Andy Reid makes surprising decision at end of half
Jan 20, 2019; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid against the New England Patriots during the AFC championship game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid made a decision late in the first half of his team’s game against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday that left many viewers scratching their heads.
The Chiefs were leading 14-13 and had 3rd-and-20 deep in San Francisco territory with 11 seconds left in the first half. Rather than take one or two shots at the end zone, Reid decided to attempt the field goal on 3rd down. Harrison Butker missed the 39-yard attempt wide right.
Twitter was not kind to Reid.
andy reid game management dot gif
— Doug Farrar ✍ (@NFL_DougFarrar) October 23, 2022
So Andy Reid figured his offense was explosive enough to call a timeout at his own 8, but not explosive enough to actually go for it on third down? Weird
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) October 23, 2022
11 seconds is enough time to try an end zone shot, football gods punish Andy Reid
— Tom Gower (@ThomasGower) October 23, 2022
Reid opted to attempt the field goal on 3rd down because the Chiefs had no timeouts remaining. He figured the smartest play was to take the easy three points and go into halftime up 17-13. The last thing the coach wanted was Mahomes to take a sack or something to go wrong and have his team end up with no points.
The real issue is that Butker missed the kick. Reid was safe to assume his kicker could make an easy 39-yard field goal. Had that happened, the decision would not have been scrutinized nearly as much.
