Odd Couple: Raiders HC Del Rio and Chiefs HC Reid Vie for Division

During Oakland Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio’s tenure in Oakland, he’s coached against legends, upstarts and retreads. Yet, one coach represents the single greatest threat to the success of his team. With gritted teeth, RaiderNation needs to respect Andy Reid. While every hero needs a villain, Del Rio has the perfect foil in Reid. Equally important is Oakland needing to break the five-game Chiefs winning streak. Fact: In those 5 wins, Oakland failed to score more than 20 points.

What makes Reid the perfect enemy is his success. Since 2000, Reid’s teams own a .602 winning percentage. In addition, his 16-3 record after bye weeks makes the schedule very important. With that said, Reid’s teams copy his calm demeanor and laid-back ways. For example, in Philadelphia, the Eagles invented food related days for players. Taco Tuesday and Fast Food Fridays became staples of team tradition. Whatever he used as motivation worked. Meanwhile, can you envision Jack Del Rio having a bratwurst during lunch?

Style of Offense: During most of this tenure in Philadelphia, Reid depended on the passing game that featured the tight end. In contrast, Del Rio loves the running game. From Taylor/Jones-Drew to Murray/ Richard/Washington, JDR prefers the run. Yet, their ideas on the pass blow the mind. Reid believes in Alex Smith’s history of checkdowns and shorter pass. Del Rio places his faith in Carr to let the ball go downfield. So, the defense-minded coach loves the vertical passing game and the offensive guru likes dink and dunk.

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Personality: If Reid is the light-hearted jokester, Del Rio’s calm demeanor portrays seriousness. Reid embraces emotion and fire. At the same time, JDR is all business with little foolishness. Stands to reason that Reid can tolerate reality show star Travis Kelce. Moreover, the Chiefs could tolerate Tyreek Hill’s abusive past. Del Rio and the Raiders would not go near Hill. Not to mention the strong anti domestic violence stance.

On the surface, Reid is the funny guy. Yet, Del Rio serious nature channels into his foundation that bears his name. Additionally, Del Rio’s Twitter game reached hilarious level with tweets like this:

Granted, with both coaches under 60, this rivalry will continue for years to come. Reid presents the roadblock to the Super Bowl. In other words, the division title goes through Kansas City.

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