And even though Reid missed the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, the 67-year-old’s fingerprints were all over Wild Card Weekend in that specific area.
With Houston and Pittsburgh still on the docket for Monday night (7:15 p.m. CT, ESPN), NFL teams have already combined for 26 fourth-down attempts over the first five wild-card contests.
They converted 50 percent of them, including the remarkable 27-yard pass Caleb Williams threw to Rome Odunze Saturday night in Chicago’s 31-27 comeback win over the Packers. Bears head coach Ben Johnson actually kept his offense on the field six times on fourth downs. Green Bay was 3-for-3.
Philadelphia was 3-for-5 on fourth downs in its 23-19 loss to San Francisco.
State of play
Aggressive head coaches in the playoffs should come as no surprise after what Reid did in the regular season.
Kansas City led the league in fourth-down percentage (75.0), converting 24 of 32 attempts. The Chiefs also finished second in fourth-and-1 percentage (83.3), fourth-and-short percentage (84.0) and fourth-and-long percentage (66.7).
Reid also finished tied for seventh in total fourth-down attempts (32).
During Patrick Mahomes’ first seven seasons as the starter, Reid attempted just 17 fourth downs in 2024, 20 in 2023, 12 in 2022, 15 in 2021, 16 in 2020, 10 in 2019 and 15 in 2018.
No. 1 in defense, too
But just as impressive as the Chiefs’ percentage on fourth down was their effort on the other side of the ball. Steve Spagnuolo’s unit also led the league in fourth-down defense (26.1 percent).
The Chiefs allowed opponents to convert on only six of 23 fourth-down snaps. Kansas City finished first in lowest percentage of fourth-and-short conversions (25.0) and tied for first in both fourth-and-1 (30.0) and fourth-and-long (0.0).
Unfortunately, Kansas City wasn’t nearly as consistent – on either side of the ball – on the prior down. In third-down defense, the Chiefs were an appalling 29th in the NFL, allowing conversions at a 43.6-percent clip. They ranked 26th in allowing third-and-long conversions (27.7 percent).
Offensively on third down, the Chiefs were just 22nd overall (37.4 percent) and dead last, 32nd in the league, on third-and-long (15.5 percent).
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