Postgame Quotes
Kansas City Chiefs at Carolina Panthers – November 24, 2024
CHIEFS HEAD COACH ANDY REID
Opening Statement
No injuries. Peyton Hendershot had a right calf that cramped up on him. Other than that, he came back
in and did a nice job there. Thank you to the fans. There was a lot of red in the stands, and we sure
appreciate the support. Heck of a game. Ended up as a heck of a game there, but there were some good
things. There were some good things we can take out of this. Pat (Patrick Mahomes) had a big day, 24
for 33 for over 240 yards. Then the big scramble at the end. That was a beautiful thing. Noah (Gray) had
a big day with 66 yards on four catches and a couple TDs in there. Third downs were great. Matt Nagy
does a great job with those. So we were 7 for 12 there. Then defensively, Nazeeh (Johnson) again came
up as the leading tackler on the defensive side and did a good job throughout. (Mike) Danna with four
tackles, and then he had the big strip sack there. Then most of all, listen, Spencer (Shrader) closing it
out, that’s a whole lot of pressure for a new guy. He’s in here replacing a future Hall of Famer. So that’s
not easy to do in these games. He did a great job. Too many penalties as we worked through this. We
had nine penalties for 90 yards, too much. We’ve got to make sure we take care of business on third
downs. Again, both sides were working that. But we’ve got to make sure we get off the field, and then
offensively stay on the field. Other than that, time is yours.
On Patrick Mahomes run style
He has a great feel for the game. He knows by coverage where guys are and what they’re trying to do,
accomplish with the coverage, and then he can feel the front. So, he does a nice job there.
On the first couple drives in the first quarter
Offensively, the guys started fast, and they made that a huge emphasis this week. The guys followed
with it and did some nice things there, but we’ve got to keep building on it. We can’t take plays away
from ourselves. It’s too much.
On Bryce Young’s performance?
I think he did a heck of a job. Well coached. He’s lucky to have that redhead over there, No. 14, too to
help him out. Nothing like a veteran player that kind of sees it the same way you do. Then he’s very
talented, and the organization made a nice move by taking him.
On the confidence he had in Spencer Schrader
We had confidence. As close as you can get I like because percentages for any kicker go up, but we have
confidence in him. He’s got a big leg.
On being content with the they are able to generate right now
Yeah, those are things we can keep working on. We’ll get better with that as we go here. We’ve always
been good at that. We’ve just got to keep grinding it out here.
On having Patrick Mahomes under center with the game on the line, his 21st comeback game winning
drive
That’s a good thing from a head coach’s standpoint. He does a nice job with all that.
On Chuba Hubbard
He’s another good player in there. They were able to get their young guy in there too. We were very
aware of him and his ability, but at the same time, you’ve got to deal with the quarterback too, and the
wide receivers (Adam) Thielen came back. Xavier Legette, he’s just getting better and better as he goes.
On Noah Gray’s second touchdown
Yeah, Pat made a great throw. He made a nice move at the top of it, big body. Pat put it up where only
he could get it, and I thought Noah, again, used his body well to protect the ball.
CHIEFS QUARTERBACK PATRICK MAHOMES
On the scramble on the last drive
Yeah, we expected man coverage. They got in top of the matched zone. They covered up our routes. I
got out to the left, and at that point in the game, yards are more important than getting out of bounds.
So with the three timeouts, I try to just cut through.
I think it was Justin Watson in the video, he got a great block. I think it was him. I was able to get down
the field and get out of bounds. Kind of, I fumbled out of bounds. But I got out of bounds, so I got us in
field goal range.
On his thoughts during the last drive
I think it’s certain time in games. It’s not like I preplan that stuff. Whenever it comes down to it and you
got to make the play, I feel like I try to go out there and make the play. That’s why I feel like it happens
later in games sometimes and in the playoffs.
You don’t want to slide. You have to put your body out there knowing you can take hits and stuff like
that. We were able to make some big runs in some big moments.
On if he could have made the scramble a couple of weeks ago considering his ankle
I don’t know. I always say adrenaline will get you through it.
Credit to the training staff, they stayed on top of me about being in there as much as possible. I finally
was able to get off that list last week and kind of get back to my normal routine, and we went out there
and made something happen.
On the mindset of the offense on the final drive
You want to get as close as possible, give our guy a chance to make a field goal. We call it, where we go
down at the two yard line, one yard line, whatever it is. We were just trying to get a completion first,
which we did, and I think I still could have thrown it out there a little bit further for Xavier (Worthy). But
other than that, we executed at a high level like we’re in that moment.
We’ve got to be better in the entire fourth quarter, not just in those big moments at the end of the
game.
On the confidence in Spencer Shrader
I had a ton of confidence. I’ve seen him do it in practice. Since he’s been here, he’s been going out there
working. I had a ton of confidence. We got him into his sweet spot, and he nailed it right through there.
On being please with the progress of the offense
Yeah, I thought we did a great job moving the football. Like you said, you’ve got to execute at a higher
efficiency in the red zone, but that defense is a good defense. They’ve played hard the entire year. They
have a great defensive coordinator and a lot of great players that I’ve went up against in other places.
I thought we did a great job of executing the offense, moving the ball. But like I said, in that second half,
especially in the fourth quarter, we’ve got to be better, putting the game away and not giving them
chances, but we were able to do it there at the end.
On the second touchdown to Noah Gray and giving him the answers
We go through it every week. It’s not just me — me, the quarterback coaches, and the players, we go
through certain checks you get to versus certain coverages. I was able to see by the way they lined up
they were getting into their cover zero look.
Just alerted the guys to make sure they saw what I saw, gave the check at the line of scrimmage. And
then you trust your guy to go out there and make a play. And put it up there, I threw a great ball and put
it up there and let him just go up there and make a play.
On Bryce Young
I thought he played his tail off. He throws a really good football. I think Texas Tech was the first one to
offer him when he was in eighth grade, and I was at Texas Tech. I remember watching his highlight tapes
then. Knew he was going to be a great player, and obviously went to ‘Bama and was the first draft pick.
It’s been cool to see him bounce back the last few weeks and play some great football. I know he has it
because I’ve seen it for a long time. He gave us a scare today because he played his tail off.
On being threatened by eighth grade Bryce Young
I was hoping to be out of there before he got there. He’s been a great player for a long time and won a
lot of football games.
On the close wins
You always want to have some blowouts. You want to be a little calmer in the fourth quarter. It can be a
good thing as you get to the playoffs and later in the season just knowing you’ve been in those moments
before and knowing how to kind of attack it play by play, not making it too big of a moment. I will say
this more than anybody I would love to win a game not by the very last play.
On the grind of the season reminding you of days like today
Yeah, for sure. It’s all about getting better. That’s the best thing about playing in the NFL, it’s never like
the team that’s playing at the beginning of the season is the best, they’re playing the best at the end of
the season. It’s about constantly getting better. You know it’s going to be a grind. I think we’ve done a
great job of that. Coach Reid does a great job of planning it so that we’re playing our best football at the
end year.
There’s a lot to learn from today. There’s good, there’s bad. We’ve got to just go back, learn from that,
and know we have a short week against a hungry football team in the Raiders that’s coming to our
house.
CHIEFS WIDE RECEIVER DeANDRE HOPKINS
On understanding how Patrick (Mahomes) knows how to win
That’s what Pat does. He expects everybody to play up to a different level, especially in those
circumstances. You have to keep playing to the last minute. You saw what Pat did, he went out there
and made a play on his feet, which speaks to who he is.
On getting off to a great start compared to previous games
Us coming out, how we do it at practice and executing. We knew we were playing a good defense. I
Have to give good credit to those guys, they fought us tough to the last minute, but we came out
executed and played our game.
On if the loss last week changed anything this week
We’re just playing Chiefs football, we put it behind us and keep going.
CHIEFS TIGHT END NOAH GRAY
On his availability for the opening drive touchdown
Pat (Patrick Mahomes) gave me the answer to test there. He told me what coverage it was pre-snap.
That’s just the blessing you have of playing with a quarterback like that. Offensive line did a great job
blocking that up and the receivers did a great job running their routes to pop me open. Really just a
group effort right there on that touchdown.
On how often he gives the answers to the test
All the time. Pat’s preparation, his leadership is just something that I’m fortunate enough to play
alongside. I love it. It gets me motivated every time we go out there for a long drive. Having a leader like
that, that prepares every single week in-and-out, knows defenses, knows the game plans super, I’m just
fortunate enough to play alongside a guy like that.
On confidence level once getting the ball back
It goes back to the guys and trusting the guys on the team. This is a great group of guys and I am
fortunate enough to practice with them all week. The preparation that goes into it, from the coaches all
the way down to the players, just super fortunate to play alongside those guys. We trust every single
one of those guys in that locker room. We always have a lot of confidence in each other and fortunately
Spence made a phenomenal kick down the stretch. You know, he’s only been here for a week and a half.
But shout out to Spence man, I mean that guy just comes to work and just kept his head down. He’s a
humble dude and he made a great kick to get the win for us.
CHIEFS OFFENSIVE LINEMAN WANYA MORRIS
On Mahomes’ ability to make a play with his legs. It seems like every week he is coming up with some
type of good play, what are your thoughts on that?
You know that’s just kudos to Pat. He is a great player that watches a lot of film. He knows what he has
to do in pressure situations and that’s what makes him a great player.
On does it seem like you’re getting everybody’s best shot?
Oh yeah, as the champ, I would believe that we would. If you were a champ, I would believe that
somebody would give you their best shot every time. It’s our job to go in there and do what we got to
do and execute every time, no matter who is the opponent.
CHIEFS RUNNING BACK KAREEM HUNT
On finding ways to win
We always have to believe in ourselves and find a way to win. No matter how ugly or pretty it is.
On the final drive
The whole time I was thinking we have to score; The game is in our hand and we have to find a way to
close it out.
On Patrick (Mahomes) ability to pick up first downs with his legs
When the game is on the line there is no other quarterback that I would rather have. He is one of those
guys that’s always going to find a way to win. If that’s with his legs, his arm, or anything else.
On how much the talk was throughout the week of getting off to a better start
We wanted to start off fast for sure. We’re always having to play catch up, but I feel like we did a good
job of starting fast, but we still have to finish those possessions with touchdowns.
CHIEFS KICKER SPENCER SHRADER
On if this is a dream scenario to kick a game-winning field goal
Yeah, I think so. I think the biggest emotion in that moment is gratitude and happy that I was able to go
out and perform for the team. When you join an organization like the Chiefs, there’s a championship
culture and a standard to uphold. For me, I just wanted to come in and do my best for the team for as
long as I’m here. I was grateful to be put in this situation today and to step up and put up a couple of
points up there. But, it’s a team effort at the end of the day so I’m just really grateful for the opportunity
and to be a part of this team.
On his thoughts as the offense was driving down the field at the end
I try to prepare myself before that. You know the talent of the guys on your team, you know who your
quarterback is, you know who your offensive weapons are. So I knew I’d be getting an opportunity so I
just tried to stay calm, understand that it was going to come at some point and when it did come, I was
ready. That comes from belief in the team that they’re going to get you in that situation and you go out
there and just knock it through.
On what range he felt comfortable with
My job is to just kick it wherever they give it to me. I didn’t even think about it. Obviously, the shorter,
the more confidence it inspires but at the end of the day, I don’t get to choose. I just kick it wherever
they put it down.
On if preparation was easier this week compared to last week
It’s been a whirlwind for sure but I think the thing that helps in that situation is that I’m around a group
of true professionals. You come in and you have a snapper and holder that are elite at what they do and
they’re trying to get you as comfortable as possible. Every day is a learning experience. You’re working
on things, you’re refining your craft a little bit each day but I couldn’t be around a better group or team.
Everyone is reaching out trying to get you as comfortable as possible to set you up for a situation like
this. There’s growing pains and there’s things to figure out but I think it’s gone about as good as it can
given the timeline and the situation with just being around amazing people.
CHIEFS SAFETY BRYAN COOK
On the defensive performance
We’ve got to do better. We’re doing good in the red zone but that’s only a third of the field. Overall, we
just have to do better.
On what opposing teams are seeing that they can take advantage of
We will go back and look at the film to see what we’re doing week to week, and see the tendencies that
we’re giving up, and just move forward from there.
On being frustrated with defense’s performance
At the end of the day we’re all vets in the room for the most part. As I said before, we got to go back to
the drawing board and see what we’re doing and correct it from there.
On timing of bye-weeks
We’re still the reigning champs. At the end of the day there is no excuse. I don’t care if we have a byeweek now or a bye-week later on. We set a thin array of getting things tight and making corrections,
especially now more than ever.
On the biggest challenge of a cover zero blitz
Whether it’s then, the beginning of a quarter, or the beginning of a game, it comes down to execution.
You have to execute. They’re at a high level and I know we had times where we didn’t execute at the
highest level and the team exploited that. So, we got to figure that out, go back to the drawing board,
and see what we can do.
