We may be overthinking the Chiefs' offensive changes
This is not a conversation of scheme, but of... recent American political history? Oh, no!
Today’s episode of Everything Else weirdly comes with an apology to 2016 vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine. Stick with me, now.
The Kansas City Chiefs’ offense belongs to Andy Reid. He gets the final say and the bulk of the influence, which is why you’ll so often hear him also take the bulk of the blame when things fall short.
Back to politics. (Seriously, stick with me.)
Political punditry is a uniquely broken part of our day-to-day media consumption. Politics are complicated, policy is hard, and many people who talk about politics — by choice or by Stephen A.-habit — turn most conversations into, essentially, a sports debate. It’s not healthy or helpful, but it’s how it seems to work in our media landscape. One perfect example of our conversational pitfalls comes when presidential candidates pick a vice president to fill out their ticket.
Weeks of breathless analysis always precede the candidate’s decision. Who will it be? He’s a man — should he pick a woman? He’s old and white — should he pick someone who’s… not? He’s going to carry his [home state] with ease — should he pick a senator or governor from [swing state] to try to secure those electoral votes for [red team/blue team]?
When Hillary Clinton lost, it wasn’t because of Tim Kaine. When Mitt Romney lost, it wasn’t because of Paul Ryan. Whatever the Chiefs’ offense does next year, it won’t be because of Eric Bieniemy.
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Reid is alone at the top of the ticket. Will Bieniemy help get the running back vote? Maybe! But will Reid send Field General Patrick Mahomes under-center when the bullets are flying? We don’t know yet!
Today’s VP discourse is partially to give myself an excuse to move on to the next phase of the offseason. Yes, an aggressive effort to land someone like Kliff Kingsbury would have signaled a policy change in the administration, but giving offensive ownership to someone like Mike McDaniel would’ve meant Reid functionally stepping aside as the true President of Offensive Operations, which he clearly did not want to do (nor should he have been asked or expected to do).
Bieniemy isn’t here to lead the ticket. He’s here to help Reid… well… do whatever Reid needs help with. Am I ecstatic about the apparent process that led the Chiefs to Bieniemy? Not really. Do I understand how they got here? Of course.
Either way, the truth is obvious: If you win, you’re enshrined in the history books. If you lose, you’ll eventually be just another headshot on a long Wikipedia page.
For Everything Else: Here’s the Outdoor Boys video Tucker referenced during today’s show, plus a Chungus update.
Everything Else with Joshua Brisco is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts.