Kansas City coach Andy Reid talked with the Atlanta media on Wednesday.
(Unfortunately, Falcons coach Dan Quinn’s Wednesday press conference was at the same time I couldn’t take part in the conference call. Andrew Hirsh from AtlantaFalcons.com and Chris Dimino from 680 The Fan chatted with Reid for the Atlanta media.)
Here’s what he had to say:
Q: Coming off the big win on Sunday night, how are you feeling about your team right now?
A: "Well, they did a good job, but we have plenty of things to improve on. We need to do that before Sunday because we are going to be playing a good football team again here. That's what we have to try to get down this week."
Q: How big has Justin Houston’s return been for you guys?
A: "He's a good play so having him back in there is a good thing, I guess.'
Q: What are you seeing from the Falcons’ offense on tape?
A: "Explosive, in all phases. They're doing a nice job."
Q: What’s your assessment of the defense?
A: "The defense is – I think they've gotten better every week. They play fast, and they'll attack you. They'll hit you."
Q: How do you game plan to stop or at least contain Julio Jones?
A: ""You hope he misses the bus. He's a good player. He's going to make some plays He's a great player, but you have to try to minimize him."
Q: How do you prepare for the Falcons balanced offense?
A: "You have to do what you do. They are going to do what they do. It's going to come down to some man on man situations. You just have to play well?
Q: How have the Chiefs attained the high turnover differential that’s respected by Falcons coach Dan Quinn?
A: "First of all Dan Quinn is a great football coach. He's also very good friends with our defensive coordinator and they are two of the better defensive minds in the game. So there is a reason why the turnovers take place for both teams…We obviously stress it on defense and then offense we also stress it and that's Alex Smith. He's been great throughout his career about not turning the ball over. He does a great job of it."
Q: Do you know if you’re going to have a team that closing out games well?
A: "You don't know until you're there in that situation and see how the guys handle it. We've been in a couple of them. …the guys have handled it well."
Q: Is there an advantage to flying under the radar?
A: "I don't care. I don't read anything. Other than talking to you guys here with the different teams I don't hear ever anything. I love it that way."
Q: Do like your teams’ chancing of winning in January?
A: "Right now, I like this football team. We have a lot of room to improve. That's what is real. You've got to keep doing that each and every week if you're going to go any farther. We're getting down toward the last quarter of the season and every game is important. That's how it rolls. You have improve. That's what you have to do…..Are we good? Where's my man Ledbetter?"
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