Chiefs Mellinger: Fire Sutton - Page 18

excessive · 01-07-2018, 04:03 PM

Chiefs need change, and they should begin by firing defensive coordinator Bob Sutton
BY SAM MELLINGER

smellinger@kcstar.com

UPDATED 40 MINUTES AGO

Bob Sutton needs to be fired.

The Chiefs should be looking for a new defensive coordinator. There is no joy in calling for a man’s job, but then, there is no joy in watching a defense underperform its talent and fair expectations over and over and over again.

This can’t continue. That is plain. That is obvious.

Andy Reid isn’t ready to talk about this yet and that’s fine, that’s understandable, that’s his right. What’s more — that’s smart.

The head coach lives this in a way that requires space for any major change. Emotional decisions are usually bad decisions, and Reid had to know the Will You Fire Your DC question was coming in the postmortem press conference the day after another embarrassing postseason collapse.

And he had to know he would answer it with a vague non-answer.

“Time in this league has a funny way of working,” Reid said. “You’ve gotta step back. You’ve gotta evaluate. You’ve gotta go through that process. Look at what’s real, and what’s not. You don’t want to do it when you’re emotional or still tied into what happened obviously last night.

“You’ve gotta fight that. A question like that, you’ve gotta fight that. You step back and you evaluate it, and do what’s right for the Chiefs. If you always come back to that, you’re going to be OK.”

That’s an 86-word excerpt from a longer answer that can be generally summarized: “I just had my heart ripped out, again, and am not yet ready to make any decision more serious than lunch.”

Chiefs' Andy Reid reflects on Wild Card playoff loss: 'We've got to do better'
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid held a press conference a day after the Chiefs’ 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans in an AFC Wild Card playoff game. It was the Chiefs' sixth straight home playoff loss, a NFL record.

Allison Long The Kansas City Star
Again, you can understand where he’s coming from. Even if he somehow has already decided to move on from Sutton, he hasn’t had a chance to tell his friend and longtime assistant yet, and taking some time comes with no downside.

Potential replacements aren’t being hired, and in fact may still be working. More to the point, Reid’s coaching philosophy centers around personal accountability.

After every loss, he says some form of, “we need to get better and that starts with me.” After the offense played dead in the second half against the Titans, Reid said he called the plays that didn’t work and assistant Matt Nagy called the plays that did.

Firing his defensive coordinator the next day would reek of scapegoating.

But if he hasn’t yet, Reid must soon come to the cold and unemotional conclusion that the Chiefs need a new voice for the defense.

That needs to be only part of the change. Alex Smith must be replaced by Patrick Mahomes, offensive line coach Andy Heck needs to make a convincing case to keep his job, and no position group on the team underperformed as much as the defensive line coached by Reid’s son Britt.

Reid himself should wear the biggest chunk of this loss. He just finished his 19th season as a head coach and by now has earned a reputation for regular season success and postseason failure.

Seventy-eight teams have led by 18 or more at halftime of a playoff game. Only four have lost, and two have been coached by Reid in the last five seasons. He is tied for the third-most playoff losses of any coach in NFL history, and the two ahead of him won multiple Super Bowls.

Chiefs are on this list twice: Teams blowing an 18-point halftime lead in NFL playoffs
According to ESPN research, Andy Reid's Chiefs teams are responsible for two of the only four times in modern NFL playoff history a team has blown an 18-point or larger halftime lead.

Neil Nakahodo, David Eulitt, Shane Keyser, John Sleezer, Allison Long The Kansas City Star
Since 2001, he has won just one playoff game as the underdog, and lost seven as the favorite.

The loss to the Titans followed a familiar pattern: the offense went cold, the defense couldn’t get off the field and the Chiefs had a chance to win at the end and failed.

The standard for this team was always postseason success, so the outcome is a failure, and any credible evaluation of another wasted opportunity must acknowledge Reid’s share of this.

But he’s not going anywhere, for better or worse. Chairman Clark Hunt values the stability Reid has created after the horror show Pioli years, Reid signed a contract extension last summer, and he’ll oversee the quarterback transition to Patrick Mahomes.

Sutton has no excuse, and no cushion.

The Chiefs were 28th in total defense, and 27th in yards surrendered per play. They could not stop the run (24th in yards per carry, 202 given up in the playoff loss), which tended to overshadow the fact that they could not stop the pass (24th in yards per attempt).

Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson: 'If you’re good enough, you come out with that win'
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson called Saturday's playoff loss to the Titans one of the toughest of his career.

Sam Mcdowell The Kansas City Star
The advanced metrics, if anything, are worse. Football Outsiders’ DVOA ranks the Chiefs dead last in the league in overall defense.

This fits what the eye sees, too. They could not get off the field on third down (23rd, and second worst among playoff teams), and could not adjust to opponents’ schemes. Sutton allowed Daniel Sorensen to be exposed against the run for far too long, didn’t do enough to scheme pressure, and was far too easy to manipulate.

His scheme had Justin Houston rushing the passer or dropping into coverage based on what the offense showed, which meant the other side was controlling what the Chiefs’ best player did on any given snap.

Sutton had enough to work with, too, even after losing Eric Berry for the season. The Chiefs spend more than half their salary cap on defense, and that’s with stars like Chris Jones and Marcus Peters still on rookie deals, and Reggie Ragland playing for relative peanuts.

If it was bad luck that Berry played just one game, it was good luck that Houston played 17. The injury excuse is a tired one, anyway. Every team has something. The Titans had two defensive starters on IR, and they managed.

Coaches are supposed to put their players in position to succeed, and far too often, Sutton was doing the opposite. The Patriots gave up an average of 32 points in their first four games (including a season-high 42 to the Chiefs in the opener) and then an average of just 14 the rest of the way.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick is an unrealistic standard for defensive scheme, but this is two years in a row the Chiefs have lost a playoff game at home as the betting favorite largely because they could not stop the run and get off the field on third down.

Against the Titans, a team with a struggling quarterback and dangerous running back, the Chiefs used far too much nickel and even dime personnel — including on Derrick Henry’s 35 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.

Whether that was because the Titans were able to influence the Chiefs’ substitutions with their own personnel, or because Sutton made the decision on his own is irrelevant. This just can’t continue.

Let us say it one more time: Sutton is not the only problem, and may not even be the biggest.

Reid is Sutton’s boss, and could’ve better protected his defense and an 18-point lead with more carries for the league’s leading rusher.

Even so, the offense could’ve won the game on its last possession, and this is a staggering fact: all but one of the Chiefs’ losses this season could’ve been wins if the offense performed better on its last drive.

The Chiefs aren’t giving the next defensive coordinator a fair shot if they don’t improve the personnel, too, which is part of why the team needs to replace Smith with Mahomes. The change would create $17 million in cap space and whatever draft picks they can acquire in a trade, which is enough for a corner, edge rusher, and defensive lineman.

There can be no doubt, in any part of the organization, about whether change is needed. We can have lively and smart debates about how far that change needs to go.

But there is no question that it needs to include the defensive coordinator, whenever Reid is ready.

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt...193446229.html

Sassy Squatch · 01-09-2018, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Why do you want to fire the DC who got this team into the playoffs?

Why do you want the QB who got this team to the playoffs gone?

Hammock Parties · 01-09-2018, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunKC

You must have missed the Chiefs getting killed with Sorenson subbing as a LB. I don’t give a shit if it’s a run or a pass.

I agree that having shitty players hamstrings the DC.

Sorensen is literally unblocked. If he reads the play correctly he's got a good chance at bringing down Henry. *shrug*

**notorious** · 01-09-2018, 04:26 PM

He hasn't bee shit-canned yet?

Chiefnj2 · 01-09-2018, 04:26 PM

I think 57 missed his gap.

Hammock Parties · 01-09-2018, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superturtle

Why do you want the QB who got this team to the playoffs gone?

Because they can't win in the playoffs with him.

The only playoff win this team has is because Sutton's D beasted.

**PHOG** · 01-09-2018, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by notorious

He hasn't bee shit-canned yet?

Reid must still be evaluating.

RunKC · 01-09-2018, 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

There's no question it's a mismatch, but Sorensen and Jenkins screwed that play.

Here's basically the same look. You weren't complaining about it when DJ sacked Mariota on this play.

Couple major differences with this.
1. It was 3rd and 4, not 2nd and 10. It was a passing down and that situation was heavily favored to be a pass.
2. The Titans have 1 more WR in that play with 5 lined up front. On the Henry TD they had 6 players lined up front.

tmax63 · 01-09-2018, 04:29 PM

It's not the same look. The other play had G-T-TE in tight so KC only had Hali out wide for contain/edge outside the TE and everyone else to the other side. Murray and KPL got killed 1 on 1 and they pulled the other G to add insult to injury. That's how they created the mismatch. That 2nd look is way better balanced.

**notorious** · 01-09-2018, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PHOG

Reid must still be evaluating.

He doesn't take time to evaluate his food intake.

pugsnotdrugs19 · 01-09-2018, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Why do you want to fire the DC who got this team into the playoffs?

Hate his scheme. Plain and simple. It's predictable, it's unaggressive, and it doesn't play to the strengths of his players, which should be rule #1 as a coach.

kgrund · 01-09-2018, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunKC

You must have missed the Chiefs getting killed with Sorenson subbing as a LB. I don’t give a shit if it’s a run or a pass.

The Titans saw that weakness and took advantage.

If a DL is lined up on the right side by the LG as a normal 3-4, this doesn’t happen.

It was moronic to line up in this formation in the first place. 99% of the time 3 OL will beat 2 LB’s and a safety.

I have to go with Hammock on that one. You can question the formation all you want, but it Hamilton makes a SIMPLE play, that play is either blown up or gain of 3. What was he thinking?! The RB flashes right in front of him and he have him ZERO thought. Unbelievable. All this being said, I am also one who thinks Sutton needs to be canned.

Hammock Parties · 01-09-2018, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RunKC

1. It was 3rd and 4, not 2nd and 10. It was a passing down and that situation was heavily favored to be a pass.

3rd and 4 and 2nd and 10 are both passing downs, IMO, especially given how much the Titans had been throwing in the 2nd half.

Quote:

Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19

Hate his scheme. Plain and simple. It's predictable, it's unaggressive, and it doesn't play to the strengths of his players, which should be rule #1 as a coach.

How did it thump three teams in a row, then?

It can't be that bad.

The Chiefs defense has been good and bad this year. I'd say that lies with the inconsistency of the players, many of whom lack talent.

Sassy Squatch · 01-09-2018, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

Because they can't win in the playoffs with him.

The only playoff win this team has is because Sutton's D beasted.

really Clay? The Texans game? Because Bob Sutton shut down the vaunted Texans offense we won that game?

pugsnotdrugs19 · 01-09-2018, 04:38 PM

You want a fireable offense? I've got one.

How about starting Frank Zombo over Hali and KPass in a game where you absolutely knew the other team wanted to pound their dicks into your front with the ground game.

Hammock Parties · 01-09-2018, 04:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superturtle

really Clay? The Texans game? Because Bob Sutton shut down the vaunted Texans offense we won that game?

It's not like the Titans offense was anything special.

The difference this time: Chiefs didn't have the same talent.

If the Broncos can win a SB with Greg Robinson, I think the Chiefs can DEFINITELY win a SB with Bob Sutton. He seems like a competent guy to me who is good at helping a D with a lack of talent still keep a game close.

If the game is close in the 4th quarter, it's one man's job to bring home the W.

01-07-2018, 04:03 PM
excessive Starter Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: KCMO Casino cash: $9756885	Mellinger: Fire Sutton Chiefs need change, and they should begin by firing defensive coordinator Bob Sutton BY SAM MELLINGER smellinger@kcstar.com UPDATED 40 MINUTES AGO Bob Sutton needs to be fired. The Chiefs should be looking for a new defensive coordinator. There is no joy in calling for a man’s job, but then, there is no joy in watching a defense underperform its talent and fair expectations over and over and over again. This can’t continue. That is plain. That is obvious. Andy Reid isn’t ready to talk about this yet and that’s fine, that’s understandable, that’s his right. What’s more — that’s smart. The head coach lives this in a way that requires space for any major change. Emotional decisions are usually bad decisions, and Reid had to know the Will You Fire Your DC question was coming in the postmortem press conference the day after another embarrassing postseason collapse. And he had to know he would answer it with a vague non-answer. “Time in this league has a funny way of working,” Reid said. “You’ve gotta step back. You’ve gotta evaluate. You’ve gotta go through that process. Look at what’s real, and what’s not. You don’t want to do it when you’re emotional or still tied into what happened obviously last night. “You’ve gotta fight that. A question like that, you’ve gotta fight that. You step back and you evaluate it, and do what’s right for the Chiefs. If you always come back to that, you’re going to be OK.” That’s an 86-word excerpt from a longer answer that can be generally summarized: “I just had my heart ripped out, again, and am not yet ready to make any decision more serious than lunch.” Chiefs' Andy Reid reflects on Wild Card playoff loss: 'We've got to do better' Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid held a press conference a day after the Chiefs’ 22-21 loss to the Tennessee Titans in an AFC Wild Card playoff game. It was the Chiefs' sixth straight home playoff loss, a NFL record. Allison Long The Kansas City Star Again, you can understand where he’s coming from. Even if he somehow has already decided to move on from Sutton, he hasn’t had a chance to tell his friend and longtime assistant yet, and taking some time comes with no downside. Potential replacements aren’t being hired, and in fact may still be working. More to the point, Reid’s coaching philosophy centers around personal accountability. After every loss, he says some form of, “we need to get better and that starts with me.” After the offense played dead in the second half against the Titans, Reid said he called the plays that didn’t work and assistant Matt Nagy called the plays that did. Firing his defensive coordinator the next day would reek of scapegoating. But if he hasn’t yet, Reid must soon come to the cold and unemotional conclusion that the Chiefs need a new voice for the defense. That needs to be only part of the change. Alex Smith must be replaced by Patrick Mahomes, offensive line coach Andy Heck needs to make a convincing case to keep his job, and no position group on the team underperformed as much as the defensive line coached by Reid’s son Britt. Reid himself should wear the biggest chunk of this loss. He just finished his 19th season as a head coach and by now has earned a reputation for regular season success and postseason failure. Seventy-eight teams have led by 18 or more at halftime of a playoff game. Only four have lost, and two have been coached by Reid in the last five seasons. He is tied for the third-most playoff losses of any coach in NFL history, and the two ahead of him won multiple Super Bowls. Chiefs are on this list twice: Teams blowing an 18-point halftime lead in NFL playoffs According to ESPN research, Andy Reid's Chiefs teams are responsible for two of the only four times in modern NFL playoff history a team has blown an 18-point or larger halftime lead. Neil Nakahodo, David Eulitt, Shane Keyser, John Sleezer, Allison Long The Kansas City Star Since 2001, he has won just one playoff game as the underdog, and lost seven as the favorite. The loss to the Titans followed a familiar pattern: the offense went cold, the defense couldn’t get off the field and the Chiefs had a chance to win at the end and failed. The standard for this team was always postseason success, so the outcome is a failure, and any credible evaluation of another wasted opportunity must acknowledge Reid’s share of this. But he’s not going anywhere, for better or worse. Chairman Clark Hunt values the stability Reid has created after the horror show Pioli years, Reid signed a contract extension last summer, and he’ll oversee the quarterback transition to Patrick Mahomes. Sutton has no excuse, and no cushion. The Chiefs were 28th in total defense, and 27th in yards surrendered per play. They could not stop the run (24th in yards per carry, 202 given up in the playoff loss), which tended to overshadow the fact that they could not stop the pass (24th in yards per attempt). Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson: 'If you’re good enough, you come out with that win' Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson called Saturday's playoff loss to the Titans one of the toughest of his career. Sam Mcdowell The Kansas City Star The advanced metrics, if anything, are worse. Football Outsiders’ DVOA ranks the Chiefs dead last in the league in overall defense. This fits what the eye sees, too. They could not get off the field on third down (23rd, and second worst among playoff teams), and could not adjust to opponents’ schemes. Sutton allowed Daniel Sorensen to be exposed against the run for far too long, didn’t do enough to scheme pressure, and was far too easy to manipulate. His scheme had Justin Houston rushing the passer or dropping into coverage based on what the offense showed, which meant the other side was controlling what the Chiefs’ best player did on any given snap. Sutton had enough to work with, too, even after losing Eric Berry for the season. The Chiefs spend more than half their salary cap on defense, and that’s with stars like Chris Jones and Marcus Peters still on rookie deals, and Reggie Ragland playing for relative peanuts. If it was bad luck that Berry played just one game, it was good luck that Houston played 17. The injury excuse is a tired one, anyway. Every team has something. The Titans had two defensive starters on IR, and they managed. Coaches are supposed to put their players in position to succeed, and far too often, Sutton was doing the opposite. The Patriots gave up an average of 32 points in their first four games (including a season-high 42 to the Chiefs in the opener) and then an average of just 14 the rest of the way. Patriots coach Bill Belichick is an unrealistic standard for defensive scheme, but this is two years in a row the Chiefs have lost a playoff game at home as the betting favorite largely because they could not stop the run and get off the field on third down. Against the Titans, a team with a struggling quarterback and dangerous running back, the Chiefs used far too much nickel and even dime personnel — including on Derrick Henry’s 35 yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Whether that was because the Titans were able to influence the Chiefs’ substitutions with their own personnel, or because Sutton made the decision on his own is irrelevant. This just can’t continue. Let us say it one more time: Sutton is not the only problem, and may not even be the biggest. Reid is Sutton’s boss, and could’ve better protected his defense and an 18-point lead with more carries for the league’s leading rusher. Even so, the offense could’ve won the game on its last possession, and this is a staggering fact: all but one of the Chiefs’ losses this season could’ve been wins if the offense performed better on its last drive. The Chiefs aren’t giving the next defensive coordinator a fair shot if they don’t improve the personnel, too, which is part of why the team needs to replace Smith with Mahomes. The change would create $17 million in cap space and whatever draft picks they can acquire in a trade, which is enough for a corner, edge rusher, and defensive lineman. There can be no doubt, in any part of the organization, about whether change is needed. We can have lively and smart debates about how far that change needs to go. But there is no question that it needs to include the defensive coordinator, whenever Reid is ready. http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt...193446229.html
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01-09-2018, 04:26 PM	#258
notorious Supporter Join Date: May 2005 Location: Who knows? Casino cash: $2925884	He hasn't bee shit-canned yet?
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01-09-2018, 04:26 PM	#259
Chiefnj2 In Search of a Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Casino cash: $7873688	I think 57 missed his gap. __________________ Mismanaging the clock.
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01-09-2018, 04:29 PM	#263
tmax63 Veteran Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Colorado Casino cash: $3240400	It's not the same look. The other play had G-T-TE in tight so KC only had Hali out wide for contain/edge outside the TE and everyone else to the other side. Murray and KPL got killed 1 on 1 and they pulled the other G to add insult to injury. That's how they created the mismatch. That 2nd look is way better balanced. __________________ An armed member of society is a citizen, an unarmed member is a subject.
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01-09-2018, 04:38 PM	#269
pugsnotdrugs19 SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS Join Date: Aug 2013 Casino cash: $9129447	You want a fireable offense? I've got one. How about starting Frank Zombo over Hali and KPass in a game where you absolutely knew the other team wanted to pound their dicks into your front with the ground game.
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