1. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid doesn't have a problem with how the Chiefs managed the clock at the end of the game.
"So we went hurry-up offense," Reid said about the obviously not hurry-up offense. "You do that normally when you're down by two scores and so, time was of the essence. We got down to the one-yard line and we ended up going backwards, but we ended up punching it in there, too. I'm not exactly sure what you're talking about, but I thought that..."
Reid trailed off.
"When you guys were huddling before the two-minute warning," a reporter offered. "When you were getting close to the goal line there."
"Yeah, we wanted to get a play off," Reid replied. "We had 20 seconds. It was 2:20 on the clock. We wanted to make sure we got our best personnel in for that play and we didn't get that done."
See, it's not that Reid doesn't understand the importance of the hurry-up, it's just that he doesn't know how it functions. He knows that coaches are supposed to call for an increased tempo when time is of the essence; he just doesn't know how to convey that to his players.
This was the same exact issue that Reid had in his Super Bowl while he was with the Eagles. With 5:40 left in the game, trailing the Patriots by 10 points, Reid directed a four-minute drive, ignoring that the Eagles would need to have a second drive to tie the game. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
"Coaching Advantage Andy Reid" pic.twitter.com/beuvxrEQ34
— Rich Hill (@PP_Rich_Hill) January 17, 2016
2. Speaking of Reggie Wayne, the possible Hall of Fame receiver announced his retirement after he asked to be released from the Patriots this offseason. The story was that Wayne wasn't having fun playing football anymore and wasn't interested in learning the Patriots playbook. That's his prerogative. Best of luck in your future and thanks for the offseason.
3. How excited must the Titans have been about retaining Mike Mularkey as head coach if they were willing to make the announcement in the middle of the second quarter of the Patriots-Chiefs game? Especially because Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels must have spurned the opportunity.
McDaniels and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia are set to return in the same capacities in 2016, which would make the 5th consecutive season that the duo has served as coordinators. This is the longest period of coaching consistency in the Belichick era. Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel served for four seasons from 2001-04; McDaniels and Dean Pees overlapped for three seasons from 2006-08. That's it.
Also, the Patriots didn't have an offensive coordinator in 2005, 2009, or 2010, which means that McDaniels has served as the offensive coordinator for seven of the eight years since Weis left in 2004.
#Patriots looking at 5th straight year of the same OC/DC pairing for the first time under Belichick. Consistency >> pic.twitter.com/l2MzONKNDy
— Rich Hill (@PP_Rich_Hill) January 17, 2016
4. The Patriots have now collected the whole AFC West set with a playoff victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. Bill Belichick and the Patriots now have wins over 11 of the other 15 AFC teams, including all members of the AFC West and South. The only teams unscathed:
Bills: Haven't made the playoffs since Belichick became head coach.
Dolphins: Only time Patriots overlapped was in 2001 and Dolphins were eliminated over wild card weekend.
Browns: Only year in the playoffs was 2002, so the two teams haven't overlapped. Belichick is the last Browns head coach to win a playoff game.
Bengals: Still haven't managed to make it out of wild card weekend.
5. Football is a team sport, but there has been an established "Mount Rushmore" at quarterback for the past decade with Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, and Aaron Rodgers. Here's how the teams have succeeded over their tenures:
Brady: 14 seasons as a starter, 6 Super Bowls, 4 Conference Championships, 2 Divisional Rounds, 1 Wild Card, 1 Miss (season still in progress)
Manning: 17 seasons as a starter, 3 Super Bowls, 1 Conference Championship, 6 Divisional Rounds, 4 Wild Card, 2 Miss (pending this afternoon)
Brees: 14 seasons as a starter, 1 Super Bowl, 1 Conference Championship, 2 Divisional Rounds, 2 Wild Card, 8 Miss
Rodgers: 8 seasons as a starter, 1 Super Bowl, 1 Conference Championship, 3 Divisional Rounds, 2 Wild Card, 1 Miss
It's crazy that Brady has been to as more Conference Championships than the rest of the Rushmore combined (10 vs 8, pending Manning). He's been to more Super Bowls. The consistency out of the Patriots organization is impossibly astounding.