Unpopular Opinion

Andy Reid Still Hasn't Impressed Me

So here's the thing. Andy Reid inhereted a 4-12 football team with SIX pro bowlers and the best running back in the NFL. I'm not saying he's a bad coach, but I am saying that just because he's beaten 9 sub-.500 teams and a slew of backup quarterbacks, doesn't make him fit to sit in with the company people are throwing him into. It wasn't a tough formula to crack, coach a team with six pro bowlers, trade for an unwanted quarterback with a solid ability to NOT lose games, and play a weak schedule!

If you want to crown Andy Reid, wait until the post season, or until the end of this Broncos game if you can't contain yourself. But just some food for thought: Andy Reid's biggest knock in Philly was he drafted poorly, he drafted stiff after stiff after stiff (Nate Allen in the 2nd round? Casey Matthews? Kurt Coleman? DANNY WATKINS 23rd OVERALL) and while his ability to run the ball more than 15 times a game and winning games has changed, his drafting incompetency hasn't ceased to exist. Erik Fischer wasn't just the first pick in the draft, he's the only influencial player from that draft on the team right now. Do you know anything remarkable about Travis Kelce other than his Philadelphia Eagle brother Jason's beard? Didn't think so. How about Knile Davis or Nico Johnson? No? Okay. Then let's pump the brakes on this appraisal.

When I've brought this up with people, they always say "numbers don't lie," "nine and zero is nine and zero" but that is like saying "65 downhill is the same as 65 uphill". It's wrong. One requires a lot of hard work and battling and incapability to take your foot off the gas, the other requires the ability to stay on the gas just long enough to maintain your goal.

The bottom line, that we all need to remember is that Andy Reid isn't a terrible coach, did he misuse Michael Vick? yeah. But at the end of the day Andy Reid is the equivalent of Joe Flacco, not good enough to be considered elite, but good enough to demand elite conversations and privileges. Andy Reid is a great coach, when he isn't drafting players. If you go get a smart guy who knows a sure thing when he sees one to pick the players (Joe Banner) and tell Andy Reid to focus on his offense and let a great defensive coordinator take care of that side of the ball (Jim Johnson, may God rest his soul) you can go to four straight championships, or start an easy schedule off flawlessly. It's when you give him full personnel control and marry him for five years, you're going to pay more than the shocks on the front passenger side of a Reid family car.