Following Sunday’s 22-19 loss to the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took some heat for not running the ball enough.
Running back Kareem Hunt received just 13 carries – averaging 4.5 yards per rush – while star quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw the ball a whopping 45 times in the loss. In a meeting with reporters on Monday, Reid revealed the team is calling a number of run-pass options that are getting turned into passes.
“We’re calling quite a few of the RPO’s, so yesterday they were giving us opportunities to throw the football so we utilized the opportunities there,” Reid said after the loss. “Those things end up being as good as a run for you, we were getting four-plus yards and you go with it. The runs are being called, it's just sometimes they get turned into passes in today's world. You know, that’s how it goes. But we’re getting them in. We have some hard runs where you just get up, line up and go – we probably could call more of those.”
It didn’t take long for fans to flock to social media to call out the head coach for what they believe is throwing Mahomes “under the bus.”
“Andy straight up throwing Mahomes under the bus. I'm sick,” one fan said before another added a similar refrain, “Andy Reid throwing the man who made his entire career under the bus.”
“If you're going to start throwing Mahomes under the bus then it's time for you to go. RPO's aren't run plays,” added a third.
Former Chiefs star offensive lineman Mitchell Schwartz saw the clip and has a different idea, though.
“If you guys think this is a dig at Pat you're just wrong and don't know anything about football. Pat threw 7 RPO reads, completed all 7, the shortest was for 3 yards and 6 of the 7 were for 5+ and/or gained the first down,” the former Super Bowl champion said. “That's WAY better than 7 handoffs in terms of efficiency and yardage. All he's saying is that he calls more runs than the stats say (13 for Kareem) it's just some get thrown. Historically the throws are very efficient because they're only throw if the look is there. Y'all need to chill this is in no way a dig at Pat.”
Kansas City looks to bounce back from two straight losses against the Indianapolis Colts (8-2) on Sunday, Nov. 23.
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