HEAD COACH ANDY REID
(On injuries sustained in the game)
“For the injury part of it, L’Jarius Sneed tweaked his ankle a little bit. Trey Smith hurt his pec a bit. I think we’re okay here with that part.”
(On Hurricane Ian)
“Listen, my heart goes out to the people of Florida for what they had to put up with here with the hurricane. That also is part of Tampa’s situation. I mean, there was a big threat there. The Bucs had to travel a long way. For Todd [Bowles] to get his guys ready to go, when they’re driving back and forth, is really something. So, he’s done a heck of a job with this group here. I think the Bucs are very lucky to have him.”
(On the overall performance by his team)
“Special teams, I thought, stepped up today. Start with [Chris] Lammons and the fumble that took place. Matt Wright stepping in, which is a real tribute to Brett Veach and his group. I was proud of the offensive line for the job that they did. They had a certain mindset about them, and they came out and presented that for four quarters. Patrick [Mahomes], [Travis] Kelce, Marquez [Valdes-Scantling], JuJu [Smith-Schuster], and then those two runners – well really three runners – they beared down and really did a nice job, which is big. You play this group and time and possession ends up being a major league thing. You don’t want Tom [Brady] to have the ball too long or for too many snaps. However, our defense, “Spags” (Steve Spagnuolo), had a nice plan for them – they’re very talented. They were able to get their receivers back and I’m sure they’re just going to keep getting better as it goes on, when they have more time to work with one another. All in all, when you can get three phases working in the right direction, it’s normally a good thing for you, and tonight was a good thing.”
(On the strong defensive performance in this game)
“When you play a good football team, it always starts up front. So, you give tribute to the guys up front. You give tribute to the linebackers, safeties tackling, along with the corners – they’re involved with that, too. I thought we tackled well, for the most part. We executed the game plan, which was good. ‘Spags’ (Steve Spagnuolo) and the coaches put a lot of time into that, the players believed in it, and they executed it. Against Tom [Brady], and that crew that they have, you’ve got to be spot on. They can score some points, they’re good. You’ve got to be spot on against them.”
(On the message tonight sends in comparison to last week)
“Listen, we stunk it up last week. We all knew that, we admitted it to you. We didn’t play the way we should play. Not that the Colts aren’t a good football team. You don’t do the things that we did and expect to win the football game. We were still in the battle for it, but you can’t do those things. The guys cleaned it up today, which is important. If this becomes an ongoing issue, then you’re not going to win a lot of games. So, it was important that the guys put their foot down and did what they did. My hat goes off to them for that effort.”
(On if he had seen anything like Mahomes spinning around in unique play to Clyde Edwards-Helaire to score a TD)
“No. No, that one wasn’t in the playbook.”
(On what Mahomes was supposed to do on that play)
“You know, I can’t remember what the play was – I was so excited about that one, but it wasn’t going to him – it wasn’t going to the back, not that way at least.”
(On where the Chiefs offense stands after all three tight ends scored in this game)
“Those guys have all been around here. So, they know what’s expected of them. We kind of had that going for a couple weeks last year and then Jody [Forston] got hurt. We expect them to play at that level. To have your bigs be able to do that – your big receivers do that and then for JuJu [Smith-Schuster] and Marquez [Valdes-Scantling] and Skyy [Moore] to come in and do what they did – they all had big plays. [Travis] Kelce, that was also a nice catch that he had down the middle. You don’t see that very often. The one behind him – he is a heck of a football player.”
(On Mahomes feeling relief about this win after the loss to the Colts last week)
“He was excited with the guys in there. We know we played a good football team, and we were able to get out of it with a win. He sure played a heck of a football game. Exclude that last one – I shouldn’t have even done that one. He had a heck of a football game.”
(On this potentially being his last time facing Tom Brady)
“Listen, he’s a great one, man. First ballot hall of famer – he has done everything in this business that can be done, and more than once. Heck, he’s been basically doing it my whole career as a head coach. I think I’m three years ahead of him. That’s a long time. That’s an old dog right there. That son of a gun – he is so accurate it’s ridiculous.”
(On the spinning play by Mahomes speaking to his abilities as a great quarterback)
“Just the fact that he knew where he was spinning to was good enough for me. To be able to get it off and then complete it, and for ‘25’ (Clyde Edwards-Helaire) to get his feet in was good, too. There wasn’t a lot of room there. [Mahomes] has had a lot of phenomenal plays and I always remind the coaches, ‘Don’t take it for granted, man.’ That’s special. You enjoy every one of those, man, every one of them. You just don’t see that very often.”
QUARTERBACK PATRICK MAHOMES
(On the Chiefs offensive line accepting the challenge of facing the Buccaneers’ top-rated defense coming into the game)
“They accepted the challenge. They made our team roll today. That’s a great defense, great defensive line. And I think they heard the talking, not only from them but from everybody about how they didn’t play well the last week. They accepted that challenge and they went out there, and when they dominate like that, it makes my job a lot easier.”
(On coming off last week’s performance vs. Buffalo and having to face the Buccaneers defense)
“Yeah, I mean we didn’t play our best football last week. And in this league if you don’t play good, you’re going to lose. That’s a great football team. That’s a great defense, a great team led by the best quarterback of all-time. So to come to their house and find a way to score some points and find a way to win, I mean it gets you, hopefully gets you kickstarted into the rest of this year.”
(On whether or not this was a bounce back game for the Chiefs)
“Yeah for sure, I mean you just don’t know – you have a lot of new players, you don’t know how everybody is going to respond. I mean, in the past we kind of bounced back and won games like this. But when you have a new group of people, you want to see how everybody battles with adversity. I think guys responded and they – the guys that have been here, led, and then other guys came in, in big moments and made big plays.”
(On how the broken play that resulted in a touchdown pass to RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a touchdown unfolded)
“Yeah I mean, first off, I missed a wide open touchdown the play before. I got in between ‘Do I just want to lob it to him or dot it on him. So I was upset with myself there. We rolled out and they did a good job of coming upfield and not going on that dive play we kind of always run with (FB Michael) Burton. But I was able to use my speed, well a little bit of speed, to get around the edge there. And then I was going to run for it and they kind of flew around and then I realized I wasn’t going to make it and I saw Clyde, so I just kind of flicked it up to him. When I spun – I kind of, I think the spin made me kind of decide to throw it again because I knew once I spun that I wasn’t going to have the speed to get in (the end zone). Before that I was thinking about getting to the pylon, but once I spun, I realized that Clyde was open.”
(On the Chiefs’ creativity at the goal line)
“Yeah, the coaches accepted the challenge. I mean we’ve struggled this year a little bit with short yardage and goal line whereas in the past, we’ve been really good at it. They came up with some great plays and at the end of the day the offensive line, the running backs and all the others and Noah (Gray), I mean, got up in there whenever they needed to get big and play big boy football. And that’s something we’re going to have to continue to do in order to score points.”
(On the touchdown run by TE Noah Gray)
“Yeah, so obviously that’s that play we always run with Blake (Bell) and Blake wasn’t available obviously, and so Noah, he said he did it in college, and so we went back and saw him do it in college. It wasn’t designed to be on the goal line but we were so close that we said, ‘Give him a chance’ and he got up in the end zone.”
(On when he slid at the goal line early in the first half)
“Yeah I checked down to the little speed option play and then once I got up the field, I saw there was a small chance I could make that guy miss but he was coming down pretty fast and it was like first down, so I just went ahead and slid.”
(On how important it was to get several wide receivers involved)
“Yeah, it’s going to be very important, especially in these big games. I mean, Travis (Kelce) had a big game, obviously. But in order to get Travis open, I mean you saw in the second half they were doubling him a lot. These other guys are going to have to step up and make plays. I think you saw Marquez (Valdes-Scantling), you saw JuJu (Smith-Schuster), you saw Skyy (Moore) make plays and then other weeks you’ve seen Mecole (Hardman). So it’s going to be everybody. I’ve said it week-in and week-out, but whenever guys step up in big games like today, it’s definitely special.”
(On using more multiple tight end sets and what makes that particular group so effective)
“Yeah, I mean obviously it kind of puts defenses in a predicament where they want to put their base personnel on the field, they want to put out bigger people because we can run the football like we did today. When they don’t we have to be able to run it and when they don’t do that we have tight ends that can split out and run routes. I think you saw that today with Jody (Fortson) down there on the goal line against a Pro Bowl corner running a slant route and catching it in the end zone. You saw Noah (Gray) out there making plays. It shows that we have the tight ends and when we get Blake (Bell) back, we have another guy that can block and still make some catches as well.”
(On his awareness as he approaches the line of scrimmage during a play)
“Yeah, I mean that just comes with practice and playing. You have a general sense of where the line is, I do for sure because I’m not the fastest guy running, so whenever I get close to it, if I’m going to commit, I make sure to commit and run. I think I did that today. I knew I was going to have to with how they play, I’d have to use my feet. I might have to do that as the season goes on and I’ll have to do that whenever the opportunity comes up.”
(On what his conversation with Tom Brady was like after the game)
“Yeah, I mean it’s short. I see him a lot in the offseason now and I just said good luck on the rest of the year. I feel like, I said this earlier in the week, I think in some interview where I feel like I’ve had the last game against Tom Brady like four times now. So until he is not on that field when I step on the field when I step on the field, I’m not going to believe that’s my last game against him.”
(On if was extra motivated returning to Tampa for the first time since Super Bowl LV as well as wanting to play well after losing to Buffalo last week)
“Definitely a mixture of both. When you play like you played last week, you have to be motivated to get back on track. But obviously playing at the stadium – I think when I got to the stadium I was like ‘Man I want to win here.’ The bad taste that I had from last time came into effect a little bit more. But it’s still not a playoff game. At the end of the day, it’s not a playoff game, it’s a regular season game, which is important. That Super Bowl is always going to be a bad taste for me.”
(On TE Travis Kelce’s comments regarding the play of his quarterback tonight stating that Patrick Mahomes is the Houdini of our era)
“Travis always has the great nicknames. I just try to win, man. At the end of the day that’s what I try to do. It’s not like I’m planning these things where I’m throwing sidearm or whatever it is, spinning, running around. I always say, I’m a competitor, I’m going to find whatever way I can do to make our team have success. Today was a spin and a little, I don’t know, a basketball shot that ended up a touchdown.”
(On the reason for being so successful on third down)
“Definitely game plan. We had a good sense, I mean most teams are kind of playing us very similar where they’re playing shell-type coverages early in downs and then a lot of man, double, man-robber with a sprinkle of a zone. So I think the coaches took it, like I said, they accepted the challenge. They came up with a lot of great plays for us and then the guys went out and executed. We have another big game coming up this next Monday, so we have to come with that same intensity this next week.”
RUNNING BACK CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE
(On the offensive line and motivation heading into this week)
“Most definitely. It was a sense of urgency, not just for the front five, but from [an] offensive standpoint. We all know it starts with the big guys up front and that was something coach [Andy] Reid started the week off this week. Just challenging those guys and we all know how it all unfolds. Once he challenges those guys, it’s obvious that he’s challenging all of us. We did what we needed to do and came out and they handled business.”
(On the play leading up to his receiving touchdown)
“That’s [Patrick Mahomes] man. It may be surprising to some, but it’s just one of those things that not necessarily we work on, but it’s scramble rules. It’s football man. Spacing – if a guy is out of space or out of his area where you feel like he should be then you get to the open spot.”
(On how his experience playing the Buccaneers defense his rookie season prepared him for today’s game)
“It’s always good being able to play football. Just when I walked into the locker room, we had the energy that was there, but mentally for me it wasn’t a good feeling. I mean the last time I remember being in that locker room everything was blurry because I was so damn teary-eyed. You take that and you kind of bottled it up and figure out where you want to put it. I listened to, literally, the same playlist that I had for the Super Bowl, and we went out here and did what we needed to do.”
TIGHT END TRAVIS KELCE
(On how the offense was able to move the ball so efficiently)
“First off, I want to say that’s an unbelievable defense. I think the stats before this game proved it. There’s a lot of attention to detail and I feel when coaches challenge us in the beginning of the week, from what you guys saw last week. There was an attention to detail throughout practice that we’ve got to maintain throughout the entire season because that was just showing exactly how much we were focused throughout the week. [Quarterback Patrick Mahomes] knew exactly where to go with the ball – guys that were running routes knew exactly when the ball was coming to them. Then on top of that, the o-line played their tail off. Sure enough, we’ve got the guys to be able to make any play on the field. When you see us fly around and play like that – play for each other like that – we know we are a hard team to beat.”
(On how much last week’s loss to Indianapolis motivated the team)
“You can throw it all together, man. There was a sour taste in our mouth from last weekend and the last time we were down here in Tampa. I’m going to put both of those behind me at this point. We’re here now, we’re going to roll with this momentum and how well we played today.”
(On QB Patrick Mahomes)
“The NFL hasn’t seen anything like [Patrick] Mahomes – I promise you that. You saw it today – he’s the Houdini of our era. The guy just finds ways to make plays throughout the game – big-time third down, big-time goal line plays [and] just willing our team to the endzone – willing our team to win. That’s our ultimate leader, man.”
CORNERBACK L’JARIUS SNEED
(On the forced fumble and if they’ve shown that play yet this season)
“Yes, we’ve been showing it. But, you know, I secured it well, and they didn’t pick me up.”
(On the ability to show variation in schemes and disguise plays they use against opposing offenses)
“The guys on the backend disguised it well. I tried to wait. I know Tom Brady is going to pick it up really fast, so I tried to wait and disguise it.”
(On forcing a fumble on Tom Brady)
“It felt good. It felt great.”
(On if his performance this season is what he envisioned for himself, becoming a complete player both in coverage and rushing the passer)
“It is much more than good, it is just the beginning of what is going on, so I’m just going to keep going. I’m getting better. I’m getting better day-by-day and week-by-week.”
(On coming into Raymond James Stadium after the Super Bowl loss)
“It meant a lot for the team, everybody. We had that chip on our shoulder coming in here after we played them last time and [it] didn’t come out well. Everybody came in with a chip on their shoulder [tonight] and it came out well.”
(On being able to avenge their prior loss)
“It feels wonderful. It feels great. It feels great.”
(On Patrick Mahomes’ performance and his play-making ability)
“I saw Patrick, the spin move he made, and threw it up. It’s unbelievable stuff. I’m glad I’m on his team though, I know that much.”