KANSAS CITY CHIEFS QUARTERBACK PATRICK MAHOMES
On the final offensive drive that led to the go-ahead touchdown:
“We do this a lot. [Chiefs Head] Coach [Andy] Reid prepares us for these moments. We knew we had a lot of time on the clock. We knew we had some time outs, so we didn’t rush. We just kind of went through what we do every single day at practice and everything like that, and we executed. [Chiefs TE] Travis [Kelce] is Travis. He is the greatest tight end of all time. He makes plays like that that we win games. I thought lot of young guys stepped up and some guys that not necessarily have those major roles stepped up on that drive as well. It’s good to see with all of those young guys out there.”
On the performance of the Chiefs’ rookies:
“We had a lot of new faces. To see him excel in moments like these is special because, obviously, we’ve done it in this organization for a little bit now, but to have those new guys step right in and make those plays is special. Not only on the offense. You look at the defense, it seemed like at one point, all of the defensive backs were rookies or new guys. We have done a great job of bringing a lot of talented players in here and they have stepped up and made plays happen.”
On the offense’s execution on the final drive ‘with all of the injuries’:
“I try not to let it affect me. I joked about it during the week; I just go through the reads unless Kelce is maned up and I throw him the ball. That’s kind of my mindset. Obviously, teams have plans for Travis [Kelce], and so guys are going to have to step up. When guys go down, obviously we didn’t [WR] Juju [Smith-Schuster] and [WR] Mecole [Hardman] and [WR Kadarius Toney] KT went down today. [WR] Skyy [Moore] stepped up and made a lot of plays happen. He stepped right into that same role. Just credit [GM Brett] Veach. He brings a lot of good players in here, and so I can just go out there and go through my reads and guys get open.
On ‘if he was joking about throwing the ball to Kelce when he is manned up’:
“I am not joking at all. If he is man-to-man, I am going to give him a chance. He’s going to win most of them. Obviously, they have [S] Derwin [James Jr.] Derwin is going to win his battles because he’s probably the best safety in the league. I am going to give my guy a chance because I know how special he is.”
On if Kelce was ‘more valuable’ tonight due to injuries:
“I thought all of the tight ends were. [TE] Jody [Fortson] made some plays. [TE] Noah [Gray] made some plays. Travis [Kelce], obviously, made some plays. We stayed in a lot of bigger sets. We ran the football. I thought the offensive line did a heck of a job running the football, especially in the second half. We just let them eat and let them go out there and just run it. Then when we needed to make plays, guys stepped up and made plays. Hopefully, we can get healthier as the season goes on, get some of these guys back. That’s the good thing about this team is that everyone is going to step up and make plays when it counts.”
On ‘overcoming all the chatter in the offseason’:
“We are just taking it week-by-week. We take it day-by-day. We just try to get better. We knew that we were going to grow this year and we are going to keep getting better and better. I am proud of our guys. We have played a lot of tough games against a lot of great teams, and we have stepped up and won. Obviously, it feels good now. It will be a nice to plane ride home. The Super Bowl champs come into town next week, so we have to kind of prepare ourselves again when we go into this next week of practice.”
On the presence of the Chiefs’ fans tonight:
“Being on that sideline is special. To be with those guys, to have the Chiefs Kingdom in the stadium and be a part of this team, it is a special feeling. I know how lucky I am. When I talk to people that come from other places and when I see what is going on around the league, I know how lucky I am to be in this organization, and so I just try to embrace it every day.”
On Kelce:
“I think what is special about him is he just competes. At the end of the day, he’s going to keep fighting until the very end. When you see that, not only is it impressive for him, but it gets other guys going. It shows that, like I say, he’s one of the best, if not the best, tight end of all time, and he’s coming to work every single day to get better. That shows you whenever you step into the facility, you are like, ‘Man, I got to get to work. If this guy is doing it, I have to be able to at least match that.’ And so that leadership that he brings, as well as the play he brings on the field, is special and it takes a lot off my shoulders.”
On the offensive huddle prior to the game-winning drive:
“I just thought it was cool today that when I went into the huddle, everybody was just like, ‘Let’s just do it.’ There was no doubt that we were going to go down there and score. There was no doubt that we were going to make it happen. From the offensive line to the receivers to the running backs, tight ends, everybody had the mindset of, ‘Let’s take it one play at a time, get it down the field and go down there and get a touchdown when it counts.’ That’s what we did.”
On if there is ‘less shock’ in executing late scoring drives:
“You understand this league. It’s always going to be hard. I never will take that for granted. This league, there are a lot of special players on both sides of the field. You go back to your fundamentals. You go back to not making it, ‘Hey, we have to get a touchdown right now. We have to get a touchdown.’ It’s one play at a time. How can I execute this play? Move on to the next play and keep it going. That’s usually when the good stuff happens is you just can really focus on what you have to do to make that play work.”
On ‘the feeling as a quarterback of leading a game-winning drive’:
“I have seen enough now that until the clocks hit zero, I don’t celebrate. Obviously, you are excited. Just trying to get the job done, try to win the game. You put in so much work. Everybody does. You put in so much work and to get that win, it shows that that work is paying off. All of that time that you are in the building, that you are away from your family, whenever you can have a drive like that, you can tell that it is worth it. Then you get to go home and be with your family and enjoy it with them.”
On his ‘chemistry’ with Kelce:
“Obviously, there are a lot of reps, first off. We have played a lot of football together now. I joke around, I am getting old in this locker room now already. We have played a lot of football together. Have done a lot of reps, but he is just a competitor. I’ll say it, I think that’s the best talent that Travis has. Not the size, the speed, the route running. It’s that he will compete to the very end. He’s going to go down fighting. I respect that. I think that I am the same way is that I am going to do whatever I can to win no matter what the score is. We have a lot of guys like that on this team and I think that’s what makes great teams are guys that won’t give up even when it doesn’t look great.”
On ‘if he will take Henry Winkler up on his dinner offer’:
“I already told him I was. I didn’t have time to do that this weekend, but hopefully we can win a lot of games to try to win the Super Bowl and then I will be back in L.A. at some point and take him up on that.”