Andy Reid On The Chiefs Playing Together, Closing Out Games

Howard Smith-USA TODAY Sports

Many people need their coffee to get up and going in the morning. Here at Arrowhead Addict, we understand that for a Chiefs fan, coffee is simply not enough.

Here’s all that’s happening around Chiefs Kingdom this morning.

Welcome to The Morning (Afternoon) Fix.

–Andy Reid talked to the media Monday, recapping the Chiefs’ big win over the New York Giants. In his thoughts on the team, you can definitely tell that this is a unit playing together. Here’s what he had to say, per KCChiefs.com:

"I said this before but every win in the National Football League is a good win. We’ll enjoy it for a day, until the players get back in, and then it’s time to go. As coaches, we jumped back in and our enjoyment part of it is over, and we’re getting ready for Tennessee. They’re a good football team there. I was proud of the coaches for this game and the players and the way they went about their business. There are a lot of individual accolades that I could give out, but I thought just together as a football team, the guys played together. You saw the offense cheering on the defense, the defense cheering on the offense. If there was a turnover on the offensive side, the defensive-side guys were in there going, ‘Hey listen, we got it. We’ll take it from here.’ And then vice versa, when the defense made a nice turnover, the offensive guys were congratulating (them)."

Reid also talked about the team’s ability to close out games, attributing some of that to strength and conditioning coach Barry Rubin:

"“I mentioned this last night, but Barry (Rubin) and his crew in there do a great job of getting the guys in shape. This isn’t something that just takes place right now, but it’s taken place all the way through the offseason and this allows you as a coach to be functioning at a high level, throughout that fourth quarter. Then you add the trainer into the mix; it’s a group effort. It’s the players and their want to do those things and to listen to those guys and train themselves right and then they maintain that focus and that confidence, once you get into the fourth quarter that you know you have some juice left, especially in a hard fought game. That score was a little crazy; that really doesn’t tell you the full story, all the way to that fourth quarter, that was a battle. The guys maintained their presence and played at a high level.”"

–Speaking of teamwork, Vahe Gregorian of the Kansas City Star wrote a good piece on how the Chiefs are winning games as a whole unit. Check it out.