Quotes of Note: Chiefs Players, Coaches on Facing Titans Again
NASHVILLE – The stage for Sunday’s AFC Championship between the Tennessee Titans and Kansas City Chiefs was set a little more than two months ago.
Tennessee defeated Kansas City 35-32 on Nov. 10 at Nissan Stadium in what turned out to be a critical contest for both teams.
That was the start of Derrick Henry’s march to the NFL rushing title as he ran for 188 yards and two touchdowns in the first of four straight 100-yard games. It also was the first in a four-game win streak that pushed the Titans squarely into the playoff hunt.
For Kansas City, it was the first game back for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who had missed the previous two with an injury. It was also the last time the Chiefs lost. They closed the regular season with six straight victories, five of them by 10 points or more, and held all but one of those opponents to 17 points or fewer.
Here is a roundup of what Kansas City coaches and players had to say this week in advance of the rematch:
Wide receiver Sammy Watkins, on the Titans: “They’re a well-coached team. They play fast. They hit hard. They play well together. And, you know, it’s going to be a challenge. I think they’ve got a great team in general. We’re going to have to be on our poise and really go out there, have fun and play and be the team that we’ve always been.”
Coach Andy Reid, on the regular season meeting between the teams: “I want them to be real about what happened. We lost the game. And then, why? Let’s figure that part out. And then work to fix that problem. … They beat us. They beat us in three different phases. They’re a good football team and we’ve got to do a better job than that.”
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes, on Tennessee’s defense: “Last (time), they caught us a little off-guard with the coverages they played at the beginning of the game and we made adjustments and were able to score points later in the game. But you just want to make sure that you’re preparing for everything. You know that this is a good defense. They do a lot of different things – play a lot of man, play a lot of zone. So, you know that they’re going to throw different coverages out there against you.”
Running back Damien Williams, on the Titans’ defense which was without Jurrell Casey in the regular season meeting: “Tennessee has a great defense. They have a great front. I’m kind of upset they didn’t have Big 99 [Casey] up front, just to have their full, healthy defense. I feel excited just to get to this game and play against a healthy Titans defense.
Watkins, on the Titans’ coverage schemes: “I definitely think they’re one of the top teams with switching coverages and doing a lot of weird stuff to throw us off – a lot of unusual things. But I think we’ve watched a lot of film and we’re all on the same page. … I honestly think we should be perfectly fine.”
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill, on the approach of Kansas City’s offense: “Obviously, we want to win time of possession because that’s going to keep Derrick Henry and the Titans [offense] off the field.”
Linebacker Anthony Hitchens, on dealing with Derrick Henry: “It’s going to take a lot of us hitting him and tackling him – more than one guy. He’s a big guy. Strong. Physical. All the tools. That’s why he’s running wild right now.”
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolu, on how to tackle Derrick Henry: “Look, he’s a huge challenge. I could spit out all the tackling terms. Our guys know what they are. It’s going to be a mindset, and it’s going to take all 11. It’s not going to be one guy tackling him. It’s a swarm. You overpopulate the ball. We know he’s going to get the ball a lot, so get a lot of people there.”
Mahomes, on the Titans: “The Titans are a physical team. They’re a team that’s going to get up and challenge you at every aspect of the game – offense, defense and special teams. So, we understand that. And we understand that it’s going to be a great challenge. But we’re just going to prepare ourselves to be ready for whatever’s out there and execute out game-plan at a high enough level.”
Reid, on the fact that Kansas City has not lost since the game against the Titans: “They got after us. They kicked our tail that day. So, there’s a point in every season where you go, ‘Hey, listen we need to pick it up.’ It could be early. It could be later. That was probably a point where we all took it up a notch. And [we] needed to.”
