Though Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid isn’t pilloried for game management decisions as he was when he was the Eagles’ head coach from 1999 through 2012, there are moments when even this great coach had you shaking your head.
Such a moment happened when Reid’s Chiefs had the ball with 11 seconds left in the first half of their game with the San Francisco 49ers. The ball was on the San Francisco 21-yard line, and the Chiefs had third-and-20 thanks to a low block call on running back Jerick McKinnon. You’d think Reid would call for one Patrick Mahomes hero play, and if that didn’t work out, there would probably be enough time on the clock for Harrison Butker to kick a field goal.
Instead, Reid called for Butker to come out… on third-and-20… with 11 seconds left — to kick the 39-yard attempt…
…and Butker missed it.
You can see Reid’s consternation about that turn of events. The Chiefs went into the tunnel at the half with a 14-13 lead, but if Reid’s team loses a close one here, you can bet he’ll get all kinds of questions about that particular decision.