For the past few days, Kansas City Chiefs fans might be desperately looking for the answer to a question: Why did Justin Fields fail the quarterback sneak against the Jets? The fans were already running on thin patience when head coach Andy Reid’s reaction fanned the flames. Turns out Reid did not take the reporter’s question about the decision to use the particular short-yardage play in good spirits.
“Can you close the evaluation on the short yards, but it’s all the quarterback seat, but the two, the Travis Kelce kind of run?” asked the reporter.
“Yeah, you guys asked for it, so we gave it to you, and, you know, it didn’t work. How’d you feel?” Reid said to FOX4 sports reporter Harold Kuntz. “Those are hard to practice, live. The quarterback sneak is hard to practice, unless you do it in a game, so we just have to get those two on the same page on it and make sure we get the ball up on it first, into the quarterback’s hands, and we can roll from there.”
Through his response, Reid pointed fingers at the media, suggesting that reporters wanted to see the team attempt the play, so the coaching staff finally gave it a shot.
Kansas City’s latest attempt to solve its short-yardage problem did not go according to plan. After avoiding quarterback sneaks with an actual quarterback for seven years, the Chiefs brought Justin Fields into the game against the New York Jets, hoping to make something happen on third-and-1.
The first-quarter play at Arrowhead Stadium featured Patrick Mahomes lining up in the backfield while Fields handled the snap. But the exchange quickly turned into a disaster. Fields failed to secure the ball, and the Jets recovered possession after a review. The Chiefs defense managed to stop New York from earning a first down, but the turnover still cost them three points as the Jets settled for a field goal.
A crucial goal-line opportunity turned into a major talking point for the Chiefs following their loss to Denver. Kansas City had the ball at the 1-yard line late in the fourth quarter but did not attempt a quarterback sneak, eventually falling 28-24. The decision followed Mahomes’ long absence from the play, as he has not attempted a sneak since October 17, 2019, against the Broncos.
The Chiefs’ seat just got hotter after the loss against the Jets.
They had reasons to believe Fields could help address their struggles in short-yardage situations. After all, the quarterback had converted seven of eight sneak attempts during his stint with the Jets last season. Yet, his first attempt with Kansas City produced an unfortunate result. Fields lost control of the snap, and New York linebacker Demario Davis recovered the loose ball to capitalize on the turnover.
Even though the Chiefs’ head coach tried to lighten the situation by laughing it off during the presser, the backlash continued on social media.
“Sorry guys, my fault 🙋♂️,” wrote former Chiefs offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz.
“It’s clearly the media’s fault that Andy Reid’s team doesn’t have a way to get a yard when they need it,” a fan dropped a blunt message.
“Never got to tell Coach Reid how I felt. Darn,” wrote another fan.
“Crazy how no other team can execu—*taps earpiece* wait what,” another fan wrote.
“Bro really gaslighting us 😂😂😂😂,” another comment read.
“B******* response. It’s not the fans fault that yall didn’t execute the play. Also it was 3rd and 1 in your own end of the field on the first offensive drive of the game. That’s not what anyone asked for,” wrote another page on X.