Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton spoke after the team’s win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 9 about the strength of the defense.
The Kansas City Chiefs are used to leaning on their powerful offense and the MVP-caliber talents of Patrick Mahomes when push comes to shove and it’s time to close out a game. On Sunday night, that wasn’t quite the storyline, however, and linebacker Nick Bolton was grateful for the opportunity.
That’s not to say that Mahomes was not herioc on Sunday night in the team’s win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 9. Mahomes was a man on fire down the stretch and worked wonders to even tie it up. That said, Mahomes’ production also came after several stalled drives and failed oppotunities to move the chains at all in the second, third, and even fourth quarters.
Instead of Mahomes doing his typical comeback routine or executing some game-winning drive, the Chiefs had to hope that their defense could continue to stymie a Ttians offense doing its best to mask Malik Willis’ weaknesses. Bolton and company did just that and forced the Titans to go four-and-out to win the game in overtime after the Chiefs put up a field goal on their opening drive in OT.
Nick Bolton spok to reporters after the Chiefs 20-17 win over the Titans on Sunday Night Football. He said he was proud of the team’s strong defensive showing, especially as they became more effective as the game went on.
“It was great to have our defense come out there and actually end the game for us. We executed down the stretch. I don’t think they had a first down in the last 40 minutes, I think. So for us to be able to stop them on first down and force some second-and-longs and let our pass rush and our corners go to work. Again, it’s a great team win and a great job by the defense coming out in the second half executing the game plan and tackling.”
Bolton admits things didnt look too good early on, especially as Derrick Henry was moving the chains at will during the second quarter in which he ran for nearly 100 yards and 2 touchdowns.
“We were kinda knocking the rust off from the bye week,” said Bolton. “We started off sloppy tackling-wise, a couple of bad fits here and there that led to explosive runs. But then we settled down and kinda got back in the zone of playing Chiefs defense and us stopping the run and we were able to play a way better second haaIt’s hard;”
The Chiefs defense will have another chance to showcase their overall growth and chemistry when they travelto face the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10.