The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks 24-20 Sunday afternoon at Arrowhead Stadium.
Under head coach Andy Reid's leadership, the Chiefs have won five consecutive games and now sit atop the AFC West division with the Denver Broncos at 7-3.
In the postgame press conference, Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith took some time to explain what he believes makes Andy Reid such a good coach.
"He's just so consistent every single day," Smith said. "It's an emotional game, long years, a lot of ups and downs and to have a head coach that every single day you come in, he does such a great job of balancing us, steadying us from the top down and he's just really a good football coach."
Through all of the injuries the Chiefs have suffered this season, Reid's stance never wavered on the "next man up" philosophy, which isn't a punch line, proven by Reid's ability to take those new faces and get them playing at such a high level.
"He's a really good teacher," Smith said. "He leads the locker room well, knows the body language of the guys. He knows when to spell guys, when to push guys. There are so many things that go into that."
Reid leads a Chiefs offense that ranks third in the NFL in two key offensive categories: third-down conversion percentage and red zone efficiency.
The Chiefs are converting 48 percent of their third downs, and they're scoring touchdowns on 70 percent of drives that enter the red zone.
That success will be a key as the Chiefs head on the road on a short week to take on the Oakland Raiders on Thursday Night Football.
Reid acknowledged the team is excited after beating the defending champs on Sunday, but say that feeling must be short lived.
"They are excited, but they also know we are getting on a plane to fly out and play a good Oakland team [on Thursday]," Reid said. "So we've got to make sure we enjoy this, but we have to get ourselves back and ready to go quickly and we understand that."
Reid said there were no new injuries for the Chiefs after the game, which is a good thing on such a short week and the kind of physical game the Seahawks brought on Sunday.
View photos from the Chiefs Week 11 matchup against the Seahawks
"I made it out of the game pretty good," running back Jamaal Charles said of his own health. "We have a couple of days to recover and I just have to take advantage of every opportunity because it's a short week. [I have to] try and stay in the training room, try and get massages do whatever I have to do to get my body right."
Charles carried the ball 20 times for 159 yards and two touchdowns against a Seahawks defense that ranked fourth (79 yards per game) in the NFL against the run coming into the game.
Led by Reid, the Chiefs hope to find similar success against a Raiders team that is still looking for their first win of the season.
