Andy Reid's decision to call a running play: Was it right or wrong?
Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid decided to call a running play with the ball at his own 20 and 35 seconds left of a tie game Thursday night. Jamaal Charles fumbled. The Denver Broncos returned it for the winning touchdown. Was it a bad call by Reid? Members of the Paste BN NFL staff weigh in:
JARRETT BELL
Andy Reid has done it again. His fingerprints are all over Another Bad Creation.
The faithful in Kansas City are learning precisely what the fanatics in Philadelphia discovered years ago: No one does meltdowns like Andy. The Chiefs' collapse in the waning stages on Thursday night added another chapter to Reid's legacy for last-minute blunders.
Yet despite his history, I don't blame Reid for making the call to run with Jamaal Charles on the clinching play.
Sure, it's easy to judge in hindsight. The call backfired with Charles' fumble. But it wasn't the worst call, even on a night when the Chiefs had already committed four turnovers. There was still enough time to mount a quick drive and set up a field goal. The risk was nominal. It just didn't work.
Don't blame the call, blame the execution.
LINDSAY H. JONES
It's surprising that Andy Reid is being criticized for actually running the ball, given past criticism for not relying on Jamaal Charles enough. But in this situation, there was nothing positive that could come from a run play. Surely Reid didn't imagine that Charles would fumble, but the Broncos did. Linebackers were trying to strip the ball from Charles all game -- ever since he fumbled a screen pass in the first quarter. Charles accepted the blame for the loss, but it should not be his burden alone.
TOM PELISSERO
Jamaal Charles averaged 6 yards a carry Thursday. He'd already busted loose for a 34-yard score. If I'm trying to gain a chunk in that spot with the lowest possible risk, I probably trust Charles over anything else. That he'd fumbled once earlier in the game has no bearing on the final play. It's a great punch by Brandon Marshall, poor ball security by Charles and a doomsday scenario for the Chiefs. Pinning it all on Reid is just silly.
LORENZO REYES
Coaches do whatever they can to win. And while it may have seemed unlikely that the Chiefs could get in position to score with 35 seconds, they only needed to get in field goal range, which is about Denver’s 36 yard-line for Cairo Santos. Reid wasn’t wrong to call a halfback draw.
Sure, that’s 66 yards that Kansas City needed to travel to get there – with one timeout – but Charles is as electric a running back as there is in the NFL. His 34-yard TD scamper earlier in the game is proof of that. a HB draw – if executed well – can suck in the pass rush and open the middle of the field. Coaches aren’t fortune-tellers. They’re play callers. And it’s hard to put the blame squarely on Reid for trying one last shot to give his team a chance to win. The Chiefs wouldn’t have gotten that with a knee.
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