Chiefs Mellinger: Fire Sutton - Page 30

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

GloryDayz · 01-10-2018, 04:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chief Northman

Verderame posted a bunch of gifs from the Titans game of our DIME defense against 11 personnel. The DL alignments were putrid and it is amazing how easily The Titans O-line countered the pre-snap looks and checked into power/counter runs to create huge lanes.

Buttons is overmatched and Britt Reid has no business as a position coach. What’s worse is how technically unsound these players are. Soft, poor tacklers. Db’s that take poor angles and inefficient drops. Linemen who cannot shed - it is all so easy to see in any given game. This staff is poor at fundamental teaching.

I pray Andy knows this and makes a move to change the culture, but the Bieniemy hire is a signal that they think all is well at Arrowhead, and the “we need to be better” mantra that is never backed up will live on.

Pettine, Fangio, Bradley off the market.

I hold a flicker of hope that Spags or Pagano end up in KC through some miracle....

Yeah, he's not man enough...

**Tribal Warfare** · 01-10-2018, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bewbies

I don't care the alignment, get a defense that attacks and imposes it's will on the other team.

**** all this lay back and wait bullshit.

Yes it would be conducive for Chris Jones, though Ragland may have to adjust which was a reason he was traded because the Bills were transitioning to a 4-3

GloryDayz · 01-10-2018, 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pugsnotdrugs19

This team is doomed with Bob Sutton as DC. Absolutely doomed.

His approach is far too bland, unaggressive, and easy to manipulate and/or counter.

We're doomeder because we have the Hunt family as our owners.

ILChief · 01-10-2018, 06:35 PM

They're really keeping him, aren't they?

ILChief · 01-10-2018, 07:08 PM

If they're keeping him, in wish they'd just come out and say it

Hammock Parties · 01-10-2018, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ILChief

They're really keeping him, aren't they?

18.2 PPG over the Chiefs last eight games.

The Chiefs want to ride that wave of success into 2018.

**Bowser** · 01-10-2018, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

18.2 PPG over the Chiefs last eight games.

The Chiefs want to ride that wave of success into 2018.

He's allowed more than 200 yards rushing in consecutive home playoff games, an was the defensive coordinator for two of the four games that blew 18+ point leads in the playoffs in the entire history of the NFL. I don't care how he dominates lesser teams in the regular season. Can his ass.

Hammock Parties · 01-10-2018, 08:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bowser

He's allowed more than 200 yards rushing in consecutive home playoff games, an was the defensive coordinator for two of the four games that blew 18+ point leads in the playoffs in the entire history of the NFL. I don't care how he dominates lesser teams in the regular season. Can his ass.

No DC could stop the Titans and Steelers rushing games with these front sevens.

Quite frankly it's a miracle his unit is allowing 20 PPG the last two years.

Sassy Squatch · 01-10-2018, 08:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

No DC could stop the Titans and Steelers rushing games with these front sevens.

Quite frankly it's a miracle his unit is allowing 20 PPG the last two years.

2 of the worst defensive implosions in playoff history.

Best22 · 01-10-2018, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Molitoth

I thought the same before Matt Cassels last season and yet... the Chiefs brought him back and forced him upon us again for the worst season in Chiefs history.

I want to think the Chiefs won't do it again, but I've lost all faith.

Smith is gone after this year.

Who cares about 2012? Did we have Mahomes back then? No. Was Pioli our GM? Yes. 2012 is irrelevant

Smith will be gone

TEX · 01-10-2018, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

No DC could stop the Titans and Steelers rushing games with these front sevens.

Quite frankly it's a miracle his unit is allowing 20 PPG the last two years.

Quite frankly every other DC in thw NFL would try something other than two down lineman and dime defense to stop the Titans and Steelers rushing games.

Hammock Parties · 01-10-2018, 08:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TEX

Quite frankly every other DC in thw NFL would try something other than two down lineman and dime defense to stop the Titans and Steelers rushing games.

The Chiefs actually did a decent job stopping Tennessee's running game.

Mariota got most, if not all, of his rushing yards (46) on passing plays.

Henry broke two big runs for about 56 yards that were really fluke plays, because Daniel Sorensen and Jarvis Jenkins completely blew assignments on one and Zombo got blocked by the damn QB on the other, after the play was stopped.

He didn't hurt us too bad otherwise (21 carries for 100 yards), considering our very limited defensive personnel in the front seven, and poor tackling at safety.

Bob is doing all he can.

Sassy Squatch · 01-10-2018, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hammock Parties

The Chiefs actually did a decent job stopping Tennessee's running game.

Mariota got most, if not all, of his rushing yards (46) on passing plays.

Henry broke two big runs for about 56 yards that were really fluke plays, because Daniel Sorensen and Jarvis Jenkins completely blew assignments on one and Zombo got blocked by the damn QB on the other, after the play was stopped.

He didn't hurt us too bad otherwise (21 carries for 100 yards), considering our very limited defensive personnel in the front seven, and poor tackling at safety.

Bob is doing all he can.

Jesus ****ing Christ. A ypc just under a **** hair of 5.0 is ****ing terrible, and it was his boneheaded scheme that led to the Henry touchdown.

Hammock Parties · 01-10-2018, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Superturtle

Jesus ****ing Christ. A ypc just under a **** hair of 5.0 is ****ing terrible, and it was his boneheaded scheme that led to the Henry touchdown.

The scheme was fine on that play. They were defending the pass.

If Sorensen and Jenkins hadn't totally blown it, it doesn't go for 6.

You can't "scheme" to stop the run. Your defenders have to execute their assignments, stay in their gaps and get off blocks. You can try and overload the box but you're just going to get beat deep by good QBs if you do that.

On that play nobody won. Not one single defender. You're not going to stop anyone with scheme when that happens.

Pasta Little Brioni · 01-10-2018, 09:11 PM

I get your point, but the scheme was shit. Absolute dog shit.

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
Posts: 383

01-10-2018, 06:35 PM	#439
ILChief MVP Join Date: Jan 2001 Casino cash: $7914831	They're really keeping him, aren't they?
Posts: 11,476

01-10-2018, 07:08 PM	#440
ILChief MVP Join Date: Jan 2001 Casino cash: $7914831	If they're keeping him, in wish they'd just come out and say it
Posts: 11,476

01-10-2018, 09:11 PM	#450
Pasta Little Brioni Consuming CP souls Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: U.S.A. Casino cash: $3868880	I get your point, but the scheme was shit. Absolute dog shit. __________________ **Official TFWdemB Trivia Commisioner**
Posts: 68,686