NBC commentators: Britt Reid crash was ‘huge factor’ in Chiefs’ loss in Super Bowl LV
Many factors have been mentioned for why the Chiefs lost 31-9 to the Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV.
Those range from injuries on the offensive line to a rash of penalties to dropped passes by the Chiefs receivers.
But Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio and Chris Simms believe the crash involving now former assistant coach Britt Reid may have had the biggest influence on the Chiefs.
Three days before Super Bowl LV, Reid struck two cars on the side of an entrance ramp along Interstate 435, near the Chiefs’ practice facility, prosecutors say. The Feb. 4 crash injured two children, including a 5-year-old who suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Reid, son of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, was the team’s linebackers coach but his contract expired after the season.
“One thing about Super Bowl LV that doesn’t get discussed nearly as much as it should, that Britt Reid incident from Thursday night, that awful accident, and all the distractions that causes,” said Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. “It’s the son of the head coach of the team 72 hours before kickoff, that had to have been a huge factor in just what seemed to be a Chiefs team that wasn’t ready to answer the bell.”
Chris Simms, the former NFL quarterback, said other factors were at play, including the injuries and perhaps a bit of complacency. However, he agreed that the Britt Reid crash affected the Chiefs.
”But the Britt Reid thing, yeah, is real,” Simms said. “There’s no doubt about that. I mean imagine like you said, it’s the head coach’s son, he’s a coach on the football team. You know, this happened, it was a horrible event, what do you think the Chiefs players were talking about in the locker room Friday and Saturday when they got in there?
“They weren’t talking about the Super Bowl. They weren’t talking about the game. ‘Hey, did you hear what happened to coach’s son? Hey man, what happened? Did you hear any of the details? Where was he? What happened?’ I mean that’s distraction, big time.”
Here is the video of the discussion. They also talk more about the Chiefs and how they embrace challenges, but I set this to start with the talk of Britt Reid:
