Andy Reid roundup: 4 takeaways from the Chiefs head coach

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid met with the media over a Zoom conference call on Monday, less than 24 hours after the team’s 24-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

Listen to the full presser above or by clicking here.

In his opening statement, Reid said he saw Sunday’s game in the same way he had seen it immediately afterward — reiterating that his Chiefs made more mistakes and lost the turnover battle. Reid added that when Buffalo wins the turnover battle, it is undefeated.

Reid then took questions, which we have rounded up in four takeaways:

Reid shared what he has seen when evaluating his offensive line play through six games.

The Chiefs have had their ups and downs along the offensive line, with strong play against teams like the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Las Vegas Raiders, along with less impressive efforts against the Indianapolis Colts and the Bills.

“We’ve been fortunate to play some good defensive lines — and that helps you get better,” said Reid. “You’re going to lose every once in a while. That happens all throughout the league and you’re striving to win every battle — but at the same time, we’re playing really good, talented defensive lines. That’s the bottom line — and we have another one coming up this week — but we look forward to those challenges because it helps you down the road (and helps you) become better. Andy (Heck) is always looking for things to do up front to work the protections and that’s not going to change. He’s going to keep doing those kinds of things to try and work according to what they present.”

Reid plans to hold off on determining the line’s identity at this moment.

“They’re a tough group,” he said. “They did a decent job with the pass protection yesterday against a good defensive front. Run game, we got to clean a couple of things up there but there were some good things and there were some things we got to take care of. But what their identity is? I think it’s probably too early in the season (to say). I like doing identities at the end of the year — not at the beginning.”

Reid chuckled before closing.

“I know they’re a tough group, if you want a feisty group. So you can take that for right now and then we’ll see how we grow.”

Reid shared words on how he felt the defensive line performed against the Bills.

Pro Football Focus credited the Chiefs’ D-line with 16 of the 23 pressures against Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Defensive tackle Chris Jones recorded a trip sack.

“I thought we did a good job. When we didn’t get there, we at least blocked a few throws – and you’re not talking about a shorter quarterback back there,” laughed Reid.

The Chiefs also added three bat-downs as a club.

“He’s a big kid. We were able to block a couple of them there. But, we’ll always be growing there with it, but we seem to get decent pressures at times on them and that’s an important thing that we keep getting better at down the road.”

Reid conveyed what he as learned about wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who played his best game of the season in the loss

Smith-Schuster had five catches for 113 yards and a touchdown (more on his night here).

“JuJu loves to play the game and that’s the part that I appreciate about him,” said Reid. “And he’s really tough and he’s very strong. But he loves to play. And those kinds of guys can hang with me all day. I like that.”

Reid provided updates on both linebacker Willie Gay Jr. and cornerback Trent McDuffie.

• We have more about Gay’s return this week here.
• We have more about McDuffie’s possible return this week here.