KANSAS CITY, Mo. – In early September, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said that he thought he had a good team, one that could compete at a level where the franchise could achieve its goals of success in the postseason.
Oct. 18, 2015; Minneapolis; Chiefs head coach Andy Reid on the sidelines during the first half against the Vikings at TCF Bank Stadium. (AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt)
Six weeks later, with a 1-5 record and the league’s longest current losing streak at five games, does Reid still feel that way?
“I still believe that,” Reid said Monday, the day after his team’s 16-10 loss to the Vikings in Minnesota. “We still have to do it though. It’s one thing to say it, it’s another thing to do it. Until we do that, it’s all words and it doesn’t mean anything.”
Reid admitted 24 hours after the game that his team has been unable to put together four quarters of good football in a single game.
That was certainly the case again against the Vikings when they were down 10-0 at halftime after an offensive performance that gained just 51 yards on 20 plays. That was just a yard more than the team picked up in penalty yardage in the first 30 minutes of game action.
“It was a game of two halves,” said Reid. “The first half probably couldn’t have been any worse offensively for sure. That’s terrible production. We gave up too many long throws and field position became a factor.
“The second half, I thought both the pass defense and the offense tighten up a bit and we were more productive. You’ve got to do that for four quarters, which we haven’t accomplished. So we have to take what we did there in the third quarter and in the early part of the Houston game and throughout a good part of the Denver game and we have to make sure we are prepared to do what we do best and to put it out there for four quarters.”
A five-game losing streak is going to be aggravating to any coach, but the frustration mounts even more when a team shows flashes of competence and production, but can’t sustain the performance for four quarters.
“That’s the part if you are in my shoes you go back and try to find out the whys and figure those out and get the answers,” Reid said. “That’s my challenge … I’m a problem solver and I’ve got to solve the problems and get that done quickly.
“I still believe in my locker room, I believe in our coaches that we can get over this hump here and play better football consistently.”
Other comments from Reid:
— The head coach doesn’t think there’s a lack of effort from his team. “I don’t think it’s an issue right now,” he said. “At the same time there is being disciplined within that.”
— On the game: “There was some positive performances in the game. They are going to get overlooked because we didn’t win the game.” He mentioned specifically running back Charcandrick West, linebacker Ramik Wilson, defensive end Allen Bailey and wide receiver Albert Wilson. “They had some real positive downs for us.”
— Rookie cornerback Marcus Peters’ third interception of the season really impressed Reid, and not because his rookie cornerback brought the ball to him on the sideline after the play. “That was a heck of a play,” Reid said. “That was a crossing route coming from the other side and he held his guy off and had vision back to that. He had the instincts and awareness to make a big-time play.”
