Andy Reid has taken criticism for poor clock management. But a new analysis calls t

Throughout his coaching career Terrance Smith Jersey , first with the Eagles and now with the Chiefs, hat criticism into question.Specifically, Reid is sometimes chided for “wasting” timeouts, using them early in halves to take time to get a play called, rather than saving them for late in the half when he needs to stop the clock during a two-minute drill. However, Reid might not be wasting those timeouts at all: He may be using that time wisely by dialing up his best offensive plays.That’s the indication from an analysis by Paul Noonan of SB Nation’s Packers site, which found that Mike McCarthy often wasted timeouts only to call a play that turned out to be no better than whatever Aaron Rodgers could have called at the line of scrimmage. That will come as no surprise to anyone who watched McCarthy, who was fired during a disappointing 2018 season.But where the analysis was surprising was in its evaluation of Reid. The Chiefs called 16 timeouts while on offense during the 2018 season, and the Chiefs’ offense was outstanding after those timeouts. In fact, using a metric called “expected points added Eric Murray Jersey ,” the Chiefs were found to be the best offense in football on plays immediately following timeouts. When Reid uses a timeout, he’s not just doing it because he was slow to get a play called and wants to avoid a delay of game penalty. He’s often doing it to strategize with Patrick Mahomes, make sure the right personnel is on the field and everyone understands their assignments, and unleash a play that is the very best in the playbook for the situation the Chiefs are facing.It might seem like every coach would be able to dial up his best play after a timeout, but that really isn’t the case. Many teams actually had negative expected points added after timeouts. The coaches of those teams surely thought they were giving themselves extra time to come up with a great play, but not every coach is a great play caller. Some coaches end up calling a dud of a play when they give themselves more time.But Reid is not one of those coaches: He gets the right play called, over and over again. The tradeoff, of course, is that a timeout used to get a good play called is a timeout that can’t be used late in the half. If the Chiefs are out of timeouts and they need to stop the clock on Saturday against the Colts, Reid will take plenty of criticism. But that criticism should be tempered by the knowledge that Reid doesn’t just throw away his timeouts for no reason. When he calls timeout Kendall Fuller Jersey , he’s got the right play in mind. FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — It may have been hard to hear him over the noise of the New England fans celebrating an eighth straight trip to the AFC title game, but Tom Brady is feeling disrespected.That’s right: The three-time NFL MVP and five-time Super Bowl champion told a national TV audience after demolishing the Los Angeles Chargers in the playoffs, “I know everyone thinks we suck and can’t win any games.“We’ll see,” Brady said with a roguish look in his eyes. “Could be fun.”There hasn’t been an NFL run like the Patriots’ — at least in the Super Bowl era — with Brady and coach Bill Belichick leading the franchise to 10 straight AFC East titles and 15 in 16 years, resulting in eight trips to the Super Bowl and five NFL crowns.“You’re talking about a dynasty,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “If there is such a thing in the National Football League, they’ve been that.”And yet as they prepare to travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs (13-4) in Sunday’s AFC championship game, Brady is right about one thing: The Patriots (12-5) are a 3-point underdog, and that’s an unusual position for them.“We’re going against a team that’s the No. 1 seed in the league Sammy Watkins Jersey ,” Brady said after the team’s final practice on Friday. “I’m sure there’s a lot of people that are thinking they’re going to win. Everyone can have their own opinion. We certainly have an opinion, and we’ve got to go out there and execute our best in order to accomplish that.”Players have long found their motivation wherever they can, whether it’s the oddsmakers or experts or comments from the opposing team that go up on the locker room for all to see. Heading into the NFC title game, some banter about gumbo has turned into a rallying cry for the Los Angeles Rams.The Chiefs have been careful not to help out with any bulletin board material.“I don’t think they suck,” tight end Travis Kelce said. “I can tell you that.”But rustling up slights to motivate themselves is just another thing they’ve mastered.Responding to the public perception — or at least that of the oddsmakers — receiver Julian Edelman tweeted a Chiefs hype video lauding quarterback Patrick Mahomes as the best player in the league. Edelman made no secret what he thought of that, adding a hashtag: “#BetAgainstUs”; he is also selling T-shirts with the slogan squeezed into the shape of the Patriots logo.Special teams star Matthew Slater said he wasn’t motivated as much by being an underdog in this game as other times he was doubted in his life.“I’m not supposed to be playing in this league anyways,” he said, “so we’ve got plenty of motivation.”Defensive back Jason McCourty was a sixth-round draft pick — just like Brady.And, just like Brady, and he hasn’t forgotten.“You’ve just always had that chip on your shoulder Anthony Hitchens Jersey , and no matter what you go through in life, especially with football, there’s just always someone or something,” McCourty said.“I think that type of mindset, no matter if you’re 16-0, you’re rolling through the playoffs, no matter what the situation is, there’s always going to be somebody that’s doubting you or saying something about you. I think for certain guys individually, it may be something that kind of gives you that extra kick.”