Coach Frank Reich
On the Chiefs offense
“This is certainly the best offense, obviously, statistically in the NFL this year. Biggest challenge that we’ve faced.”
On Patrick Mahomes
“He’s an electric player. He can create big plays. He can do it out of the pocket, in the pocket, he’s got great weapons. It’ll be a challenge. It’s exciting. As a player, there is something about you that likes playing against the best and certainly he’s had that kind of year, so I think guys will look forward to the challenge.”
“The arm talent is just crazy. I’ve heard people use the term generational arm talent. I think that’s really true. As a former quarterback, I don’t say that about too many people. I don’t throw that term out real easily, but I think he’s a legit generational arm talent.”
Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus
On the Chiefs offense
“They’ve got several All-Pro players on their squad. They have a lot of good players that didn’t get that recognition. There’s a lot of skill on that side of the ball for them. It’s just, the scheme is a little bit unique too in terms of what they do and how they do it. It’s going to be a big challenge for our defense.”
On what the Chiefs do
“They really spread the field horizontally and vertically with your defense and make you tackle in space. That’s what they do. Again, our fundamentals of the cup, our fundamentals of setting up and breaking, tackling and striking, those are going to be the big things for us that we want to make sure that we handle in terms of just our basics of our system.”
On Patrick Mahomes
“Yeah, the first thing that jumps out to you is arm talent. The great quarterbacks of the game, if you go all the way back to the beginning and watch those guys, the two things they have is timing and accuracy. They have varying degrees of arm strength, but man, the timing at which they throw the ball and it gets there on time and the accuracy which they have. This is what this young man has. Then it’s been obviously talked about a lot — his athletic ability to escape and him throwing from different arm angles and all those things, he certainly has that. But he has the attributes you want in terms of timing and accuracy.”
On the explosiveness of Chiefs offense
“Statwise, they get first and second down, and they don’t go to third down very much. They get a lot of explosives (plays) and they’re top of the league in that. And really, they’re top of the league in every category. You’re dealing with an offense that’s above everybody else in those stats. Like I said, we’ve got our hands full. We’re certainly going to try and limit the big plays and it’ll be a big challenge.”
On Chiefs skill players
“Yeah, I think it’s a big issue when you start dealing with different skill-sets. When teams have a good receiver and a good tight end and they can put them on opposite sides of the ball or on the same side — mostly opposite — that creates problems for the defense. It just does, the matchups.”
Stats
The last team that averaged more points per game in the regular season than the Chiefs (35.3) was the Denver Broncos in 2013 (37.9), and prior to that the New England Patriots in 2007 (36.8). Peyton Manning in 2013 is the only QB other than Mahomes to throw for 50 touchdowns and 5000 yards in a season (5477 yds and 55 TDs). In 2007, having added Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth to the Patriots receiving corps, Tom Brady set the regular season scoring record with 589 points. KC scored 565 points this season. Mahomes has thrown for 5097 yds and 50 TDs.
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