CHIEFS FANS CRAVE CHAMPIONSHIP RUN
About a month ago, Chiefs coach Andy Reid admitted how much he is inspired by the fans at Arrowhead Stadium.
Reid starts well before the sun rises and they’re already tailgating. “There’s a guy out here early, like at 4:30 (a.m.) barbecuing,” said Reid. “That’s pretty awesome. It gets my juices going. I wish he’d give me a hamburger.”
Reid was asked Thursday — at his final availability before the Chiefs play host to the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC divisional round playoff — if he ever did get that burger.
“You know, I didn’t,” he said. “That 4:30 guy up there is intense. He’s got his barbecue out early in the morning and ready to go. His preparation is unbelievable. I have been scouting him. I know there’s a good burger there.”
Perhaps those fans are waiting for him to quench their thirst for a championship. At this point, they might even settle for a playoff victory against the Colts.
Not a day has gone by this week that someone hasn’t bemoaned the Chiefs’ horrid post-season record. How they’re 4-16 in playoff games since winning Super Bowl IV in 1969. How they are 0-4 in playoff games against the Colts.
Reid does appreciate how much a victory on Saturday would mean to Kansas City, the city. But when the question was put to him about getting “this monkey off their backs” of the faithful, he seemed to stiffen.
“Yeah, listen, I understand the fans have been here a lot longer than this group right here,” Reid said. “I absolutely get it. I’ve heard about it. That’s not where our focus is right now. Our focus is on taking care of that challenge of playing the Colts and getting ourselves ready.”
The 60-year old Reid owns a Super Bowl ring from 1997, when he was assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach with the Green Bay Packers. He has become one of the best regularseason head coaches in the history of the NFL. He is eighth on the all-time wins list with 195, along with 124 losses and a tie.
But as a sideline boss, he has more playoff failures than success. His .611 winning percentage drops to .458 (11-13) in the post-season. Since arriving in Kansas City in 2013, he has guided the team to a 65-31 record and to the playoffs five times, but he has also won just once — a 30-0 wild-card victory over the Texans in 2015. Meanwhile, the Chiefs have also come up on the disappointing end of a 45-44 wild-card game with the Colts (2013), a 27-20 divisional round meeting with the Patriots (2015), a 18-16 divisional round game against the Steelers (2016), and a 22-21 wildcard meeting last season with the Titans.
Could a loss Saturday have people around here screaming for Reid’s job? Quite possibly.
Known for his creative brilliance with the offence, Reid directed the Chiefs to an NFL-high 565 points this season — 38 more than the explosive L.A. Rams. And he did so despite the adversity of having to release running back Kareem Hunt with five games left on the schedule. Hunt, who was caught on video pushing and kicking a woman, was a dual threat on the field.
In his absence, with mostly Spencer Ware and Damien Williams as replacements, the Chiefs still managed to average 32 points a game.
“We just had to re-dedicate ourselves to the little nuances of the play each defence brings,” centre Mitch Morse said of the running game. “For us, it’s just adapting and coping and coming out there and just try to be as physical as we can.”
And relying on the complexities of Reid’s schemes.
“When you have a guy who sleeps and eats and breathes football like coach Reid, who’s always trying to better himself, even this year, year 21, and understanding who we have around us, the guys, it would be tough to game plan against us,” said Morse. “I can see it. Tough deal. We’ve just got to go out and do what we’re told, see what happens.”
What should happen Saturday is the scoring of many points by the Chiefs. Even against an Indy defence that was 10th stingiest in points allowed during the season. What should also happen is the Colts lighting up the board as well. The Chiefs gave up the ninth-most points in the league.
The crowd will eat up the fireworks. And pray that its thirst is finally quenched. That Reid’s defence is just good enough.
“It’ll be a great atmosphere,” said Reid. “Our fans are unbelievable, best in the National Football League. We look forward to getting them in Arrowhead.
“A little barbecue and then we are going.”