OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, thank you to the fans first of all. They were outstanding today – this
afternoon, it was beautiful. It was good to get back in the swing of things. I thought the guys knocked a
little rust off early. Then, (they) kept working and I thought they finished up strong. I thought our defense
did an outstanding job. George (Karlaftis) led us with the 3.0 sacks but there were 8.0 team sacks overall
and that doesn’t normally happen against a great offense like they’ve (the Texans) got. My hat goes off to
(Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) Spags, with the plan he had and then again, the players for
executing and Justin (Reid) led us in tackles and (Trent) McDuffie had the three pass break ups that were
tremendous too to go with it. Offensively, we probably need to start with Trav (Travis Kelce). With seven
catches for 117 yards (and) a touchdown, he just – that’s why he’s the greatest tight end there has been.
Kareem (Hunt) was eight (rushes) for 44 (yards), for one touchdown – anyways, it was all good. I have
8,000 notes here, scribbled on here. I thought (Nikko) Remigio did a great job with the initial kickoff with
a 63-yard run and then (Harrison) Butker with his three field goals, outstanding. Then, (Leo) Chenal right
at the end comes up with a big block. My hat goes off to (Assistant General Manager Mike Borgonzi) Borgo
on going to the Tennessee Titans. He is now the enemy, but we are glad he was able to get that job as the
General Manager there. He’s done a phenomenal job here for us and we love the guy, but you know
another AFC team now. Anyways with that, time is yours.”
Q: Injury wise, did any of the players get bumps or bruises?
REID: “Yeah, there wasn’t really anything to mention there. Everybody got through it (and) they’re good.
They might have some bumps and bruises, but it’s all good there.”
Q: There were two connections between Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce, can you speak to each of
those plays?
REID: “That touchdown was unbelievable – the (first) touchdown throw to Trav (Travis Kelce). That was
incredible for him (Patrick Mahomes) to be able to get himself in position – just his body in position to
make that throw I thought was great.
Q: Did you think for a second that Patrick had his knee down?
REID: “No, I had a good view of it (laughter).”
Q: The other pass to Travis was his longest catch of the season. Do you see Travis Kelce’s energy as a
benefit?
REID: “Yeah, he (Travis Kelce) can still play (laughter). He’s alright.”
Q: Patrick Mahomes has done a lot of unbelievable things. Is that play we just talked about one that you
had to look at the replay on the board?
REID: “Yeah, I always tell our coaches, ‘Don’t get use to that’. This is unreal (and) I tell the fans the same
thing. We are very lucky to have him (Patrick Mahomes) here. The stuff he’s doing just doesn’t happen
and that’s why he’s the greatest at doing what he’s done in a relatively young career here. I thought
Offensive Coordinator Matt) Nagy did a nice job at putting the guys in position to have some real nice
plays too. I should’ve mentioned (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Dave Toub in there
too. Dave did a good job with the special teams.”
Q: How happy are you with Kareem and what he’s been able to do since being back with the Chiefs?
REID: “He’s (Kareem Hunt) been great for us; he’s really helped and he ran hard today. When we needed
him right down the stretch there, (we) just handed it to him. That’s not taking anything away from (Isiah)
Pacheco because he’s doing a nice job too. To have both of them plus (Samaje) Perine going in on third
downs and doing what he does, it’s a nice thing to have from a coaching standpoint.”
Q: What made you go with Joe Thuney and how did you think he played?
REID: “Yeah so just with the complexity of the playoffs and with different looks and the defenses I think
Joe (Thuney) and (Mike) Caliendo have been here. That’s not taking anything away from D.J. (Humphries)
because he’s done a great job of working himself in and we rotate – we literally rotate them at practice
so I think everybody has confidence in them. It’s just the part that you have to start somebody, I have five
of them right.”
Q: What does it mean to you personally to join the 300-win club?
REID: “A lot of people go into that so it’s not – I joke to the guys that you get a couple more, you might be
able to equal my weight.”
Q: What was your message to the team after the game?
REID: “Well that I’m proud of them for what they’ve done. This isn’t an easy thing, that’s a good football
team. (Texans Head Coach) DeMeco (Ryans) has done a phenomenal job with that team. I had him as a
player, now I get to see him as a coach and he’s doing great things as a coach. A ton of respect for him
and what he’s done. That’s a good football team, phenomenal defense they’ve got. So, I’m proud of our
guys for how they handled it and we knocked a little rust off, everybody stayed positive and with each
other in that whole bit. Here we sit with a championship game, I mean we’re humble to be in that position.
We’re fortunate, we appreciate that we’re right here at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.”
Q: On the eight sacks on Texans QB C.J. Stroud.
REID: “The scheme – he’s (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) got a tremendous scheme and it’s
complicated so they had to deal with that. The other part is the players playing the way they are. I mean
(General Manager) Brett (Veach) has done a nice job of bringing guys in on both sides of the ball for us. I
mean we were this close on the offensive side and the defense probably could have had a couple more
even – where he (Texans QB C.J. Stroud) escaped out the pocket. The plan was right for who we were
facing and I thought Spags really did a nice job with that.”
Q: Why do you think you have more big plays in the second half during the big moments?
REID: “They’re good players that love to play the game. We’re sitting here, it’s that time of the year, guys
stepped up and did just a nice job. (Defensive Coordinator Steve) Spags (Spagnuolo) puts them in position
to be able to do that and then they take advantage of that, that’s how that goes.”