Andy Reid’s confidence in Clyde Edwards-Helaire is paying off

By sticking with his starting running back, the Kansas City head coach is seeing big dividends.

After losing back-to-back games, the Kansas City Chiefs got back into the win column with a 42-30 victory against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you may have heard about Kansas City head coach Andy Reid becoming the first coach in NFL history to win at least 100 games with two different franchises. And on Sunday, the Chiefs’ running game played a big part in securing the record.

For the second consecutive week, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire rushed for over 100 yards.

“We ran the ball well,” Reid told reporters after the game. “We were pretty balanced as we went. It was a good throwing day. It was a good passing day. It worked out all right for us.”

However, don’t assume this will be a trend for the Chiefs.

“We want to be able to mix it up — one or the other, sometimes both,” stressed Reid. “I’m not big on trends. Once you have trends these other guys are pretty good that you’re playing against —- and they knock you out of the ball park. We want to be able to do both — and do it when we want to do it.”

That’s the beauty of this offense. One week it’s Travis Kelce. Another week it’s Tyreek Hill. Or it’s Edwards-Helaire.

“I feel like when any of our numbers are called on the offense we all come out and perform,” said the second-year back. “It’s just one of those things that we know and understand as an individual group — and different guys on the offense. Everybody’s going to have their games — everybody’s going to have their ups — and when your number’s called, you’re going to perform.

“It’s just that simple. I never looked down on myself as far as a performance if I go out and only get a couple [of] carries. It’s whatever I had to do that week, I was doing whatever the team needed. It’s not a pointing fingers thing for me — so I go out, handle my job and do what I’m supposed to do.”

Against the Eagles, Edwards-Helaire was on the receiving end of one of Patrick Mahomes’ underhanded shovel passes — which was the first of the quarterback’s five touchdown passes on the day.

“Personally for me, when they called it in the huddle, it’s just one of those things you really can’t show the excitement from inside the huddle,” recalled Edwards-Helaire. “You just got to play the cool and collected role — and I’m pretty sure [that] just before that play, nobody can say Clyde was looking like he was about to get the ball.”

Just two weeks ago — after his costly fumble against the Baltimore Ravens — Edwards-Helaire wasn’t a very popular man in Kansas City. Then a week later, he fumbled again against the Los Angeles Chargers.

Fortunately, he has the luxury of having Reid as a coach. He said that there was never any panic in the locker room.

“Last week — the whole [of] KC (everybody) wanted to set me on fire [for] the week before that. And then you just go in and talk to coach Reid — and he’s like, ‘Bro, just chill, go out there and do your thing. It’s not [like] the world is ending because a play happened’”

The Chiefs will play host to the red-hot Buffalo Bills next Sunday night. This game could go a long way in determining the AFC’s No. 1 postseason seed. And Edwards-Helaire will be out there… doing his thing.