Andy Reid is a genius football mind proving increasingly impossible to solve.
The Kansas City Chiefs are a perfect 8-0 to start the NFL season and can still achieve a historic record that nobody is even talking about.
But for all of Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce‘s brilliance, Kansas City’s defense has been the foundation for which their recent success has been built upon.
The Chiefs’ stingy D carried them through the regular season last year when Reid’s offense struggled, and has been the bedrock for an unblemished campaign in 2024.
The Chiefs’ defense is ranked fifth in yards given up this season, fourth in points allowed and third in stopping the rush.
They have allowed fewer than 28 points in 29 straight games. The last time they allowed more than 28 points was in Super Bowl LVII when the Philadelphia Eagles put up 35 and still lost by a three-point margin.
The only team with a longer streak of allowing 28 points or fewer this millennium are the 2000-2002 Eagles, with 34 straight games.
Reid was the Eagles head coach over those seasons, and current Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was an Eagles defensive assistant.
Spags is a Hall of Fame DC and the only coordinator in NFL history to win four Super Bowls. He’s also the only coordinator to win a Super Bowl with two different franchises (Giants XLII, Chiefs LIV, LVII and LVIII).
His defensive schemes are among the best in the NFL, and it’s fair to say that without him the Chiefs might not have won at the rate they have in recent years.
Chiefs safety Justin Reid recently discussed what makes Spagnuolo so great with cornerback great Richard Sherman.
“The ultimate leader, the ultimate mentor, the ultimate man of faith,” Reid said of Spags.
“But really, his mentorship, he comes about things from a deeply educational [spot] and [will] coach you to do things the right way. You do it this way, and his defense is going to work.
“He spends so much time in the film room, and he cares about his guys and using guys’ strength to put them in the right situations. And he has that effect that legendary coaches have, in which you want to do right by him, you want to make him proud, you want to do things in a way in the vision that he sees things.
“And you just know it’s going to work, but he pulls guys to the side, one-on-one during practice to do individual drills with each guy on something that he thinks they can work with. He’ll pull guys in one-on-one for meetings over tape.”
Reid added that Spagnuolo’s playbook is bigger and more exhaustive than anything he’s ever seen during his time in the league.
”You know he’s always going to throw something new at whoever we’re playing every week,” Reid went on. “So it’s hard for teams to be prepared for it.”
“We have 20 different versions of cover zero and that is not an exaggerated number. That is not an exaggerated number, bro.
“And then we have fire zones. We have tangos. We have half fire zone. Have cover twos, cover threes, cover ones, cover fives, coverages that switch from one coverage to the next. Covers with motion or alignments.
“Every week is just so different. And I think that the other strength is that we have the guys that can handle that informational load and get everyone on the same page so there isn’t coverage busts.”
With all that said, ‘Big Red’ is the linchpin keeping the Chiefs’ dynasty rolling.
The four-time Maxwell Club NFL Coach of the Year is the NFL’s third-longest-tenured head coach behind only John Harbaugh (Ravens) in 2008, and Mike Tomlin (Steelers), who started in 2007.
Reid leads all active head coaches with 266 regular-season wins while his 26-16 playoff record is the highest among active coaches.
He is also the only NFL coach to win 100 games and appear in four consecutive conference championships with two different franchises.
The veritable Hall of Famer was rewarded with a bumper five-year contract extension worth around $100 million this offseason, making him the highest-paid coach in the NFL and across all North American sports leagues in 2024 ($20 million).
There have been rumblings about his eventual retirement happening soon, but Chiefs owner Clarke Hunt recently insisted that inevitable day is still a while off, envisioning the 66-year-old coach to retain his role for at least the next five seasons.
The opportunity of an unprecedented Super Bowl three-peat is certainly fuelling Reid this season.
A win in February’s ‘Big Game’ would all but cement his place on the Mount Rushmore of NFL coaches.
