It Would Appear the Patriots Broke Andy Reid

Arrowhead Pride – No defensive positional coach survived the abomination that was the 2018 Chiefs defense.

Without exception, every single position coach on the defensive side of the ball was axed or moved less than a month after the Chiefs lost the AFC Championship in overtime to the New England Patriots.

Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton wasn’t the only coach to shoulder the blame for the 26th-ranked DVOA defense in the league — a defense that arguably cost the Chiefs the right to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl this past season. …

Quite simply, Brett Veach and Andy Reid pinned the blame on the defensive coaching staff and cleaned house. … While the hiring of new defensive coordinator Steve Spagunolo necessitated some turnover on the staff, gutting the entire defensive positional coaching staff and replacing with all new coaches is something we haven’t seen in the previous few defensive coordinator changes for Reid.

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It needs to be pointed out that Andy Reid has never done this in his 20 seasons as a head coach. Obviously he’s made coaching changes before. But never in two full decades have things gotten so bad that he told an entire defensive staff to clear out. To pack their shit and leave. From the coordinator to both linebackers coach to the secondary and all the way down as far as the quality control guys. Reid just blew it up, down to the foundation and is rebuilding it from the ground up.

So total was their defeat at the hands of the Patriots, one of the most affable head coaches of his generation sent everyone to the firing squads like he’s Stalin in The Great Purge. Not that you can blame him. Once the Patriots scored three touchdowns on their last four possessions and converted THREE 3rd & 10s in overtime, something had to give. You can’t have that stench of failure remain in your office, your locker room, your practice field. You have to release the dams and let the flotsam and jetsam wash it all away.

You have to feel for those guys. They were asked to do the impossible: Stop Tom Brady in a moment of crisis when everything was on the line. Other men have been tasked with the same and few have ever lived to tell the tale. There’s no dishonor in it. It’s a heavy burden and ultimately it was too much for them to bear.

Again, there’s no shame in getting sliced to ribbons by the human Ninja sword that is Tom Brady. Join the club. It’s got a huge membership that’s growing all the time. Best wishes to them, and to whatever coaches have the job of trying to stop him next year. As the Kansas City defensive staff would tell you, keep your resume up-to-date. You’ll need it.