In the last part of a very important Sunday night game against the Houston Texans, Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid made a surprising choice he had never made before in his long 27-year career. This choice ended up being the key reason the Chiefs lost the game 20-10, and has since fueled analyst Ben Solak to urge for a coaching change. 

“I would love for the Chiefs to add an offensive coach from outside of the Reid tree this offseason. Go get one of Ben Johnson’s myriad assistants in Chicago. Follow the Dan Campbell arc and hire some position coaches from the college ranks. Infuse this running game with new ideas,” he said.

The Chiefs, led by Andy Reid and the transcendent Patrick Mahomes, have been the ultimate flag-bearers for the pass-first offensive movement, consistently leading the league in Pass Rate Over Expectation since 2018. While maximizing the use of the game’s best quarterback is a sound strategy, the Chiefs have taken this philosophy to an unsustainable extreme that is now affecting their overall performance.

Mahomes’ record-setting number of quick throws (under 1.5 seconds) this season points to an over-reliance on pre-scripted, short-yardage concepts. This pass-heavy approach is compounded by a predictable offense where receiver personnel are siloed: the team must field poor blockers like JuJu Smith-Schuster and Noah Gray to run screens and RPOs, limiting their threat, while dynamic playmakers like Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice are left with insufficient runway.

The Chiefs’ rushing attack is too easy to predict because they almost always line up in the Shotgun formation. They run the ball just enough to gain a few yards on short downs, but their running plays are not built for big gains, having the fewest “explosive runs” of any team since 2000. As they constantly use the Shotgun for runs, their running backs can’t get going downhill, resulting in a very inefficient average of only 3.6 yards per carry. 

Ultimately, this lack of rushing respect from opposing defenses prevents the Chiefs from forcing safeties near the line of scrimmage, thereby reducing the available space Mahomes needs to attack the secondary and leaving the entire offense predictable and unbalanced.

Mahomes’ struggles on Sunday marked a new critical low in his career

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes had a very poor game. He only completed 42.4% of his passes, meaning less than half of his throws were caught by his teammates. This performance shocked everyone, as people are used to him playing brilliantly. But it wasn’t Mahome’s sole decision but rather Reid’s, as he admitted he was wrong. As he said;

“I put the offense in a bad spot with those fourth-down plays. I was trying to be too aggressive. I take all the blame for that. I thought we could make it. You have to use your chances. Looking back, it was the wrong call. I messed that one up.”

With only 10 minutes left and the score tied 10-10, Reid chose to leave his offense on the field when they faced a fourth down with only 1 yard to go, deep in their own territory at the 31-yard line. Instead of running the ball with Kareem Hunt, a reliable running back for short distances, Reid had quarterback Patrick Mahomes throw a pass out of the shotgun formation. 

The play failed when Mahomes’ pass to Rashee Rice was incomplete. Soon after, the Texans scored a touchdown, making the score 17-10. Before this game, the Chiefs were the best in the league at converting fourth downs, successfully making 80.8% of their attempts. Reid, who has won three Super Bowls, is being criticized because the team is having a disappointing 6-7 season. Fans are now saying he is “past his prime” and want a new coach.

Top Stories

NFL Openly Admits Robbing Ravens Against Steelers as John Harbaugh Drops Update on Travis Jones Penalty

J. J. Watt Confirms Stance on Controversial R. J. Mickens Incident in Chargers vs Eagles

Andy Reid Announces Chiefs’ Change After Wanya Morris Suffers Season-Ending Injury

Zac Taylor Breaks Silence on Jermaine Burton’s Release After Bengals Suspended 2024 3rd-Round Pick

Who are Philip Rivers’ Kids and Grandkids? All About his ten children

Interestingly, both Next Gen Stats and ESPN Analytics’ model supported Reid’s decision to go for the play with 10 minutes left, saying the Chiefs still had a 51.7% chance of winning. However, Texans defensive player Will Anderson Jr. put pressure on Mahomes, forcing him to throw the ball too quickly against the Houston defense. 

Mahomes’ performance was not great. With a weakened offensive line, he just completed 14 of 33 passes for 160 yards and had no touchdowns, while he had three interceptions. His final interception came in the fourth quarter, which sealed Kansas City’s fate. After the game, Mahomes said,

“It’s late in the season now, and we won’t get another chance like this,” Mahomes added. “The Texans are a good team, but we had opportunities to win, and we just didn’t make the plays when we needed to.”

The Chiefs had beaten the Texans five times in a row before this game, including a playoff match last year when they went on to the Super Bowl. But on Sunday night, both teams looked completely different.

This bad game sets a new, troubling low for the Chiefs. It’s the second time in a month that Mahomes has performed at a career-worst level. The offense seems disorganized, with even his trusted receivers dropping passes.