Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 1/18

This is Just the Beginning from The Mothership

We have seen the bar, as frustrating as it is after leaving opportunities on the field on Saturday that could have swung that game in our favor. The Patriots are that bar.

The Chiefs went toe to toe with the best head coach and quarterback in NFL postseason history, and the Chiefs did it all without their all-time leading rusher, two starting offensive linemen and their No. 1 receiver and All-Pro outside linebacker for much of the game.

The Chiefs had multiple opportunities to pick off passes from Tom Brady that could have made a difference, and that's what we've come to learn is the margin of error if you want to advance at this point in the playoffs.

It's a learning experience that nobody outside of the locker room would have predicted they'd have after they started the season with a 1-5 record, but that's what we learned about what's being built inside the walls of One Arrowhead Drive.

What We Learned from Sunday's Media Availability from The Mothership

Q: On clock management.

REID: "No, I could tell the Philly media was up in the booth (laughing). And I saw Adam (Teicher)'s - his article, so - the thinking behind it was that at 2:20 we had an opportunity to get a play in and run a play. We thought it was a good play and an opportunity to possibly score and so now you're sitting at the two minute warning with a touchdown and an opportunity to kick an onside kick. We worked those situations all the time so we wanted to maintain our timeouts the best we could, we didn't want to give the ball back to - at any point - back to New England after we go ahead and score that next touchdown. As it was said and done, we had a penalty involved there so it wasn't a perfect world, didn't work out quite the way we wanted it. So it took a couple shots to get it in and we still had 1:15 or 1:13 right in there that we potentially would've had three timeouts and an opportunity to drive the field, which I thought was huge.

Chiefs' Andy Reid explains clock-management strategy from The Kansas City Star

Chiefs coach Andy Reid defended his team's clock management at the end of Saturday night's 27-20 playoff loss at New England.

The Chiefs squandered about 59 seconds in the final 2 minutes, 29 seconds of the game as they tried to overcome a 14-point deficit.

"I thought the situation we were in, I thought we were handling it the right way," Reid said. "We had the plays. We knew what we wanted ... the bottom line is we scored. And we had time to score again and not give them the ball back."

Andy Reid: Chiefs wanted to tie game without leaving time on clock from ESPN

The Chiefs ultimately took four plays to score after the two-minute warning.

"It's a fine line between getting in the best play versus keep going at the line of scrimmage," quarterback Alex Smith said Saturday. "Certainly, it would have been nice to get a score before the two-minute warning. It would have helped tremendously with three timeouts [remaining].

"We probably could have just kicked off and gone for the stop, and we would have had decent field position."

Mellinger Minutes are managed better than Chiefs' clock, but can we stop pretending that's why they lost? from The Kansas City Star

The clock read 1:13, so it took the Chiefs an even 100 seconds (and the 2-minute warning) to get 1 yard. Terrible.

The Chiefs have to be better there, and it's an easy thing to cling onto, but it is a bit strange that the Chiefs never led and lost a playoff game on the road to a better team but the takeaway for many seems to be that they blew it in the last two minutes. They should've been better, should've been down seven with three timeouts before the 2-minute warning, and that's one of those things NFL teams have to answer for, but there are at least a dozen more important reasons they lost the game.

Then again, Reid did not help himself with what he said afterward.

Reid says Chiefs had headset problems at New England from The Associated Press FS Kansas City

Reid said the problem occurred in the first half between the coaching staff and the radio in quarterback Alex Smith's helmet.

But Reid said they cut out "just a little bit, not much," and did not think that they were anything out of the ordinary.

It's not the first time that headsets had trouble at Gillette Stadium.

2015 Chiefs came so far, had so far to go from ESPN

Eventually, the Chiefs will get the time to process everything and they'll come to the realization they accomplished much, if not their ultimate goal. The Chiefs made something of a season that six weeks in appeared headed on a disastrous track. They broke an eight-game franchise losing streak in the playoffs, and if nothing else, that alone made this season a positive. The Chiefs rid themselves of the cloud that always seemed to loom over them in January.

They'll head into 2016 with not only that burden removed but also with the knowledge of how to be winners, the lasting remnant of the 11-game winning streak that was busted by the Patriots.

Knee brace limits Chiefs defender Justin Houston's ability to play from The Kansas City Star

"The knee brace tightens everything up," said Houston, the NFL sack leader with a club-record 22 in 2014. "My hamstring, my calf, everything is so stiff, I couldn't move with it. And I can't play without it. It hindered me a lot.

"I wasn't where I wanted to be. I would have given anything I had to be out there a full 100 percent, or even 80 percent and help the guys out. I felt me playing more, I probably would have hurt the team more than helped it."

Chiefs head into offseason after another playoff letdown from The Associated Press via FS Kansas City

This wasn't a blown 28-point lead, like what happened two years ago in Indianapolis. Or failure to force a punt, which happened on another occasion against the Colts.

This was a 27-20 defeat that left the Chiefs wondering what might have been.

What if their star players -- wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, pass rushers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali, even running back Jamaal Charles -- weren't dealing with injuries?

What if Knile Davis hadn't had a costly fumble?

What if the Chiefs didn't squander precious seconds at the goal line trying to score their final touchdown, ruining their opportunity to get the ball back?

Chiefs sign receiver Fred Williams, four others to reserve-futures deals from The Kansas City Star

Preseason star Fred Williams, offensive lineman Laurence Gibson and defensive lineman Jimmy Staten have signed reserve-future deals with the Chiefs, sources told The Star on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the agents for tight end Ross Travis and offensive lineman Michael Liedkte tweeted that their clients also signed reserve-futures deals.

Reserve-futures contracts begin when the new league year opens in March and don't count against teams' current roster limits.

Fred Williams among players to sign reserve/future contracts with Chiefs from Chiefs Digest

Kansas City previously signed wide receiver Kenny Cook, defensive end Dominique Davis, linebacker Cameron Gordon, defensive back Jordan Kovacs, fullback Trey Millard, defensive tackle Alameda Ta'amu, defensive back Keith Lewis and defensive back Deveron Carr to reserve/future deals.

The Chiefs are allowed to sign free agents to a reserve/future contract as long as that player was not on the active roster when the season ended.

Teams sign players to reserve/future deals with a view to the upcoming season when the league's calendar year begins, which for 2016 is March 9.

Bill Belichick: Josh McDaniels called a 'magnificent' game against Kansas City Chiefs from MassLive

The Patriots abandoned the run Saturday against the Chiefs, which was fine because the Chiefs were pretty much helpless against the pass.

Much like they did in Weeks 1-9, the Patriots spread the field with four and five receivers and let Tom Brady go to work.

Tom Brady had his first 300-yard, turnover-free game since Week 8 versus Miami.

Andy Reid: Chiefs Had Headset Issues During Playoff Loss To Patriots from NESN

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Sunday his team had issues communicating from the sideline with quarterback Alex Smith during the first half and that the headsets cut out "just a little bit, not much," according to the Associated Press. However, the AP said Reid didn't believe it was "anything out of the ordinary." So that settles that.

Chiefs' Jamell Fleming: Of Course Danny Amendola's Hit Was ‘Calculated' from NESN

"Of course he knows he stuck me and everything," Fleming said after the game Saturday, per The Boston Globe. "And the crowd knows it, but there's nothing I can do about it. We have one of the best pooch-area punt teams, of course, and I find the ball very good. "

Of course that was calculated. That wasn't no fluke play. Everybody knows that, your own fans know that. So that's how you know it's bad."

Dear Doug Pederson: Some Andy Reid habits to avoid from Philly.com

Primarily due to Reid's perceived influence on the Eagles' search for a replacement for Chip Kelly, Pederson is being pegged as "Big Red Light."

For now, Pederson cannot do much to change that. Still, if he does not want to be tagged even more as a "mini-Andy," here are some things he may have learned from Reid that he should not bring to the NovaCare Complex.

Some are important and some are trivial but all are important if Pederson wants to establish his identity without the looming shadow of Reid.

Andy Reid: Doug Pederson not taking coaches to Philadelphia Eagles from The Sports Xchange via UPI

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said offensive coordinator Doug Pederson will not take many coaches with him to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Pederson was an assistant to Reid in Philadelphia and came with him to Kansas City.

"I don't think so," Reid said Sunday. "Starting back with Mike Holmgren, and Mike Holmgren with (late 49ers head coach) Bill Walsh, you always kind of check with the head coach on those things. Normally, what you want to do is start and take your own guys and go build a program. That's kind of how you roll."

Jeremy Maclin says Eagles fans should be excited about Doug Pederson from NJ.com

The Kansas City Chiefs have been eliminated from the playoffs, meaning the Eagles can now officially hire offensive coordinator Doug Pederson to be their new head coach.

A move that one former Eagles player, and current Chiefs receiver, thinks is a good one.

"He's a guy who understands how things are supposed to be done," Chiefs receiver Jeremy Maclin said to Comcast SportsNet. "I think he's going to do great things. I'm excited for him. He deserves it, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he does up there."

Pederson landed the Eagles job despite having what was arguably the worst resume of the six candidates that interviewed for the job.

Matthew Slater takes Chiefs' triple-teaming in stride from 247 Sports

Slater, a five-time Pro Bowler and three-time All-Pro for his work in the kicking game, lined up as the right gunner on fourth-and-8. And across from him stood two Chiefs - Steven Nelson and Tyvon Branch - who followed him in bracket coverage as he motioned inward before snap.Yet there was another member of the punt-return team who had his eyes on Slater as well.

Husain Abdullah moved from the end of the defensive line over to the numbers as the play clock counted down to 16 seconds.

It was a triple-team.

Cairo Santos plays its part, but Kansas City Chiefs lost to New England Patriots and falls from SupereSportes [translated from the original Portuguese]

The Brazilian Cairo Santos failed to prevent the elimination of his Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs of the NFL, the US football league. First player born in the country to work there, he did his part and converted the kicks that tried but his team was no match for the strong New England Patriots and lost 27-20 on Saturday night in Foxborough.

New England Patriots defeat the Kansas City Chiefs and dreams of the Super Bowl from O Tempo [translated from the original Portuguese]

Despite the defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, the kicker Cairo Santos noted two field goals and reached good 35 FG's mark over the 18 games played by his team. The biggest problem was the team's inability to score TD's against a highly dangerous opponent. In the first six possessions of the team, QB Alex Smith managed to lead his attack on the defensive field Patriots. But the Kansas only managed 6 points.

Terminally ill fan sees Chiefs play before removed from ventilator from KSWO

Bruegging had one last special request. He wanted to stay on his ventilator so he could see the Kansas City Chiefs play the New England Patriots in Saturday's divisional playoff game.

Chiefs Ambassadors Dave Lindstrom, Anthony Davis, Mark Collins and Tim Grunhard learned of Bruegging, his condition, and his love of, and passion for, the Chiefs.

So, the group paid him a visit in his hospital room.