Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to media members on Monday following the team’s 19-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Here were some of the items that stood out:
1. Reid said the Chiefs may have been “trying too hard” to make something happen against the Colts.
“I thought, at times, we were trying too hard catching the ball or running the ball and not working our way upfield — that would be an example of something like that,” he said. “At times, you can do too much. The penalties, obviously, we’re more disciplined than that. We have to do a better job with the penalties. Way too many. The turnover (by LeSean McCoy), I thought, came at an inopportune time – not that they ever come at the right times, but when you’re working your way down in to a potential scoring position, you can’t do that.”
Reid reaffirmed that there is much season left to play.
“All is not lost,” he said, “even though things get magnified in the National Football League, especially when you have a national game like that. The positives were that we were able to get some guys in that had not had the extended playing time; Morris Claiborne, then Khalen Saunders got an opportunity to jump in there and play some on the defensive line and Ben Niemann got extended time there at linebacker.
“We had a few guys nicked up and those guys had – whether they’re old but new to the team, or a young guy – an opportunity to get some experience and to play. Again, throughout the duration of the season, you’re going to need everybody. We did have a few injuries and guys worked in there to step up.”
More on all the Chiefs’ injuries here.
2. Reid said there is no excuse for the team’s inability to tackle at times.
“We have to do better with it,” he said. “Again, those are things that we can learn from. There’s a time and a place where you come up and get after a guy. There’s a time and a place where you just need to get him on the ground in situations. That’s something that we can learn from. The ones that I’m talking about were pretty big situations where you have an opportunity to potentially get off the field, or at least put them in a third-and-long situation. But we’ll improve on those things as we go here.”
The Chiefs gave up 180 yards on the ground, including 132 yards to running back Marlon Mack.
“I think it’s just more playing together and working it to where you’re confident in the guy next to you,” Reid said. “It’s all gap responsibility. The responsibility is there when you’re talking about the run game. It’s important that everybody trusts everybody and that you get in there when it’s live and going. Stay aggressive with it. That comes with playing. Listen, it’s everybody. We are all a part of it. It’s not players or anything, we all have to do our job better. I’m right in that mix. I think from a defensive standpoint, time helps out with some of that. As long as you keep the right attitude and you’re playing downhill football and you keep the aggressiveness going.”
3. Reid commended safety Tyrann Mathieu on the athleticism he showed on the interception play.
“You got a chance to see his athletic ability after the catch,” Reid said of Mathieu, who returned the ball 30 yards after the pick. “Those were ones that we were close on over the last couple of weeks. He had a couple of opportunities in the one game there with the Ravens. When you look at it, and when you get into the NFL, there is a small margin between winning and losing – there’s also a small margin between making the play and not making the play. We have to narrow that down. But, that’s one of the positives that you take out of the game.”
4. Reid said the offense needs to be better against man coverage.
(Editor’s note: more on that here.)
“There’s a certain attitude that comes with man to man,” Reid said. “You have to think and present to the defense. I don’t think we did a great job of that, I think we can do better there. I can do better on giving the guys plays with better guesses. That’s where we all become a part of this thing. It’s not one answer.”
Reid again explained how he needs to do a better job putting the pass-catchers in the right areas to succeed.
“You have to put them in the right position as a coach,” Reid said. “It is man to man. And then you have to take care of business up front. While those guys are out there working for you trying to get open, you have to make sure you’re sound upfront. It’s a combination of everything, the play call and then the execution by the front and by the receivers.”
5. Reid discussed the disagreement between offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy and tight end Travis Kelce.
The Chiefs tight end was caught on NBC cameras pushing his offensive coordinator. The two later hugged.
“You see that every week, everywhere,” Reid said. “That’s football. It’s an emotional environment. Travis had a potential couple of fumbles going on where they had the ball. He was mad at himself and EB got after him a little bit. Those things happen but it all worked out all right afterwards. That happens you just don’t have that many cameras normally than you do on a Sunday night game.
“If you look around the league, it’s an emotional game. You see grown men up here who have tears in their eyes after a game, you know that also carries on the field. They all want to do good. Coaches want them to do good and the players want to do good. Emotions get involved sometimes.”