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Chiefs Players Say Monday Night Football Hangover Not To Blame

By Joel Thorman
Getty Images

The feeling amongst some media folks after the Miami Dolphins dominated the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday was that the Chiefs were feeling the effects of a short week and a couple of emotional and physical victories over division opponents.

The players, however, weren't using that as a reason for the loss. For the most part, they said in the locker room after the game that the short week wasn't an excuse and they just didn't execute the way the Dolphins did. Chiefs coach Todd Haley took the blame for the loss, as he did after the first two blowouts to start the season, but the players said (publicly, at least) that Monday Night Football wasn't to blame for the 31-3 blowout to the Dolphins.

"It's a short week but we knew who the Dolphins were," Chiefs LB Andy Studebaker said. "We knew they were a good team. We knew they had a lot of playmakers and those playmakers made some plays today. We could've done a better job of stopping them.

"Other than it being a short week and a little less preparation time, it's football," Studebaker continued. "You can't want to play on Monday night one week, love it and be all about Monday Night Football, and not be OK with a short week. So you take the good with the bad."

I think that's a good point by Studebaker -- you can't love Monday Night Football but hate what comes after it.

"I'm not an excuse guy so I wouldn't say it's an excuse from playing Monday night," LB Derrick Johnson said. "You gotta be a pro. It's Sunday and you gotta do what you gotta do to get ready to go. We didn't do that."

FB Le'Ron McClain said he felt they did everything they needed to do during the week to prepare for the game but just didn't get it done.

"I approached the week the same way, watched film the same way, thinking the same way stepping on the field," McClain said. "The ball just didn't fall in our court today."

"You can be mentally and physically tired but as a professional you can't allow yourself to be mentally and physically tired," CB Brandon Flowers said. "You just have to execute."

The general feeling from the players is that they had enough energy left to play today -- at least that's what they told us. That said, I do feel that it's nearly impossible for a team to go from the emotional highs they saw against Oakland and Denver San Diego and replicate that against a winless team. 

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