Kansas City Chiefs: Will Andy Reid Cost the Team a Playoff Spot?

Two weeks ago, following a big win against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, which gave the Kansas City Chiefs their fifth straight win, I made a case for coach Andy Reid as to why he deserved to win Coach of the Year honors. Today, I can't stand by that, and the performance by the Chiefs in the last two games is clear evidence as to why.

The Chiefs were mortified on national television twice within 10 days, and Reid is liable for Kansas City's recent downfall. 

The Chiefs fell to a previously winless Oakland Raiders team on Thursday Night Football 24-20. Although Reid typically does well when given more than seven days to prepare for an opponent, the 10-day break was not enough to help the Chiefs in a Sunday Night Football game with crucial playoff implications on the line.

In the loss to Oakland, the Chiefs went three-and-out on their first two offensive drives of the game, which eventually allowed the Raiders to get off to a 14-0 start. Likewise against the Broncos, the Chiefs went three-and-out on their first three drives of the game with minus-10 yards of total offense in the first quarter. The Broncos took advantage of that by taking a quick 14-0 lead before the first quarter came to an end.

Reid did not prepare his team against the Raiders and the Broncos as well as he would have liked to. The first quarter in both of those games is apparent of that.

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During the first drive against Denver, Reid omitted the idea of giving the ball to Charles on the first three plays. In fact, the first play of the game was an overthrown pass intended for Donnie Avery, who has made minimal impact in the limited amount of games he has played this season.

This isn't the first nor the second time Reid has played keep-away from Charles, who is arguably the best and only consistent player on offense for Kansas City. Charles is the only viable weapon for Smith on offense. Reid’s continued negligence in giving the ball to Charles is hard to define.

The toughest part is seeing the Chiefs construct an impressive 7-3 record while overcoming an 0-2 start with myriad injuries early in the season. For the Chiefs to go from a hot 7-3 run to a pair of chastening losses on national television stings.

If the Miami Dolphins capture a win on Monday Night Football, the AFC will have six teams with a 7-5 record. The Chiefs will be knocked out of the No. 6 seed despite to head-to-head wins over Buffalo and Miami, but where they stand at the end of December could be a different story.

In the final four games, the Chiefs play the Arizona Cardinals, Oakland Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers, with three of the four fighting hard during an intense month as teams try to make a strong push to reach the postseason and try to clinch the highest seed possible.

As for the Raiders, though they aren’t in contention for the playoffs, they already picked up a win against the Chiefs this year. Prior to last season, the Raiders had won six straight at Arrowhead Stadium. The Raiders could continue to be a thorn on Kansas City’s side.

With a two-game losing streak looming over the Chiefs going into a vital and very challenging month of December, Reid will be tested and viewed very closely by fans and the media. This is the part where Reid must use his veteran coaching experience and put the Chiefs in position to win and keep a lead in the AFC wild-card race.

If Reid can win at least three of the four games this month, he will have redeemed himself against some very tough teams, and the Chiefs are more than likely to clinch a playoff spot. 

However, if the Chiefs continue to struggle, Reid guided the team to a five-game winning streak with a 7-3 record, only to fall and leave a bitter taste in everyone's mouths. 

There is room for improvement on the field in all three facets. But the final four games will reflect on Reid and whether or not he can coach this team to a couple more wins and lead them back to the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Reid has seen and experienced the ups and downs as a head coach in his 16 years, 14 of them being in Philadelphia. Reid has been to the playoffs 10 times in his 15 full years of coaching and looks to make it 11 of 16 after this year. Reid is capable of leading the Chiefs to two straight playoff appearances, which has not happened for Kansas City since the 1994-95 playoffs. 

Reid's lifetime head coaching record of 148-103-1 is no accident, either, and is the fourth-best among all active NFL coaches behind Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin and Jeff Fisher. 

Expect Reid to find a way to send the Chiefs to the playoffs and extend their season into January of 2015. If not, Reid has to evaluate himself this offseason, learn from his mistakes and not allow the Chiefs to fall with this much talent on his team.

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