Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to media members on Monday after the Chiefs defeated the Oakland Raiders 40-9 on Sunday. The Chiefs’ next game is with the New England Patriots next Sunday at 3:25 p.m. Arrowhead Time.
Here were some of the items that stood out:
1) Reid related Tyrann Mathieu’s understanding of football to that of Patrick Mahomes.
Tyrann Mathieu intercepted Derek Carr on the Raiders’ first drive Sunday, and the Chiefs never looked back.
“He’s got a knack for it,” said Reid, discussing Mathieu’s nose for the football. “He’s had it since college — he just had the great feel for the game. When I first had a chance to sit down and talk to him, he reminded me a lot of Patrick (Mahomes) that way. Just their sense of the game and feel for the game — it’s special. Tyrann, I think that’s his strength as a player. He works very hard at the game, but I think he also has this innate ability and instinct for the game.”
Mathieu has rubbed off quite a bit on rookie safety Juan Thornhill, who had a pick-six off of Carr later in the game.
“He’s been great for Juan,” added Reid of Mathieu. “He’s been great. He’s always talking, and Juan’s a smart kid, who also has good instincts, but just knowing the game — catching up, I think that Tyrann’s been great for that in that way.”
2) The Chiefs have been intentionally moving Patrick Mahomes out of the pocket a bit more over the past few weeks.
From Mahomes leading the Chiefs in rushing two games ago against the Los Angeles Chargers to his 13-yard scramble for a touchdown on Sunday against the Oakland Raiders, it is probably safe to say that he has recovered from early-season injuries.
Reid explained Monday that the Chiefs have even felt comfortable enough to build in some plays to get the quarterback out of the pocket and on the move.
“The last couple weeks we’ve been doing a little bit more of that,” said Reid. “You’ve seen that. He’s so good at it; he’s so good at doing it naturally. He had a few of those, too, but there are things that we’ve asked him to do by moving the pocket a little bit, and it’s only because that plays into his game. He’s very good at that.”
3) Reid expects the league to revisit the pass interference replay rule in the offseason.
Reid tried challenging for a pass interference call early in the game Sunday and lost. Later in the game, the Chiefs won a booth review for pass interference.
Reid was asked Monday if he believes the league might adjust the rule that has become quite random moving forward.
“I think it will be revisited,” said Reid. “The league does that. They try to perfect everything, so painstakingly, they’ll go over everything. That’s what the competition committee does. That’s why it’s there, so this will be a topic I’m sure since it’s new. My experience with it is that — that’s how the league does it. And we’ll see.”
Reid is in his 21st year as an NFL head coach.
“I’ve been around long enough to know [the league] is always going to try to do what’s best for the league, and not that this is right or wrong, but if they feel — and they don’t shy away from it — they look at things, and then they go, ‘All right. This is good. Let’s try to make it even better. This isn’t very good. Well let’s try to make it better. Well, we can’t. Boom. Get rid of it.’ They’re not afraid to do that. So whatever way this—I can’t tell you which way this goes. I don’t know that, but I know the league will look at it. I think the league does a great job at that.”
4) As to be expected, Reid is high on tight end Travis Kelce, even suggesting that he could continue to get better moving forward.
Kelce is approaching his fourth straight season of 1,000 receiving yards. No tight end in NFL history has accomplished such a feat.
“He’s a special player,” said Reid, who drafted Kelce with John Dorsey back in 2013. “We can move him all over the place. He’s got a good feel for it. The crazy part is he can continue to get better, which is a neat deal. And he wants to get better — that’s maybe more important than having the ability to get better.”
Kelce doesn’t turn 31 until next October.
“He wants to get better at all areas of his game, which makes it enjoyable to coach the guy. And you’ve seen him grow over the years as a player and as a teammate and all those things. He’s got great ability. He knows how to play the game. He’s another one of those guys who has a good feel for it.”
5) Reid hinted that we could see more of rookie running back Darwin Thompson Sunday against the New England Patriots.
More on that here.