Controversial fourth-down decision made unfortunate history for Chiefs HC Andy Reid

The Kansas City Chiefs have fallen to 6-7, and their playoff chances are looking slimmer by the day.

Patrick Mahomes had the worst game of his career in the 20-10 loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday.

However, it wasn't entirely on him. He was playing behind three backups on the offensive line, Rashee Rice, Kareem Hunt, and Travis Kelce had brutal drops and he was going against an elite defense.

More than that, his head coach didn't do him any favors, either.

Andy Reid's big fourth-down decision sealed the Chiefs' fate

Facing 4th-and-1 on their own 31-yard line and with the score tied and 10 minutes left to play, Andy Reid had Mahomes attempt a pass out of the shotgun. Per ESPN's Nate Taylor, Reid had never made such a decision in his Hall of Fame career. The pass ultimately fell incomplete.

"It marked the first time in Reid's career that he went for it on fourth down with the score tied in the fourth quarter or overtime and with his offense inside its own 40-yard line," Taylor wrote.

That's what desperate teams and coaches do. That's not something one of the greatest offensive minds in football history does.

The Chiefs were battling injuries, their own woes, and arguably the toughest-hitting defense in all of football. Analytics aside, that decision didn't make sense, much less attempt a pass when they had a short-yardage specialist like Hunt there.

The Chiefs no longer depend on themselves to make the playoffs. And while Reid deserves all the praise he gets for what he's done with this team, his decision-making has also set the team back multiple times this season.