Chiefs: How long are we going to be sparring partners for another team? – We have, all of us, been deliberating, agonizing and emotionalizing about the Kansas City Chiefs loss to the Tennessee Titans… as well we should. As well as the players and coaches should. The Chiefs dominated the game statically, except for the score, the most important stat of all of them. However, before we move on to tonight’s game, let’s delve into coaching and motivation.
Yes: I do think player performance was a big part of the problem. Yes, there were admissions by Head Coach Andy Reid in regard to poor planning or his decisions on the field. Steve Spagnuolo, the Chiefs Defensive Coordinator in his Presser admitted to decisions about personnel.
Specifically, he admitted to a poor defensive game plan and with Reggie Ragland’s few snaps and he and his staff choosing to go with Joe Ivie while leaving Mike Pennel inactive. The reasons are out there in public and why that decision was made. He further “admitted” that they prepared for an aerial defense and not the run. What he really failed to address would be to the question of why he didn’t adjust the defense on the fly?
That failure goes along with Ragland not being on the field and the decision to leave Pennel off the active roster. I will leave those defects with the above statements about Spags and the constructs of Game Planning, in the flow adjustments, and not having the right personnel on the field to what the Titans presented.
Motivation
This is one aspect of Andy’s teams that is missing. We have all seen Reid being truly emotional about the game afterwards but he is quite reserved on the field. He lets loose in the clubhouse with a win but we don’t get to see what happens at the half, or in the locker room before taking the field.
I do know about coaches who are indeed part of the emotional flow of the game, or, were, when they were HC’s. If you go back to 2013, the search for a new HC, I wanted Hunt to go after Spittin’ Bill (Cowher) and get him out of the booth. Now there is a HC who is part of the emotional spirit on the field… who’s not afraid to get in a players face for stupid stuff.
My second choice is hated here at times but I personally like Jon Gruden and I think he is beginning to show why he is a good HC and he has won a Super Bowl. Ditto with Cowher.
I was not in favor of Andy Reid. Sure, I knew that Reid could lead the team forward and provide Arrowhead with a winning team. I also was familiar with his failures in big games and in the playoffs. I did place a few wagers betting against him and won some significant change back in the day. When the other two HC’s declined to re-enter the coaching fray and would not be available for an HC position, then it was okay with me to go with Reid. However, he wasn’t even on my list.
I actually thought to myself: If only the “Big Tuna” would come out of retirement. Although, Bill Parcells was 71 years old at that time. I would like to have had him even as old as he would have been but I am sure at his age he is firmly retired. Here we are seven seasons from then.
[Personal Note: I struggle with the idea that nearly every HC in the NFL is younger than me, including Andy Reid.]
At the time that GM, John Dorsey, arrived and I thought, here we go. Both were Ted Thompson tree people. I do think it worked real well overall and Reid did an extremely good job leading the team from 2-14 in 2012 to 11-5 in 2013, and a playoff appearance (missing moving on to the next game by a foot width of #2 possession WR Dwayne Bowe’s foot out of bounds on a 4th down play). It was that close to getting into a manageable FG distance and with a first down, they could have gotten close.
Think about that. A foot width in 2013 and a hand width in 2018.
One missing ingredient for the Chiefs in 2013 was that they did not have a true #1 blue chip WR with speed. This was not Bowe’s niche. He was playing the role of a #1 when he belonged as the #2.
Right Words at the Right Time
This is the type of emotional motivator that I am talking about. If you go back to this story, it is a game where the Patriots were a struggling team and their opponent, the Vikings, were on a role. Warren Moon faced Drew Bledsoe and Bledsoe who set the NFL record for the most passes in a single game: 70 times. It was a game where the Patriots were playing poorly, it wasn’t up to snuff and they were getting their tails whipped on the field as well as on the scoreboard. They trailed 20-0 before kicking a FG just at the half. It turns out they came back to win the game on a TD where at the end of the game the score was 20-19. They won 26-20. The only adjustment the coaching staff made at half was essentially, throw the ball and using a no-huddle offense.
I am republishing remarks from an article by Mike Sando Staff writer for “The Athletic” called “‘Put the fricking kid in two-minute!’: Drew Bledsoe’s 70-attempt game that changed the course of a franchise“
He writes that Bill Parcells asked his underdog team players: “How long exactly are you guys going to sit around and take this kind of stuff?“
Sando then paraphrases another Parcell’s brief remark where he said:
“…you guys come in here, you guys work hard, we don’t have a lot of problems on the team, you take a beating and you go home. How long are you going to just keep doing that? How long is that going to be good enough for you? Because don’t call yourself a pro football player then. Just call yourself a sparring partner.”
Maurice Hurst was quoted by Sando saying Parcells stormed out of his office and was yelling:
“Put up all the boards, put away all the markers, there are no halftime adjustments! There is going to be no talking. We have coached you for two years. You know what to do, but until you want to win, you’re not going to win!”
After reading the article I came away with the thought that yes, the Head Coach needs to be a cheerleader and motivate the team. I decided this was something to write about because of a remark by a reader who said that motivating the players was the players job not the HC. Yes, I think that is important.
Those are pretty good instigators for me. No half time talk. No white boards, no adjustments. Get out there an play… type of talk.
It reminds me of that BB Coach who was so frustrated that he gave up getting players on the court do do what he was instructing and to play with great effort. It was my coach and it was my first basketball team in the 7th grade. We trailed by 8 in the 4th quarter. He shocked us saying he didn’t know what he could say and finally quickly remarked: “…I don’t care what the h— you do. Get out there and play basketball.“
Suddenly we started play as we were coached each week. We tied the game in regulation. It went 3 OT’s and we won. It was my first moment of glory in Junior or Senior HS, my first sports trophy on a team and… I made the winning basket.
Later years, that coach came to an away game we were playing at Windsor, Mo. He was accompanied by the basketball coach that preceded him both involved at now CMSU. I was starting as a sophomore and knew they were there and played a very tough game because of it. It was a motivator.
I don’t know what Andy does at half time. A little Bill Parcells in the locker room and the occasional pieces of flesh flying loose on the sideline surely couldn’t hurt and surely some of that could be a great motivator. I think the next game that the Chiefs need a little… “encouragement“… Reid should end his remarks saying no coaching at the half. No talk, no white boards and then he could end with the quote from Parcells: “You know what to do, but until you want to win, you’re not going to win! How long are we going to be sparring partners for another team? Hit the field and kick tail. Play like champions. Don’t get stuck on stupid!
David Bell — ArrowheadOne
See you are 3:00 PM CST today for Laddie piece called:
Chiefs at Chargers in Mexico City: OPEN THREAD
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