In the AFC Divisional Playoff game on Sunday afternoon, the momentum shifted when Kansas City Chiefs’ star quarterback Patrick Mahomes went down with a concussion. The chances of the Cleveland Browns coming back from a 19-10 deficit was trending in their direction, with a quarter and a half of football still to be played. Having Chad Henne at the helm is a lot different than the Super Bowl MVP.
Throughout the game,a 22-17 Chiefs win, one would argue the biggest difference between the Chiefs and Browns, came down to coaching. Andy Reid’s experience as a head coach was extremely clear. The fact that Kevin Stefanski was also coaching in his first NFL postseason game was evident as well.
The questionable coaching by Stefanski started right before Mahomes’ injury. On the previous Cleveland drive, Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield threw a four-yard touchdown pass to Jarvis Landry. At the time, the score was 19-9 for the Chiefs. Instead of the Browns going for a two-point conversion, and being within a single score of Kansas City, Stefanski elected to have Cody Parkey kick the convert and only get the single point.
Then in the fourth quarter, Stefanski received his fair share of criticism for a questionable challenge. Replays showed Tyreek Hill had clearly caught a Chad Henne pass and it was not even close. Stefanski challenged anyways, and as a result the Browns lost a key timeout.
Andy Reid meanwhile needs to be praised for the high-level of coaching he displayed on the bench. He continued to have a calm demeanour after the Mahomes injury, and put confidence in Henne’s skillset. In other words, he did not drastically change the game plan.
On the drive Mahomes was hurt, Henne threw a key 17-yard pass to Travis Kelce which set up a 33-yard field goal by Harrison Butker. Then on the final Chiefs drive of the game, the Chiefs looked to be in trouble after Henne was sacked on the previous play. At third and 14, Henne then ran 13 yards. With the Chiefs only needing one yard, Reid put his confidence in his offense. Henne prevailed with a five-yard completion to Hill, and the Chiefs were able to run out the clock. Was it a gutsy call by Reid? You bet. A fourth-down stop by the Browns would have given Cleveland the ball back with a legitimate chance to win the game. Reid showed quiet optimism, and deserved the game ball as much as any Chiefs player.
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