Chiefs: Nudges, or How not to be a Doofus!

David Bell – Chief Doofus at ArrowheadOne

Another ArrowheadOne Contributor will post the pregame and live thread for the Chiefs Game versus Denver on Saturday afternoon. I am sure that a follow-on article or two will precede all considerations of a playoff game.

What I want to cover is a bit of focus on what the Chiefs need to do having learned from the errors of their ways. What follows is a list I prescribe so that the players on the field are prepared, to first execute faultlessly, the initial 15-Play Script that Andy Reid designs for each opponent.

Keep in mind that I am not stating that the Chiefs Coaching staff doesn’t take these ideas into consideration. I am saying that it’s obvious that they miss opportunities to avoid problems or counter the opposing team’s staff making planned or on-the-fly adjustments. OR, one of the Coordinators is caught up in a planned scheme and is ignoring what needs to be done. I believe this happened in the Bengals game.

The biggest construct of failure was that the defense didn’t take away Ja’Marr Chase, the single most effective weapon in the Bengal inventory. In my view, Spags was determined to stick with what “he knew should work” as opposed to making the adjustment to counter the threat. Andy Reid, as the HC didn’t take action to address the problem with the DC either. That’s two failures I attribute to the coaching staff. At the same time, the secondary coaches appeared not to address the problem of not having back-end coverage to Spagnuolo.

It sort of is a reminder that the dynamics of the game can prevent a coach from one component of responsibility. Take Reid’s notorious miscues over the years with Clock Management. Somehow, the past 3 seasons, Reid has been a lot more cognizant of the clock, but there was a time in his career when it didn’t appear that he could tell the time of day or he was using a sun dial beneath a cloudy sky.

I recall writing about this as a necessity of having another of the staff — Matt Nagy in the example I wrote about — to give Andy the nudge on the clock and action that needed to be taken. Since that time, which was 2016, I think the Chiefs have handled the clock well. However, other “Nudges” among staff are needed to counter things on the fly, during the game where an adjustment can solve a problem. I am sure it’s quite obvious to all the experts out there in the Chiefs Kingdom, exactly what the coaching staff should do and you have been yelling to high heavens and realize that the coaches are ignoring your pleas.

Objective: to get the coaching staff to make the right decision at the right moment. Especially after a sequence of errors in judgment. NUDGE THE CHIEFS THROUGH THE THE TV SCREEN!!!! Why Can’t they hear us screaming?

1. Andy Reid/Eric Bieniemy must design, on the fly, a play-calling script for the remainder of the 1st half. The Chiefs have often gotten out in front but… the killer instinct appears to drift beyond focus. Or Reid/Bieniemy try to get cute and blow up the 3rd drive.
2. Steve Spagnuolo must read and react to the opposing Offensive Coordinator’s game plan. Heaven knows the defense was playing some darned good football and then smoke got in Spags eyes facing the Bengals last week.
3. Player execution in all three phases of the game must be performed without error and avoiding penalties. When something is amiss, nudges are needed on both sides of the ball.
4. As the Chiefs close the first half out. Reid and Bieniemy must be in the process of designing a 15-play script for the second half, taking into account what adjustments the opponent has made on the fly and is likely to make to counter the Chiefs’ successes of the first half.
5. Steve Spagnuolo and Staff must follow a similar course to understanding what has been a threat from the first half, adjust to that and predetermine as much as possible the type of adjustments the opposing OC is likely to implement.
6. Especially for the defense, Spagnuolo and staff must make appropriate adjustments when needed — to threats of scoring being employed by the opponent. The objective is to prevent TDs and force opponents into FG attempts.
7. Stubbornness and refusal to change tactics and strategies on both sides of the ball must be avoided.
8. Staff must accept that the Nudge is being taken with: all good intentions
9. The Staff Embraces the 3 C’s (Now It’s 4 plus PF – Consistency, Cohesion, Continuity, Communication & Play Fast)

1. Having the wrong personnel on the field at the wrong time.
2. Playing second tier players who have glaring weaknesses.
3. Coaches not adjusting to the action on the field of play.
4. Taking the foot off the pedal on offense (drives me totally nuts).
5. Ignoring the Nudge when it is clear that the coach in question should definitely feel the shove or the 8-hour boot in the butt (from ardent armchair coaches all round the globe)!
6. Not managing the clock.

Mostly, in the past, it was the point in time witnessed by us all when Andy Reid needed to manage the game and use the clock to his advantage. However, as last week demonstrates, Steve Spagnuolo needed a bunch of Nudges or a downright Shove. That didn’t happen, or if it did it wasn’t a Nudge with enough force to get Spags to re-evaluate. My father would phrase the need for a nudge a different way: “I couldn’t stub my toe hard enough for you to feel my pain”, he would tell me. I can assure you, that as a know-it-all wonder of the world, I wasn’t good at taking advice or listening to my elders — much to my chagrin nowadays.

I don’t know how much of the “Nudge Factor” goes on among the Chiefs coaching staff. Sometimes I think I see it used on the sideline. Too often the HC or one of the coordinators ignores it. While I am trying my best to nudge the Chiefs football club into the next Super Bowl, you all can say is… a prayer that when a Nudge is needed, it is given and the appropriate action is taken whether the Nudge is or should be ignored… or not.

However, take into account the doofus factors before you claim superiority of your judgment! I don’t doubt that the coaches do listen to fans, but I am sure they view us as the Peanut Gallery most of the time. Do they ask themselves the magic Question? “Am I a Doofus from the Peanut Gallery?”

1. Nope. I reject that. There is absolutely zero probability that I can be wrong about that. Because I’m an expert!
2. If you think the probability you are wrong about anything is zero, you are a doofus.
3. If you think the probability you are wrong about anything is zero because you’re an expert, you’re a gold star doofus

Last week, however, I wonder if Steve Spagnuolo hasn’t asked the magic question of himself. I can bluster up a suggestion that he has done so.

David Bell – Chief Doofus at ArrowheadOne

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