Buffalo Bills, Chiefs Postgame

BUFFALO BILLS HEAD COACH DOUG MARRONE

Q: Injuries?
A: Scott Berchtold: Marquise Goodwin with the ribs and Jarius Wynn with the knee.

Q: Do you think all of the mistakes really cost the team?
A: Absolutely. I think that, at the end of the day, when you make those mistakes or you don’t take advantage of some of the opportunities that you have, that’s what happens when you play a good football team. We’ve got to keep our focus and preparation to get ourselves better in that. Then, when we do, that will change the results. That’s the key.

Q: Is that a game you feel that you lost instead of one that Kansas City won?
A: I don’t want to take anything away from Kansas City. There are obviously some things that we did that, when you look at how to beat them, it gives you an opportunity to beat them. We did some of those things, but then we hurt ourselves, like you said, and didn’t take advantage of opportunities where we had them. They’re a good football team. Obviously, we came into this football game thinking we were going to win. I think it goes back to what you said before. You can’t do those things.

Q: On Seantrel Henderson’s false start, was it your intention to run a play?
A: It doesn’t really matter right now what the intention was of what we were trying to get accomplished. They said it came in from New York that it was a good call.

Q: Take us through the four-play sequence in the red zone at the end of the game. Were you thinking about a field goal there?
A: Well, not with the amount of possessions left. If we kick the field goal and go back down there, we’re still in the same spot that we were. Give yourself an opportunity to get the touchdown. If not, you’re still in the same spot you were. I thought we had good plays and good opportunities. We felt we had the ability to score and we just didn’t execute.

Q: Do you feel like you lost an opportunity to separate yourself?
A: I don’t know if separate ourselves, but we definitely lost an opportunity. We worked hard to get to a point where we had the ability to win this game, being the first game of the third quarter. We’ve lost an opportunity. I think that, in the position we’re in right now, tomorrow it’s going to be hard for me to talk about this game because we’re leaving here, walking across the street and going to work on Miami. It’s the same thing. We’ve got to brush this thing off. I don’t think it’s a secret of what happened out there. All the questions are exactly right. You guys have exactly what happened. We made mistakes and then didn’t take advantage of those opportunities. We had an opportunity to get to 6-3. Now we’re going to have to fight our way back and come back and find a way to win our next game.

Q: Has there been a change to who is call the plays?
A: No. All the plays on offense, defense and special teams go through me. I’m on all three phases.

Q: Do you feel like you’re asking too much of Kyle Orton to go win another game?
A: We had a couple opportunities. I don’t think we’re asking too much of him. I think he’ll get better and better as we go. I think that’ll help us and some of the things in the run game will help us get better also, taking some of that off him.

Q: Are you encouraged by what you say from Bryce Brown today, despite the fumble?
A: That play is the one that people are going to talk about, but there were some encouraging things with him coming out backfield and receiving and running. There are encouraging things there.

Q: Can you explain the decisions to play Sammy Watkins and Fred Jackson?
A: We wanted to be careful going in. I don’t know what Sammy’s plays were. He was targeted – I want to make sure I read this right – 10 times. We targeted him more than anyone else. Obviously, Fred was targeted five times in the passing game, but only had the three carries. We thought that those other players practiced during the week and we were looking at Fred for some of the third down stuff, just in case they did something differently. We’re just working his way back in and those other guys had practiced well during the week.

Q: What did you think about the call on Scott Chandler? Can’t say?
A: No. You always try to get me.

Q: You saw the false start on your scoreboard. What did you think?
A: I asked that question to the official and he said it came from the office in New York that that was a good call by them. I’d have to go back to see that again.

BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK KYLE ORTON

Q: It looked like Anthony Dixon and Bryce Brown were doing a good job with run support. Did you feel that you had a good mix offensively today?
A: Yes, especially in the second half. We got the run game going, and I thought the offensive line did a good job opening up holes for them. They hit it fast, found the holes, and made some good runs.

Q: The red zone issues are obviously a story line today, but what do you attribute your team’s struggles to?
A: They’re a good defense, don’t take any credit away from them. We missed a couple opportunities. I missed a throw to [Chris] Hogan. A couple of missed opportunities, which when you’re playing a good football team, usually comes back to haunt you.

Q: Did they change anything out there defensively?
A: No, they’ve done a good red zone off the defense all year. They have a good scheme. They have good players. They don’t let you hold the ball for too long. Like I said, you’ve got to be at the top of your game, and we missed a couple of chances.

Q: The four attempts you had at the end – did you feel like another magical finish was coming? Did you feel the confidence there?
A: Oh yeah. We were right there; we were knowing on the door, and I really though we’d get it done. I wish I had the third down pass back to [Chris] Hogan. It just didn’t work out.

Q: With the way your defense played, do you feel it should have been a win?
A: No, the points on the scoreboard gave them the win. There’s no should haves in this game. They took advantage of the opportunities. We made too many mistakes. Like I said, they’re a great football team, so the score was what it was.

Q: Talk about the opportunity here with both teams 5-3. You’ve got to have these head-to-heads with these AFC opponents, especially if you’re battling for a post-season berth or a wildcard. Does it sting knowing the magnitude of the game.
A: Yes, each game is very important. There’s no doubt about it. This game coming up Thursday night is going to be very important for us. It’s probably good that we turnaround right away and not think about this one. We’ll move onto Miami and have a good three days to get ready for them. Crumble down and try to be a good football team.

Q: From all the indications that you got from Sammy [Watkins], did you feel like he was good to go?
A: Yeah, you’d have to talk to him about how he was feeling, but he was running his routes fine and getting open.

Q: Can you talk us through the fourth down throw to Sammy Watkins?
A: They were playing two-man. Not a lot of holes down there. Something’s going to be tight. Looking back, I’d probably put a little bit more air on the ball and give him a chance, but the corner made a good plan on it. It didn’t work out.

BUFFALO BILLS WIDE RECEIVER SAMMY WATKINS

Opening Statement:
A: It was a tough one, we just didn’t finish. We’ve got to do better as a group and you can’t win like that. Turning the ball over, not making the plays we need to make in critical situations. We’re going to be ok, we’ve just got to move past this point and get ready for Miami

Q: Sammy, when you woke up this morning did you know you we’re going to play or did you still need to come and test it out?
A: It was a test thing, the coaches did an evaluation and it was their call.

Q: What did you think your capabilities were today? Do you feel like you were able to do everything you needed to do?
A: Yeah, I think I could do everything and I should have done everything. I’ve just got to do a better job with my route running and trying to get open.

Q: How much of an opportunity was lost today?
A: A lot, we could be 6-3 right now and we as a whole group could have changed this situation and been 6-3. We’ve just got to get back to the drawing board and come ready to work.

Q: This will be your first short week, do you have your thoughts on having to turn around and play on Thursday already?
A: It’s quicker, therefore I think we’ll be ready coming off this loss and we’ll be a fired up team.

Q: Sammy, nobody wants to blame a loss on bad calls but what was your vantage point for what was a false start penalty that stopped the drive when you guys were ahead? What did that do to change the momentum of the game?
A: It changed a lot, I don’t know if we would have run the play or not. I don’t know what the case may be. You get that out of a whole game, you get bad calls, good calls and that’s something that we’ve got to move past.

BUFFALO BILLS CORNERBACK LEODIS MCKELVIN

Q: On the punt return, the fumble there, what was going through your head immediately after?
A: Afterwards, I mean I fumbled. I have to get out there on the field. I mean what are you supposed to do in that situation, I mean if you fumble the ball, you fumble the ball. As a defensive player that’s what I do and that’s what I play so I’m going to go out there and do whatever I have to do to get us off the field especially in that situation they were already in the red zone. So either we were going to force a three-and-out or we are going to get the ball back.

Q: When you look at it, you guys had so many chances to win and it wasn’t just that play there was a lot of plays really. There was the fumble that Bryce had; there were the four plays late in the game in there…
A: We had opportunities; we put ourselves in great field position. When we put ourselves in great field position we’re supposed be able to go out there and score and our defense is supposed to be able to go out there and stop. Turnovers happen in the game, I’m lucky this happened to me. It happened to me as a defensive player, I got to say we’re supposed to go out there and get off the field, either force them to three or go out and get off the field.

Q: Buffalo has been through a lot of losses like this, you’ve been here for a lot of them. What’s it like now when you’re ready to get over the hump and you don’t…
A: That’s what you all say. We’re supposed to be getting over the hump or whatever and I feel like we’re a great team. I feel like we’re a great team we just have to minimize our mistakes. Go out there and play football, we’re a great team. I feel comfort in the guys that I’m playing with, the guys that block for me, the guys that are on the offensive line, the guys running the ball, the guy throwing the ball, the guys catching the ball.

KANSAS CITY CHIEFS HEAD COACH ANDY REID

Opening Statement:
We had a couple of injuries. (Demetrius) Harris fractured his foot before the game started (the metatarsus) so he’s done for a few weeks at least. Cyrus Gray tore his ACL so he’s done. Jamaal Charles had a stinger and had to come out early but then everything started feeling better so he came out and got it tweaked again. He should be okay down the road, though. (Anthony) Fasano has a knee contusion that happened at the end. (Junior) Hemingway, when he was down, has a hip contusion so he’s a bit sore. All in all, it was a heck of a football game. I imagine from a viewer’s standpoint it was good. I don’t want too many of those. But listen, we respect it because it’s against a good football team. Doug Marrone has done a phenomenal job here in Buffalo with this team. As it all turned out, turnovers were probably in our favor and helped us win that game. There were some good individual efforts. I’ve got to point at (Ron) Parker and the job that he did. We’ve asked that kid to play everywhere and he’s such a competitor. He did a nice job there. Albert Wilson and (Anthony) Sherman on the kickoff were good. Here’s Albert Wilson, a rookie, who comes in from a small school and ends up being involved with a pretty big play during the game. I thought offensively, we weren’t very good the first half. Defensively, I thought we were tremendous the first half. The second half, we sputtered on both sides but the offensive got going a bit and then the defense bode up right there where they needed to and put a conclusion to that game. So that was positive.

Q: You guys came back from double-digit deficits. Is that any kind of barrier for your guys?
A: I mentioned that to the team. There’s going to be games like this where everything is not pretty and you have to play through it. And there’s a certain toughness it takes, not only to play in the National Football League, but to be able to come back from a deficit like that. And our guys showed that today. They showed real grit there in that second half. Nobody hung their head, nobody was pointing fingers. They were all positive. You just had this feeling like good things were going to happen. We were just hoping we had enough time on the clock to get that done.

Q: Were you saving that fourth down play where you scored a touchdown for a big situation like that?
A: Yeah, what the heck. Whatever helps you out (laughs).

Q: How much does Jamaal’s game symbolize what you guys did?
A: First of all, he’s a tough kid. He’s not the biggest kid, we forget about that, but he runs so stinking hard. He’s got great vision and he kept those linemen going. He kept them feeling a part of that thing. They battled through. We had six sacks. Some of those were running back. The run game wasn’t going very good at the beginning, and all I heard was, “Let’s just keep working, working, working.” Good things happen there, as it worked out. Jamaal kind of leads that and it’s great to have his leadership.

Q: Does he actually say that to the lineman?
A: Yeah, he says that. He says, “We’re going to be fine. Let’s just keep pounding. Let’s go.”

Q: You mentioned six sacks. Can you talk about the protection issues?
A: They did a nice job. They played a ton of coverage against us today. They brought some overload stuff. Some other ones we just flat missed. We didn’t handle it very well. So, we have to go back and look at that and get better at it. And we will. That’s what you do. You’re going to have days like this, where everything doesn’t go right and you have to pound through it and try to come out on the long end of the stick.

Q: And Alex (Smith) just kept coming back?
A: That’s how he is. He’s also a phenomenal leader and he’s dirty tough. He handles everything and he never complains about anything. He’s not afraid to get after you but at the same time he’s going to build you up. He’s like a coach on the field there, so that’s positive.

Q: His touchdown run was kind of off that same action as Jamaal’s, right?
A: That was a little different run. It was a different play but he did have a read on it.

Q: Is there a common theme between those? They had such a good, aggressive, fast defense. Can you find a way to use that against them?
A: I didn’t see a lot of that on tape. I didn’t see those holes on tape. They’re a pretty good defense all around. They’re fairly sound. I don’t think that’s what happened on the long touchdown. I think they were all up in there, getting ready to stop a short yardage play, and we ended up taking it outside. I don’t think that concept actually fit into that one. Some of the other things were just option game. So, we tried to get on the edge if we had the opportunity with Alex or hand it off. That one worked. There were a few that didn’t work, but that one worked.

Q: Albert Wilson is in there only because Cyrus Gray is out, is that correct?
A: Yeah, he’s been working in on some of the specialties, but yes.

Q: Can you talk about the fumble at the goal line with Ron Parker and the effect of that play?
A: I thought he had a real good game. He’s relentless. He’s the one out at practice diving to bat balls down. That’s just how he goes. It’s great to see him rewarded with a game like this.

Q: It seems like a couple of times when the offense needs to make a big play, Dwayne Bowe stepped up to make that play. Is that right?
A: Yeah, when we need one, we call on him. Listen, I’m proud of him and the year that he’s having. We don’t do a ton of deep stuff but he just gobbles everything up that’s near him and our quarterback appreciates that.

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