Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings Sunday, November 3, 2019 Game 9 Vikings Head Coach Mike Zimmer
ZIMMER: “Game of big plays. They made more than we did, and I thought we fought like crazy. We did not just play well enough to win. I give credit to them. They played well in a lot of areas, but we did not play well enough to win.”
Q: What did you see from the defense on that 91-yard touchdown run?
ZIMMER: “Well we mis-fitted a little bit. We had a pressure coming off the outside. We got a little wide and missed two tackles.”
Q: How do you feel Matt Moore did? You put a lot of pressure on him in the second half.
ZIMMER: “He made some good throws. He made some good plays.”
Q: Do you think the Chiefs drive with three penalties swung the momentum in their favor?
ZIMMER: “I don’t know. We did not have a lot of penalties today. They called one on a screen where they said the line was too far down the field. You will have to look at it on tape and see. I don’t know.”
Q: Why do you think you were not able to get the running game going?
ZIMMER: “They did a nice job in playing the run. They did a good job mixing up the fronts.”
Q: On half time adjustments…
ZIMMER: “I thought we were throwing it a little bit too much, and we had to get back under control and get a little bit more balanced.”
Q: Did Adam Thielen reinjure his hamstring or was it not good enough to go?
ZIMMER: “You will have to ask him.”
Q: On the coverage, did you see holes for the big plays?
ZIMMER: “The one on the far sideline at the end of the game, I thought we should have made the play. We were there. The one early was a double move that we did not play very good. When Travis Kelce caught the ball on the inside breaking route late we were in good position. We just did not make the play.”
Q: How do you feel Kirk Cousins played today? ZIMMER: “I think there are some plays he would rather get back. I don’t think we helped him a lot today.”
Q: How do you think they were able to stop Stefon Diggs today?
ZIMMER: “I don’t know. There are so many things going on. I could not tell you that today.”
Q: What was communicated to you on those pass interference calls?
ZIMMER: “I am trying to think. I thought it was a pick. It is a gamble anytime to challenge, but they have to be held accountable too. Then the other one was obviously a bad call because they overturned it. They let the last one go, so it is hard to tell.”
Q: What do you think of the way Laquon Treadwell stepped in?
ZIMMER: “I don’t know. It is hard for me to see what everyone is doing.”
Q: How frustrating is it to see your kicking today?
ZIMMER: “Things happen.”
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings Sunday, November 3, 2019 Game 9 Vikings QB Kirk Cousins
Opening Statement: “Back and forth game, tough ending. Credit the Chiefs for the plays that they made time and again. We obviously, as you do with any loss, look back and point to a handful of plays in different places that we felt like we didn’t execute well enough and are capable of doing better. We want to thank our fan base for the way they traveled to this game. I thought they were outstanding all game long and made what is a very tough place to play, somewhat easier. That was outstanding. Just a hard-fought game that we didn’t make enough plays to come out with the win. There are plenty that we’ll go back and take a look at and talk about. Until I see the film, it’s hard to say all the details. Certainly, it’s never any one thing.”
Q: With a tie game, you get the ball with a little over two minutes. You have to feel like the game is yours right there.
COUSINS: “I mean, it’s a great opportunity. I don’t know if you feel like the game is yours, but you have a great opportunity to make it yours and go do something. So that was one of the disappointments, to not do more on those final two drives when we had the ball in the fourth quarter.”
Q: On the frustration of losing this game after being 4-0 and the offense looking so great…
COUSINS: “I really treat it as 16 separate entities. If you put four together, it doesn’t really mean anything. You never know what the next game is going to bring, and this is a great example. You never know what narrative you’re going to put together. You just have these 16 separate events and they’re all different. The challenges that you’ll face are all different. What worked one week might not work another week, so you have to reinvent yourself. There was some of that today. They did a good job. I think Coach Spagnuolo and their players did a great job taking some things away that we tried to do.”
Q: Why do you think the passing game didn’t seem to click like it has in other games?
COUSINS: “Again, never any one thing. It was a combination of them doing a good job in coverage, trying to take certain things away. I missed a couple throws and we had some longer third downs that made it harder. It’s harder to be productive and efficient with the down, when it’s third and nine plus, penalties hurt, and Adam [Thielen] going out. It was a variety of factors that all come together. I thought the two-minute drive at the end of the half, having to settle for a field goal was tough. I kind of knew at halftime that was a big drive and we should’ve come away with seven. There were several incompletions in there. Nobody was wide open, but you go back and say, ‘what could I have done to try to get seven instead of three.’”
Q: On the frustration of not being able to convert on third down later in the game…
COUSINS: “There were a couple plays where you just have emotion and you’re trying to tell a guy what to do. That’s hard to answer because it’s any number of things. One down it was a good defensive call by them, one down you miss the throw, whatever it may be.”
Q: On penalties and third down conversions…
COUSINS: “Yeah, penalties are tough. We’ve said that all along. It’s no excuse, you need to overcome them. I think one of the drives we did overcome some penalties. In the third quarter, I think we had three drives; one was a bad penalty, I think we overcame it, and the two drives we got a penalty and couldn’t overcome them and got stuck in third and long and had to punt. The penalties certainly robbed us of some chances. We had a really good short yardage menu this week, but we just never got to a third and one. Some games you get five of those and it’s going to make you feel a lot better about your third down offense, when really if you’re having third and one it’s a lot easier than a third and long.”
Q: On the missed extra point…
COUSINS: “You get to the end of the game and you look back at all the different plays, but as you’re playing you just go to the next play. You just focus on what you have to do next and how we react to the previous play whether that includes a penalty, a missed throw, a sack, a punt, whatever it may be. You never look back except to just learn from something quick and immediately look forward to what the next challenge is going to be and how you’re going to respond.”
Q: On the problem on the last two drives…
COUSINS: “Not any one thing. The first play, we ran a bootleg and didn’t get anywhere with it. Second play, it’s all running together, I’m not remembering it. Third play, we ran the ball and didn’t get it. We had a penalty there that they declined. The final drive we had a drop-back pass that got batted down at the line of scrimmage. We wanted to work [Stefon] Diggs there on an inside slant, they batted it down. Second down, we ran a screen and they sniffed it out and made a play. Now we’re on third and 10 plus. We had the pressure and I threw it at Dalvin [Cook]’s feet just to avoid the sack. Each play was a different thing but obviously we couldn’t string enough together to stay on the field and that’s what we’re frustrated about.”
Q: What did you think when you lost Adam Thielen? COUSINS: “You know it is not ideal, but you look at their sideline and they are missing some people. You understand that at this point in the season you have to respond when you face adversity and we are probably healthier than many teams. You have to find a way to still get the job done.” Q: How do you balance not wanting to take a hit and getting the play? COUSINS: “It was not not wanting to take a hit. I just did not realize I had not gotten there yet. What I needed to do was look left and get a feel for it or dive headfirst. When you dive headfirst you can usually get a yard or two more just by the nature of the way you go to the ground. I was just feeling like I had climbed and had gotten enough yards, but clearly didn’t, so that was on me to not get enough yards. It is frustrating when you feel like you had it. It is hard enough to get them so when you have one, when you don’t feel like you get it that is really where you can get frustrated.” Q: Were they doing anything in particular to throw off your play-action? COUSINS: “Yeah, I think some of their coverages did a good job taking away some of our bigger shots. You go back and see that we missed a couple in the flat where there were good plays, good completions, but the throw was high. One where I went to the back of the flat and a good option across the field, but just got to my back quickly. There were some that we hit. We hit a play action to Irv Smith Jr. so we had a few, but we probably did not have as many as we had in past weeks and to say why I would say a combination of coverage, couple missed throws in the flat nothing big. That is about it.” Q: On the screen game today… COUSINS: “Yeah, effective. Screens often put you in the poor house or they put you in the penthouse. It just kind of depends and you don’t know when you call it and we had a few that were big time. We had one called back on a penalty. It killed a drive. Then we had one on the last drive of the game that put us in the third and long and we didn’t hit it. You live by it and then you have to accept the consequences when it doesn’t hit. Again, credit the Chiefs for, while they gave up a couple, they stopped a couple as well. Just that one at the end they stopped, and it certainly put us in a tough spot and backed up to convert that third down.” Q: Do you feel like you were throwing off your back foot? COUSINS: “I think it was not so much back foot, but my hips were open to the middle of the field reading a post route or a far cross and then I have a flat to my right and rather than flip my hips throwing it from that open position, trying to make that throw. That contributes to the ball being high and I think as a quarterback you take pride in being able to make all of the throws without having to move your hips. You know being able to do a shoulder turn and throw the ball, but certainly you go back and look and say should I just flip my hips there and gotten the ball? I think one of the guys was on a stunt and got in there, but on another one I could have probably done that. I take pride in throwing it accurately regardless, so you have to make the throw because a good quarterback does not have a base and can still make a throw.” Q: How much did you sense Chris Jones on their defense? COUSINS: “Until you watch the film it is hard to know because I am kind of looking down the field and not looking down at the numbers and who is in there. There were times where I felt like I was triple hitching and I thought our O-line was doing a phenomenal job. In that two-minute drill I felt like there was a couple times where I was holding onto the ball pretty long and they gave me a ton of time. I think Chris or whoever else on their D-line did get in there a couple times to make a couple plays. In NFL pass rush, you expect that.” Q: On Laquon Treadwell coming in… COUSINS: “He did a great job. I thought I caught two big third downs, caught a big ball in the two-minute drive at the end of the half, they got us down there so it was great to get him involved. Hopefully we can really rely on him going forward.”
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings Sunday, November 3, 2019 Game 9 Vikings Players
DE EVERSON GRIFFEN Q: On the game. GRIFFEN: “We made some mistakes, but it was a close game. We’ve just got to keep playing complimentary football, go out there and win the game. I’m just frustrated. We wanted this win. We’ve just got to go out there and execute better.” Q: Do you think the loss came down to allowing the Chiefs to make explosive plays? GRIFFEN: “Tyreek [Hill] had some explosive plays. They get paid just like we do. They’re going to go out there and make some plays as well. I think we’ve just got to compromise. When we get the ball out, we’ve got to get the fumbles. The ball bounced right to them. It’s little things like that. I feel like we’ve just got to stay on track and not let this one game define us. We’re 6-3 right now, I think.” Q: They’re [Chiefs] a formidable team even with six starters out. GRIFFEN: “They played well.” Q: When Eric [Kendricks] had that big blitz and knocked them [Chiefs] way back, did you think that was going to be too far for them to kick that field goal?
GRIFFEN: “We had the blitz and we knocked them back, but then he [Moore] threw the ball and gained 20 yards on the play, I think. That put them in field goal position. That’s when he clocked the ball. What was it [the field goal attempt] a 33-yarder, 32-yarder [44-yard field goal]? Danielle [Hunter] almost blocked it. He got his fingertips on it. It was a close game. We’ve just got to play complimentary football. I’m just frustrated. It hurts.”
RB AMEER ABDULLAH Q: Kirk [Cousins] did some things effectively with you, with [Laquon] Treadwell, it seems like the ball went to some different weapons today.
ABDULLAH: “That’s part of our offense. I just think he did a good job going through his reads at times and finding the open guy.” Q: This has got to be a frustrating loss. ABDULLAH: “Absolutely. There are definitely a bunch of plays we wished we had back. But, I’m still proud of this team the way we fought today. I wouldn’t expect anything less and I know we’ll respond well.” Q: There was a lot of purple in the crowd today. ABDULLAH: “A shout out to SKOL nation for showing up through the end of the game. I don’t expect anything less. They’ve been doing it all year. We definitely appreciate the fan support.” Q: You guys have been playing so well. You’ve won four in-a-row. How tough is this loss? ABDULLAH: “It’s tough, but we’ve got to move on. I know this team’s going to do a good job moving on and getting better.”
Q: Do you feel that you left anything out there on the table today? ABDULLAH: “Of course, we’ll go back and watch the film. We’re not going to live in a woulda, coulda, shoulda life because we’ve got to execute in those moments and I know next week we will.”
RB DALVIN COOK Q: They [Chiefs] put an all-out press on you today. COOK: “No. We’ve just got to capitalize and take advantage of the moments [we had]. We didn’t do that today.” Q: What were they doing so well against you to limit your yards? COOK: “They weren’t doing anything. We had what we wanted. We just didn’t take advantage. We’re a good, close-out team. And today, we didn’t close the game out. That’s what it came down to today.”
Q: You had some explosive plays today. You had [Laquon]Treadwell coming through. You had Ameer [Abdullah] coming through.
COOK: “Yeah. We just didn’t close the game out at the end. That’s what it came down to today.”
Q: Everson [Griffen] said you guys can’t let this game define who you are and the rest of the year. How important is that right now?
COOK: “It’s the NFL. Teams are good. You’ve just got to fight back the next week. The type of locker room we’ve got. The type of guys we’ve got. The type of leaders we’ve got. We’ve just got to go regroup, learn from the film and go get better.”
Q: Given how well you guys have been running the ball in the endzone, do you feel that you left a few opportunities out there today?
COOK: “I don’t get caught up in all the stats. I think when we got down there we capitalized. Like I said, at the end of the game, we just didn’t finish the game.” WR LAQUON TREADWELL Q: What was the difference at the end of the game? TREADWELL: “It was execution. They executed at the end of the game and we fell short.” Q: Can you talk about the play where offensive pass interference was initially called? TREADWELL: “They went to a cover-two. He jumped-jammed me. So I had to swim him and got outside. We call that the hole shot, and Kirk threw it because the corner tried to jump the slot and so he found me in the hole shot and I knew the safety was going to come bang me and I just had to do my job that was part of the read. Once they played two, we rolled over and hit the hole shot.” Q: On Adam Thielen’s leaving the game due to injury opening up an opportunity for him: TREADWELL: “I’m just doing my job. That’s what this league is about. Just being ready and prepared for the opportunity and doing everything you can to help the team win. We took a loss today, so we got to learn from it and get better and come back to work.” Q: How tough was today’s loss? TREADWELL: “It’s always tough. Any loss. We still got a chance. We got everything in front of us. This is something we all can learn from and compare to get better for when those situations come later in the game. We’ve been there, we’ve took a loss. All we can do is win from here.”
Q: Was it hard to get into a rhythm due to the Chiefs defense? TREADWELL: “Yeah, their defense is really good. They did a great job trying to take Stef [Stefon Diggs] away. It was up to the rest of the receiving corps to make those plays and fill that gap for the offense. They took away the run and they did a really good job of stopping the run today. We just have to continue to make plays. The ball just bounced their way today.”
FB C.J. HAM Q: How good was Kansas City’s defense today? HAM: “They were good. They obviously studied well and did what they needed to do. I feel like we had a lot of missed opportunities on offense. We will get those corrected and we will be good.”
Q: What did work well was the screen game. Talk about how you were able to set up those screens?
HAM: “Guys just went out there and did their job. They were selling out where they were supposed to sell out. We were fortunate enough to get some good yardage on screens.” Q: On his 32-yard reception. HAM: “I used to play running back, so I haven’t seen that much open field in front of me in a long time. It was fun to go out there and get that play.” Q: A lot of good things happened today, it seems like you just needed one more: HAM: “We were going up against a tough opponent. We knew it was going to be a tough game. We just came up short at the end. We did a lot of good things on both sides of the ball. We just have to execute and fix the little things and find a way to get the W at the end.” Q: On bouncing back after this loss and getting ready for the Cowboys: HAM: “You can’t make one loss turn into two. Obviously, we will harp on this today and tomorrow, and then it’s on to Dallas.”
P BRITTON COLQUITT Q: How does your mindset change when you see a guy like Tyreek Hill back to return a punt? COLQUITT: “A lot of factors come into play. Their other returner (Hardman) is really good as well. Like I wasn’t thinking about returners the whole game anyway. It’s a wind day out there in a loud Arrowhead, and then they put Tyreek back there. You know if he touches the ball then something really dangerous could happen. So you do anything you can so that he cannot touch the ball. The first time it worked out good, and I got more distance on it. The second time, it didn’t. I definitely feel like I let our team down and put us in a bad position, field position wise at that time of the game. It’s one of those things where that guy gets it in his hands, he’s one of the most dangerous people in the NFL.” Q: Are there very many guys like that, that makes a punter think twice? COLQUITT: “I would say half of the teams in the NFL have a guy that makes you think twice where the game plan is don’t let him touch it if we don’t have to and can control it. I would one hundred percent say he’s the most dangerous person (Tyreek Hill) in the NFL.”
Q: Were you able to meet up with your brother after the game? COLQUITT: “Yeah, I always get a chance to talk to him. And I will meet up with him in the parking lot and everything like that. We’ll hangout and hug and all that. We’ll get some pictures after the game. At the prayer in the middle of the field after the game, we got to give God the glory together holding hands. That’s always a blessing and really cool.”
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings Sunday, November 3, 2019 Game 9 Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid
OPENING STATEMENT: “Ok, no injuries to report. My hat goes off to (Harrison) Butker for those last two field goals. That last one was as clutch as you can get and our defense I thought just stepped up and had a beautiful day. We had a good game plan and they executed well. Offensive line buckled down and did a nice job which helped the running backs and helped our quarterback. I thought Matt (Moore), that was a gutsy performance by him and he utilized his receivers. I thought he did a good job of that. Special teams had a couple nice returns there, a couple you can learn from, but I thought we had a couple there that were very good. Field position became a big part of it. We dang near gave it away at the end, but we kind of hung on to bring it back where we needed to, to get that field goal. With that, time is yours.”
Q: What was working for you in the run game?
REID: “I’m proud of our defense for continuing to work and get better. One of the objectives is to get better every week, and a goal there, and they have done that. Some of the young guys are growing up. They have a great quarterback and great skill position players and I thought our guys really buckled down and did a nice job to challenge them. The guys up front, my hat goes off to them for the pressure. They were able to get there at the end on the quarterback.”
Q: You’ve answered a lot of questions this season about the run defense and for them to go out there and hold the best rusher (Dalvin Cook), what about this game gives you more confidence about the defense?
REID: “Well he’s a great running back and the best right now going, so our guys buckled down and took that challenge. They worked hard this week to make sure they started with that but made sure they kept their pass rush ability up and cover on the drops there. I think that’s a good football team and Mike (Zimmer) has done a nice job with the group. It’s a good win and it’s a good win for us too.”
Q: What did you see in the ability of Tyreek (Hill)?
REID: “He has a couple of big plays now. Both he and (Travis) Kelce stepped up right at the end there. Those were big time plays. That last play to get us between Kelce and then Tyreek coming back, made somebody miss getting up field and getting down, and we were able to preserve some time there so we could kick it.”
Q: How was Chris Jones tonight? REID: “Chris (Jones) did a nice job. It’s good to get him back in there. As long as this goes, the more we will be able to get guys back in. We’ll just add them to the mix to get a little more depth. It’s good experience that these guys have gotten. It will help us down the road here.”
Q: Can you talk about the obvious relief of getting a win at home again?
REID: “The crowd was phenomenal. There was a lot of purple and they just voiced them out. The whole thing clapping over the head and all that, I think our PA guy did a nice job of cranking up the Arrowhead pride there. They were yanking the music out and nulled out that clapping deal. It brought us right back to home.”
Q: Can you speak on the veteran presence Matt showed in those last two drives under pressure?
REID: “A lot of pressure. He’s got some fire to him. He’s a tough kid and he took a couple licks there but got back up and finished. Just him calming the storm I thought was good. That throw to Kelce was big. I wasn’t quite sure how that was going to go but it worked out for us.”
Q: What did you see from Damien Williams (91-yard) run?
REID: “I thought 77 did a great job, Andrew (Wylie), he came down and just cleaned that side out and it popped it. My hat goes off to him getting back in there and having a block like that was big. They blitzed, it was man coverage, and then I thought Tyreek (Hill) on that play of getting down there and walling that guy off, only Tyreek can do that. He’s the fastest guy out there so he was able to get in position to wall him off and I thought that was big on that play.”
Q: Having Tyreek Hill on the punt returns seemed to throw them off, was that the plan?
REID: “Yeah that was Dave’s (Toub) plan. You hope that he gets an opportunity to catch it and return it. If he doesn’t then the results were good results.”
Q: How close was Patrick (Mahomes) to playing tonight?
REID: “He’s getting close. You just have to know he wants to be out there, it’s not his decision on this. We kind of backed up on it. We listened to the doctors and the trainers and made the decision. If he had it his way he would’ve played the next play after it happened. That’s how he’s wired.”
Q: Steve Spagnuolo said it would take about four weeks for the defense to come together, are you where you want them to be at this point?
REID: “I’m not going to say a time on it. I know what he said. You can see it happening, you guys are watching it. We have so much room to improve. We have to keep going. We aren’t near where we can be or where we will be. We just keep pounding it and get better and working hard. This group has a good mindset about them where they will work and they aren’t afraid to do that.”
Q: You’ve talked a lot about the margin of error in games and you say you learn something about your team every week, what would you say you learned this week?
REID: “It doesn’t seem to be that the guys worry about much on that kind of stuff. You don’t hear guys moping around or this should have happened or that should have happened. I haven’t seen that. Even in the losses I didn’t feel that. It’s just what can we do and let’s keep going and strike whether it’s on offense or defense or special teams. It’s been that kind of group so far. That’s a real positive thing and gives opportunities in games like this right here.”
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings Sunday, November 3, 2019 Game 9 Chiefs QB Matt Moore
Q: Can you walk me through those last three plays with the sack and fumble on first down and then the pass to Travis and Hill?
MOORE: “Yeah, wow I don’t want to say miscommunication, but we were just having some issues with some communication there and time was running out. We were just trying to do the best we could, and it was not a situation you want to be in with the lack of communication I guess, but you’ve got to overcome it which we did and that was nice, and then obviously the big play to (Travis) Kelce. He did a great job of winning, and created tons of space, so it was kind of easy to just lay it out there for him, and he made a strong catch in a crucial situation and then Tyreek got us a little closer for the field goal at the end. Just tons of clutch plays from some big-time guys.”
Q: Did you expect zero blitzes once you got to the final drive?
MOORE: “Yeah 100 percent. I think we were a little scatter brained if you will, we were running all over the place a little bit which made it tough for us to adjust to what they were doing, and that’s on me 100 percent. I don’t want to be in that position, and I don’t want to put our guys in that position, so we just got to get in and out of the huddle, and get the play called in quicker fashion that way we can evaluate what’s going on.”
Q: It’s been over two years since you have won a game in the NFL, what does it mean for you, and what was it like to see your teammates sort of respond to the way you got the team into position?
MOORE: “It’s exciting. I mean it gets the juices flowing obviously. This is an emotional game, the emotions were all over the place today, but to see the team and the guys win at home and rally through all three phases was great to be a part of, and great to see.”
Q: Do you feel like after today’s game that you can continue this for the next two weeks if needed?
MOORE: “Yeah, I feel good. We’re only going to continue to grow everyday, myself included. I’m comfortable absolutely. You know you go in each week, study the game plan, you practice it, and as a result, your comfort is only going to grow even more. I feel good.”
Q: You said after the last game that you just didn’t want to underthrow Tyreek Hill and you’d rather overthrow him. Did you feel that touchdown pass you threw to him tested him a little bit? MOORE: “I saw him and he did a great job winning, and Its nice when you see the DB’s back turned to you, and he is going, and I just tried to put it out there as best I could. I didn’t see the catch live, I ended up seeing it later, but he extended for it which was great, and he got there which was a great play by him.”
Q: Were you thinking at all that when you threw the ball you may have thrown it too far?
MOORE: “No, I was getting taken to the ground, so I let it go, and was just thinking man I hope he gets there.”
Q: The last one, the contested one, what was your vantage point on that play?
MOORE: “I still haven’t seen it. That was an awesome one to throw it and take a shot and then initially I was like oh man, but then the crowd went crazy, and one of the O-linemen was like ‘Matt he caught it, lets go!’ and I was like sweet here we go.”
Q: Going back to the final drive, was there much discussion that you needed to get to a certain yardage point on the field to give Harrison (Butker) a chance to hit the field goal?
MOORE: “I’m sure that was being discussed on the sideline, but we were executing the plays that were coming in. Obviously the closer you get the better, but I didn’t have any of that discussion.”
Q: On the last play to Tyreek to set up the field goal, was that the designed route or was that an adjustment he made?
MOORE: “That was his route. He quickened it up a little bit which was great and what we needed, but no he executed perfectly there.”
Q: So as soon you recognized the blitz are you immediately thinking that’s where you want to throw?
MOORE: “Yes.”
Q: The long run by Damien (Williams) late, what was your view of that as it happened and did you see how far (Tyreek) Hill came from to make the block?
MOORE: “I did not see Tyreek make the block. I saw Damien hit the hole and then he went in and out. I saw him almost get tripped up, and it was funny I was just joking with him about how I wish he could have heard me yelling. I was like a little kid screaming running down the field. I didn’t see Tyreek’s block but I’m sure I will. It’s always nice when your backed up and you can just hand it off and score.”
Q: 265 combined yards between Damien and Tyreek, what allowed both parts of the offense to be so efficient today?
MOORE: “Yeah, I mean really that’s a good defense at some points we were just trying to take what the defense was giving us based on formations. We had some things going, our guys were executing blocks well. It’s kind of hard sometimes as both teams are constantly adjusting, but you know we got a couple runs going which opened things on the outside. We didn’t get much one on one coverage with him, but he did a great job of finding holes in the zones or just getting down field far enough so that he was one on one, and I could put a ball up.” Q: With Patrick out and some other guys out you guys have lost 3 of 4 can you put in perspective how big it is to come out with a win?
MOORE: “I mean you just always want to win the next one up, but to get this one at home after losing a couple at home and win it the way we did was awesome. It was a fight till the end, and you love to see that from your team. They are all important, so to get this one the way we did was important.”
Q: This was a similar situation to last week’s game with five minutes left defense is on the field and your wanting an opportunity. From your vantage point what was it like to see your guys come through?
MOORE: “It was awesome, they played outstanding, and sitting on the sideline that last drive and seeing the defense make some big plays was huge. I think they got the offense going a little bit. Again, can’t compliment special teams and defense enough as well as the offense, but just love to see those guys play the way they did.”
Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings Sunday, November 3, 2019 Game 9 Chiefs Players
Q: After the first field goal in the fourth quarter, how quickly did you get into the mindset that you might have to kick another one again shortly after?
BUTKER: "I was jacked up. I was enjoying it in the moment. But to be successful as a kicker, you can't go into a kick with a lot of adrenaline. So, I was just kind of pacing on the sideline, taking deep breaths, trying to get back into that calm mode that I think I do my best at as a kicker. Tie game and our defense is out there. They did a great job stopping them, so I knew that it was going to come down to a field goal. We got great field position and then we made the kick."
Q: How did you have to adjust today, based on the wind?
BUTKER: "The 54-yarder I thought I hit really well. But on that 44-yarder, we were talking in the locker room like, 'Did it get blocked? Did it not get blocked?' I know, from watching the film, that the guy jumped over the long snapper in the 'A' gap, but it's kind of hard to tell if it got tipped or not because the rotation was a little weird. Glad it went in. My ball, as a right-footed kicker, kind of has a left hook on it. So, going towards the north endzone, that was more of a tough wind. That's why when I made the 45- yarder on the right hash with the right-to-left wing – the same kick that I missed last game, it was a 50- yarder on the right hash with a right-to-left wind – I was really pumped up that I made that. We worked that same kick really hard in practice, so that set us up so be in a good position for the 54-yarder. But going the other way was more of a left-to-right wind, and I think that wind almost straightens out my ball. I got to watch the film closer to see if it was blocked or if it was low, but I know that the guys jumped over our center and was right there to try to block it."
Q: Where did you feel like your range was as that point of the game going in that direction?
BUTKER: "The 54-yarder I hit well. I thought that if we had a 58-yarder or 60-yarder, I would have had to just put more into it. I felt good. When it's the end of the game, if it's a long field goal, you just put more leg into it, and you could make it. I liked that right-to-left wind. Really glad that we were going to the south endzone for the game-winner."
Q: How important were those extra yards that Tyreek Hill got on the reception to set up the game- winner? BUTKER: "Every yard helps, especially on that 44-yarder. I don't know if that would have been good from 46 yards. I'm going with that it got blocked. I have to watch it more, but that's what I'm going with (laughter)."
Q: What are those moments like before attempting a game-winning kick within the specialist group?
BUTKER: "We are definitely not joking around. (Dustin Colquitt) tries to loosen me up a little bit throughout the week because I do take kicking very seriously, maybe too seriously. But after we made that one from 54 (yards), I was super pumped up. Then he kind of gave me my space. I think that's when I do my best, when I'm just kind of in my own zone. The whole time we're talking out there. When I'm taking my steps, I'm saying where I'm going to aim and we're just talking through it. He is my caddy. He does a great job as a holder. I think he is the best holder in the NFL. It truly is a team effort. If that ball doesn't have perfect lean, if it's not right on the spot, we maybe don't make the kick. I can't say enough about Dustin and James getting perfect laces every time."
Q: Because of the wind and flight today, did you not know that it was in right away?
BUTKER: “I know that I hit some ground before I hit the ball, and usually if I hit ground, the ball still has end over end rotation. That one I hit it and I thought I heard it blocked. A lot of o-linemen said they thought they heard it get blocked, and I looked up and the ball wasn’t going end over end. It was kind of going crazy, but it was going straight so it’s just about if it is going to have the distance or not. Luckily it did. Like I said, I’m going with it got blocked because I’ve never hit a ball that looked that weird and was that low. We’ll see when I can watch the film.”
Q: The first person to greet you on the field was Patrick Mahomes, what did you make of him running out there and what happened out there?
BUTKER: “I was sprinting down, I think it was from my soccer background growing up when guys scored they would sprint the other way. When I was going, I saw Patrick and I wanted to embrace him, but I was like, ‘No, he can’t get hurt,’ (laughter) and then Tyreek was encouraging me to go to the endzone and jump in with the fans. That was a lot of fun. I’m just enjoying this moment and giving all the glory to our Lord, Jesus Christ. I’m just so happy for this team to get a big win. We’re moving forward with a lot of momentum.”
Q: You were talking about calming yourself down on the sideline, did you get a chance to kick into the net or was it all mental stuff?
BUTKER: “Oh yeah, I kicked into the net a couple of times. My body has been feeling great all season. I feel like I can just kick all day. Once I just calm down, I’m kicking into the net, so then once I run onto the field, it’s like I’m doing the same thing I have been doing on the sideline.”
Q: They had a timeout; did you think they were going to maybe try to ice you?
BUTKER: “I did check and I saw they had a timeout. Honestly, I feel like every time a coach calls a timeout, that helps me and I make it. He didn’t call a timeout and it went in. I don’t know, maybe I shouldn’t check to see if they have a timeout or not. It went in and we were super excited.”
P DUSTIN COLQUITT
Q: What are your thoughts on Harrison Butker's last couple of kicks?
COLQUITT: "Unreal. 15 years, that's probably the windiest (condition) I have ever punted in. That's the windiest it's been down on the field like that. For kicking, in general, it's hard to do that on days like today. He stuck with it, kept his head down, hit two big kicks for us. Kudos to our offense for getting the ball down there and getting us into a position for him to do his job, and he did it. The defense came up huge a couple of times on third down. Team effort. It was great. We stuck together. Any time that we got backed into a corner, we came back swinging."
Q: What were some of the things that you and James Winchester were telling Butker prior to attempting the game-winner?
COLQUITT: "It's like practice. Where we practice, it's super windy, too. I just said that we are going to have to have that idea of hitting it at a certain point, and then letting the wind do the rest. He bought into that and hit both of those exactly where they needed to."
Q: Playing against your brother today, was there any banter beforehand?
COLQUITT: "Definitely. Just tough on that last one (for Britton). You've got Tyreek (Hill) back there, super windy, and they went to a rugby game. Rightfully so. You have to do that in this weather. My heart goes out to him. It's even hard to talk about it. But it was a good team win for us and we have to keep rolling."
Q: Is it always a little special to have him on the other side of the field?
COLQUITT: "Yeah, and stressful, too. You're praying for him the whole time. You're wanting him to hit a big ball. With what he is doing, he is such a good Christian man. He has changed that culture up there in Minnesota. I heard that from almost every player that came up to me today. It was fun listening to that and hearing what he has done for that building."
WR TYREEK HILL
Q: It looked like you just started out by trying to get in front of the last defender on Damien Williams' TD run. Was that the goal?
HILL: "Yeah, and then I noticed that I could actually run D-Will (Damien Williams) down. He was right there, and I was like, 'OK, I don't mind showing my speed,' you know what I'm saying?"
Q: Can you take us through your route on your TD reception?
HILL: "It was just a sail route. I did a good job of selling it. We had practiced that the whole week. (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid and my receiver coach (Greg Lewis) were telling me to sell it, because they like to run a lot of Cover 2. That particular play, I believe, was Cover 1, but I sold it and Matt (Moore) threw a perfect dime. The offensive line protected and did their thing and I was able to catch it."
Q: From upstairs, it looked like that ball was going to be over-thrown. Did you ever think that it would? HILL: "No, man. Can't nobody over-throw me (laughter)."
Q: On the first two balls that were thrown to you today, it seemed like you were hit hard and unable to come up with the catch. Was that in your head at all?
HILL: "No. I don't ever think about that. Even if I do something bad, I always go to the next play. My teammates are going to hold me accountable. But, it's a long football game. You've got 60 minutes to play football. I just move on to the next play."
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: How emotional was it for you to help the team get the win in your first game back?
JONES: "So damn emotional, you know what I mean? You saw how excited the crowd was. I love their energy. I haven't been out in over a month. I haven't been out there to enjoy the crowd and enjoy my brothers. Especially for me, my emotions were bottled up. It was an emotional game for me."
Q: Could you feel the emotion from the fans in return?
JONES: "Always. The fans are always in-tune. Minnesota (fans) kind of pissed me off by doing that in our stadium. You're not going to come into Arrowhead and do that. We had to respond big. We had the opportunity to rush on third down. Spags (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) called one hell of a play and we executed."
Q: What does a win like this do for the team?
JONES: "Every win in the NFL is hard. But, it's just another win, so you have to now prepare for next week. Preparation is key. The defense held the rusher to under 100 yards. Dalvin Cook has been playing some of the best ball in the NFL. We were fortunate enough to get the win and execute on defense. Now we have to execute next week."
Q: How does this game feel?
MATHIEU: “It is a big win for us. Coming off of three straight losses, we are just trying to get that bad taste out of our mouths. I thought we played the game the right way today. I thought guys stepped up in a tough situation and made some big plays. Big up to (Harrison) Butker, man, two big time kicks. I’ve seen him make kicks all year going back to the spring, he is so committed to his craft. For him to have that opportunity is big time. Big time win for our team.”
Q: What does a win like this do for your team moving forward?
MATHIEU: “Hopefully it gets us rolling. We have been doing a lot of good things defensively. We have been trying to see those things stack up and carry over into the next week, week after week. I thought today we played pretty well against a really good offensive team that can really run the ball and set up deep play action passes. I thought we did a good job of competing each and every down and trying to get off of the field on third down. I think when it mattered the most we stepped up and made the play.”
Q: When you had to make a stop at the end of the game, what worked this week as opposed to last week?
MATHIEU: “You know this is the NFL and contrary to popular opinion, most games are like this. We have had our fair share of close games. I thought today was a win for everybody. Nobody waivered. Nobody looked at the scoreboard. There was a lot of positive feedback, positive encouragement on the sidelines. I think little things like that can carry over.”
Q: What did Chris Jones bring back to the field today?
MATHIEU: “Chris is a play maker. He makes big time plays for us. I think, anytime, having him out there, even when he is not necessarily out there wrecking games with sacks, his presence really benefits us as a defense.”
Q: How do you balance protecting against the deep passes and stopping Dalvin Cook in the run game?
MATHIEU: “I thought we had a great game plan. I could tell, early on in the game, they expected us to be in a lot of man to man and we kind of switched that up. We had to have multiple eyes on Dalvin Cook. He is a great player, tough tackle, especially in space. I thought he made some great runs today but I thought, overall collectively, I thought our front did a good job of putting a hat on him. I think (Derrick) Nnadi and Khalen (Saunders), I said they are not the biggest guys in the world but they play low to the ground and they made some big plays for us.”
Q: What does it say about this defenses ability today to get key stops when it has been an issue the last couple of weeks?
MATHIEU: “We knew what kind of defense we could be with the talent we have. I think it is all about going from play to play, situation to situation and understanding the circumstances. It starts in the front end to the back end, whether it is in the run game or the pass game all 11 guys have to be on the same page. I thought, for the most part, we did a good job of that.”
Q: What impact did Chris Jones have on the defense today?
NNADI: “With him back, it does a lot for our defense and opposing offensive lines. He is, honestly, a downhill player. It is great to have him back on the inside. From D end to D tackle, either way, I am glad to have my dog back.”
Q: What allowed you to keep Dalvin Cook below his average production today?
NNADI: “We were just playing our keys, from being scoots to slips, just playing as a D-lineman, your first opponent is the offensive line. If you can beat the offensive line, you can stop the run, point blank.”
Q: Did you notice any frustration from the Vikings offense? NNADI: “Honestly, I was not worried about that. I was worried about me doing my technique, playing the man in front of me and keep rolling. I don’t worry about how they are feeling mentally. I’m worried about stopping the play, keep rolling and worry about us. At the end of the day, it is not about what they can do. It is about what we can do as a unit.”
Q: Do you feel like your defense is getting steady improvement?
NNADI: “That’s the goal every week, to get better and better. I feel like we are going in the right direction of improvement, from all of us on the D line, especially Khalen Saunders did a phenomenal job today. I am really proud of him. From the backups in the way back end to the front four, front seven we have been doing really great.”
Q: How nice will it be to get Patrick Mahomes back?
NNADI: “That would be great but at the same time, I want him to get 100 percent healthy. Do what he has to do to get healthy and (Matt) Moore is going to hold down the fort for us.”
Q: Did any part of you think, after the first down sack on the last drive, that you were going to overtime?
SCHWARTZ: “No, you are disappointed and you are wondering what just happened. We were still kind of close to Harrison’s (Butker) range because he has such a huge leg. We still had a time out, still had two plays to get to fourth down. It seemed like Matt (Moore) was in a groove today and slinging it pretty well, we knew we’d stay aggressive. You saw it, Travis (Kelce) makes a great play and Tyreek (Hill) makes a great play and Matt makes a couple of nice throws. With our playmakers you don’t ever take your foot off of the gas pedal.”
Q: What was your view of the 91-yard touchdown run and did you see Tyreek Hill make the block?
SCHWARTZ: “I did not. I was on the back side, they brought some pressure off of the right, maybe brought a guy or two, so I had to slow down and block the defensive end. I think a guy came across to cut the edge. He seemed like he was bringing coverage so his guy kind of followed him and took himself out of the play. I think on that play the catch on those long runs is the receiver has to take someone out there, whether it be a safety or a corner or whoever it is. Credit to our skill guys because they work as hard on that as anybody and understand where they’ve got to get to. There are almost zero long runs in NFL history where a receiver isn’t making a key block or two.”
Q: How good does it feel, as an offensive lineman to flip the game on a running play?
SCHWARTZ: “It’s awesome. It is one of the best feelings to see it open up. I saw him hit it and did he even have a guy to make miss? I think he had one guy to wiggle who was 12 or 13 yards away. He doesn’t get caught in the open field, we saw that in the preseason versus San Francisco. It’s pretty exciting and a great run by him to see the hole. Great blocking. We talked about the receiver and the tight end, that’s pretty awesome.”
G ANDREW WYLIE
Q: How excited does an offensive line get when a long touchdown run breaks like the way it did today?
WYLIE: "Words can't describe how great of a feeling it is seeing that go. That is a sweet, sweet thing, seeing a running back take off like that with nothing but green grass in front of him. It is a beautiful sight. Words cannot describe how happy I am and how happy the offensive line was to see that. We were due for one of those."
Q: How did the OL get the run game going today?
WYLIE: "Today it was clicking. Those running backs came with a purpose. We talked, as an offensive line, and we were rolling, too. They have a great front seven in Minnesota, but we were handling them pretty well. They brought a variety of fronts and blitzes, but we were handling it. That big run just kept us going for the entire game."
Q: Did the Minnesota fans doing the "Skol" chant inside of Arrowhead Stadium today make you guys frustrated?
WYLIE: "Oh yeah. We got the chop going, but those guys are flapping their wings or whatever. We saw that they had a lot of guys here. It just adds fuel to the fire.”
RB DAMIEN WILLIAMS
Q: What did you see on your 91-yard touchdown run?
WILLIAMS: "We saw that they were shading on the backside, so I knew that all I had to do was really press it and feed the linebackers to my line. After that, they did the work. All I did was run."
Q: Were you surprised that Tyreek Hill caught up to you running down the field?
WILLIAMS: "No, I wasn't surprised at all. I told him, I said, 'Don't embarrass me like that anymore on TV."
Q: With the way that the game was going, what did it say for you and the offensive line to finally get the run game in sync?
WILLIAMS: "I've been doing this with the line since last season, when I got the opportunity to really get behind them. Going into camp and starting off the season how we did, it was kind of sketchy. We really needed to establish the run game. We went out there and we played hard-nosed football."
Q: What were you saying in the huddle before the touchdown? What turned it all around?
WILLIAMS: "We kind of knew that it was going to be a dog fight. We knew that they had a great defense and we knew that if we wanted to come out here and win the game, that we had to establish the run game. We can't just try to air mail it every time. People weren't respecting the run game, so we had to make them respect that run game."
Q: When did you know that Tyreek was running right with you? WILLIAMS: "I was actually looking at the big screen the whole time. I'm looking and I thought that he was coming on my other side, so when he came to the right side, I almost dropped the ball and all (laughter). It was good. I know that he made a great block, I could see it on the screen. Like I said, all I did was run, everybody else did the hard work."