Why Chiefs coach Andy Reid needs to fire defensive coordinator Bob Sutton

The first season with the quarterback he waited his whole life for ended in an instant, literally by inches, a year’s worth of work flushed away by a wicked combination of randomness and luck and execution.

Andy Reid might be in the Hall of Fame someday, and if so it’ll be largely because of his constant thirst for improvement and belief in day-to-day routine. Those things can be at odds at times, like on Sunday night, in the wake of one of the most disappointing defeats of his career — 37-31, in overtime against the New England Patriots, at home in the AFC Championship Game.

There is much for the Chiefs coach to evaluate. Much to improve. After the game, with an organization to lead, Reid watched film and organized people and paperwork in preparation for baggie day — when lockers are emptied into trash bags, players take their exit physicals, and everyone meets with the head coach before going their separate ways.

“I didn’t sleep much last night,” Reid said Monday. “But I’m ready to go.”

Reid is unfailingly loyal. He also has a belief in process and the people around him that can at times grow into stubbornness. He’s not unique in this way. Lots of coaches can be described similarly.

But Reid does occasionally drag those traits to extremes, which is almost always an asset. He’s won 195 games, more than all but seven coaches in NFL history. Everyone above him on the list has coached longer. The results are there.

But Reid is about to meet head-on with another juxtaposition, one more instance in which his natural instincts are at odds with what’s required in the moment. And this time it’ll be much more consequential than Sunday night’s conflict between instant film evaluation and meeting prep.

He’s going to need to fire Bob Sutton, his defensive coordinator for six years and friend for longer.

Reid was asked about this multiple times, from multiple directions, in what amounted to an exit press conference on Monday. He conceded nothing, as you would expect.

“I’ll never talk about that here,” he said. “I’ve never done that. I just go back and I look at everything. That’s the best answer I can give you on that.”

That’s fair. This is too soon to reasonably expect a decision. The day before, Reid was focused solely on beating the Patriots. A decision made immediately would have been a decision that had effectively been made already, which would’ve been a bad look for team’s cohesion and push to a few inches from the Super Bowl.

But when the time comes, the decision should be clear. It’s a decision that should have been made a year ago, when the Chiefs finished 28th in defense and blew a 21-3 lead at home in the playoffs.

This is not hindsight. Sutton is a smart coach and decent man but was unable to adapt after Eric Berry’s injury. The Chiefs struggled to pressure quarterbacks and were essentially helpless against the run.

Sutton was given a reprieve, with Reid’s loyalty and value of consistency winning the day, but somehow the Chiefs were even worse in 2018. They finished 31st in defense, 30th in Football Outsiders’ catch-all DVOA measurement, 31st in passing yards surrendered and 31st in average yards per rush.

They lost five games this season, with opponents scoring an average of 40.2 points in those games. The playoff loss to the Patriots was something like a mashup of the reasons the Chiefs’ defense needs a new leader — they could not stop the run, could not cover backs in the passing game and could not cover tight end Rob Gronkowski when the world knew that’s what was required.