However, it has hit critical mass in the last two contests. Against the Cardinals, he called only 21.8%

That is the lowest called run percentage of the season outside the opener versus the Titans.

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In fact, the called running play percentage has dropped in every contest since the last win versus Seattle. in Arizona, Charles was injured and had to leave the game. It was reasonable to not give him a full load the rest of the day.
That is why the Chiefs have Knile Davis. He is a more than capable stand-in for Charles and he’s proven it. He can catch and his more powerful running style can wear down a defense that is crowding the line with 8 men. Yet, Knile Davis got just 1 carry against Arizona.

After the Cardinals kicked a field goal to end their first drive of the second half, the Chiefs got the ball back leading 14-9. Charles gained 1 yard on first down. Then Reid proceeded to call 7 passing plays in a row. The last two plays resulted in the Fasano interference call and the Alex Smith interception. The play by Okafor to disengage and intercept a badly thrown pass was the turning point. Running the ball on any of the preceding 6 plays may have changed the outcome of the game. That fact rests squarely on Andy Reid.

[Rasputin]

Originally Posted by Detoxing

Teams are loading 8-9 Guys in the box and stuffing the run. I can't blame Reid for seeing that defensive alignment and then asking his guys to make plays in the passing game.

It's what they SHOULD be doing.

The lack of balance however, and not calling running plays when they SHOULD be called, is certainly concerning and has been Reid's MO.

Then what is the excuse for not being able to take advantage of the 8-9 guys in the box with the passing game down field? Alex Smith can go 6-6 passing for less than 24 yards and maybe a first down in a quarter. That is not moving the sticks it's part of the problem. Not connecting & rarely go down field for making the big plays. We have had great success when ever JC breaks a 30 yard to 50 yard runs but that's also not happening much so we got to find another way to break big plays. Not happening.