Head coach Andy Reid
After the Kansas City Chiefs 33-3 win over AFC West rival San Diego, Reid and company believe they still have room to improve.
"As far as the game goes, we kind of feel after watching the tape the same way I [felt] last night. We have playing room to improve. I appreciate the guys' attitude and effort out there. It was a warm day against a good football team and they came right out of the chutes and competed.
"I mentioned yesterday that there's a small margin between winning and losing in this league and [the Chargers have] dealt with quite a few injuries so they're just kind of getting themselves back. I thought the fan support was phenomenal out there as it seems to always have been the last three years. The coordinators and the job they did of putting the game plans together offensively, defensively and special teams-wise, I thought they did a tremendous job there."
Reid talked about running back Spencer Ware stepping in almost seamlessly for an injured Charcandrick West.
"I thought Ware stepping up for Charcandrick was big," Reid said. "Just the way he handled himself out there. Then down through the four-minute part of it, the ball security and the maturity showed up. I thought it was good."
"I would tell you [Ware is] core strong and he's a big guy. He has some bulk there that you have to try to muster up to tackle. Then he's got good feet and vision. I mentioned yesterday he'd been a quarterback in high school, a recruited quarterback to LSU. Then they moved him to the running back position. As a quarterback, you kind of have to learn all of the different positions so he still has that and understands that part of the game. He has a good feel, good feet, good vision [and he's] strong."
Reid believes a back like Ware who understands each position is even more valuable to the offense as a whole.
"I think it's important," Reid said. "That's one of Charcandrick's strengths; it's one of Jamaal [Charles'] strengths. The more you can do with these guys—to be able to flex them out of the backfield and do things and have them kind of understand in space how to handle themselves—becomes important in your pass game, which can help you in the run game.
"We have trust in Knile so we've got Knile right there, too. We'll see with Charcandrick, I'm not counting him out at all. So we'll just see how it works out today. They're doing the MRIs and all of those things that they do now, so we'll find out here in a little bit where we're at."
Since his return in the offseason, safety Eric Berry has exceeded expectations. After a solid day on Sunday, Reid spoke on the six-year veteran's recovery.
"I would tell you it's kind of gone in phases," Reid said. "Like I mentioned yesterday after the game, I saw him back when he literally had the one hair coming out of his chin. He refused to shave that one hair; it was the only one he had. He was telling me he was going to play. He was going to be back and better than ever. It was hard to believe at that time from what my eyes were telling me. But what your eyes tell you and what your heart tells you are two different things sometimes. In my heart, I was hoping that that would happen and he's done that. He's come back, and every week he's gotten a little bit better and he's playing really good football right now."
The Chiefs special teams unit held the Chargers to dismal field position almost all of Sunday thanks to the help of kicker Cairo Santos and punter Dustin Colquitt.
"It is [a huge advantage for us] against powerful offenses like we've faced here in the last few weeks," Reid said. "That becomes a factor. It's tough to drive the length of the field each and every series. The percentages work against you. That part I mentioned after the game that field position, I think, has swayed in our favor and it's due to those guys (Cairo Santos and Dustin Colquitt)."
Another unit performing consistently well for the Chiefs is the offensive line, with the help of fourth-year lineman Jeff Allen.
"I think Jeff is getting stronger and stronger as we go here," Reid said. "He's coming off an injury and he's got the knee brace on, the whole deal. I thought he actually played better this week than he did last week. I thought he did a nice job. He's a tough guy, so he brings a certain nastiness in there, and you need that for that position. I've mentioned this before, it's not always pretty with those guys up there. We're not going for style points right now, we're looking for toughness and grit and trying to work out fundamentals the best we can. But we're not going to forget the other part to do that. We're going to maintain a certain attitude and if you're going to be in there, you better maintain that attitude. Jeff brings a little bit of that with him."
Reid wrapped up by speaking on the leadership of linebacker Tamba Hali after his two sacks Sunday moved him into the top 50 all-time in the NFL for career sacks (85.0).
"Tamba is a very loyal guy and very team-oriented which you don't always find on every team with your big name players," Reid said. "Tamba brings great energy to the defense—always has even before I was here. That's just him by nature. He's an extremely hard worker. I think that's a great accomplishment, but like I said we're not done and he's not done."
