The Kansas City Chiefs are 10-3 after defeating the Denver Broncos in Week 14. Andy Reid addressed media members on Monday, providing some updates after the win. He spoke about the team’s injury situation, what they’ll need to work on coming out of the game, the running back room, and his decision to accept a penalty in the fourth quarter.
Here are some quick takeaways from what Reid had to say:
No new injuries to report
The best news coming out of Week 15 was that the team escaped the game against the Broncos injury-free. Reid confirmed as much after the game and reiterated the fact on Monday.
“So, again, don’t have any injuries for you,” Reid said. “Guys are just coming in. I don’t know that we (have any new injuries). I haven’t heard of anything since last night. So, we really kind of came out of it fairly clean last night, I think. We’ll see today.”
Considering the injury report had a dozen names on it leading into the game against Denver, this is great news as far as getting the team as healthy as it could possibly be for its playoff push.
There are things to work on, but the win mattered most
There are things to work on after every game, but this particular game will leave the Chiefs working on turnovers and the situations that succeed them. The most important thing coming out of this game was that the team was able to get the victory.
“We got up by 27 points and we had a couple of the interceptions take place,” Reid said. “(It) allowed (the Broncos) to get back in it. We’ve got to do a better job with those. We’ve got to do a better job transitioning after those on the defensive side. Not letting them score. We’ll go back to work on that. The important thing is that we won the game and played for the four quarters and came out on top. That inevitably is what’s important here.”
Andy Reid joked in the locker room after the game that Patrick Mahomes threw the three interceptions just to see how good the defense was.
Why Andy Reid didn't decline holding penalty
One of the more confounding decisions during the course of the game came in the fourth quarter. The Chiefs had the Broncos in second-and-24 at the K.C. 29-yard line. Russell Wilson threw an incomplete pass on the play, but there was a holding penalty. Reid accepted the penalty to make it second-and-34 instead of third-and-24.
Asked about the decision, he explained that field position was the thought.
“Yeah, I think the first one might have been field position on that,” Reid said. “I’m not sure exactly just recalling it, but field position was one of the thoughts.”
Basically, he wanted to take the Broncos out of field goal range back to the 39-yard line. He believed that the defense had a shot to keep them out of range of scoring points. Unfortunately, they allowed the Broncos to gain 23 yards on second down and convert on third down.
Chiefs are pleased with their running back situation
It took the bulk of the season, but it appears the Chiefs have found the right combination of players at the running back position. Isiah Pacheco and Jerick McKinnon accounted for over 200 yards of offense for the team in Week 15. Coach Reid had nothing but good things to say about the duo and how they’ve become a nice 1-2 punch for Kansas City.
“Yeah, listen, I do think they complement each other,” Reid said. “Completely two different types of games and we’ll just keep bringing (Isiah) Pacheco along as we go. I also feel (Ronald) Jones, who we have sitting on the bench is a good player. So, it’s really a pretty good situation right there at that position. Knock on wood. But you have a good balance there.”
Jones didn’t play any snaps on offense or special teams in Week 15, but it’s good to hear Andy Reid giving him some praise as well. There will certainly be a time when they’ll need to get him more involved on offense.
