WR Darrius Heyward-Bey beats former teammate CB Stanford Routt and runs for a touchdown. Photo by Tony Gonzales
Head Coach Dennis Allen
On Darren McFadden getting going in the 2nd half: "Yeah, and that's part of being able to run the football is when the score gets to the point where you're able to continue to run it and continue to run and continue to run it and eventually you're able to wear the defense down a little bit and I thought we were able to do that some. Darren was able to get a few big runs there at the end of the game."
On being able to control a game despite settling for field goals in goal-to-go situations: "I think our guys kept fighting and kept battling and we were confident that we were going to come in and play well. Our guys, we made enough plays at the end of the day to win the game. That's, at the end of the day, what you're looking for."
On if they targeted Stanford Routt: "I think it was just part of how the game played out. We wanted to be able to take a couple shots over there, but I think the game just dictated, based on what they were playing, that the ball went there a little more often."
On the offensive line: "I think our offensive line did an outstanding job as far as protecting the quarterback. Obviously, we all feel like and wish we would have been able to run the ball a little bit better earlier in the game. We kept battling, we kept fighting. That was a proud group. They're banged up pretty good right now, but I was proud of the way they competed for four quarters today and thought they played well."
On making adjustment playing a team coming off a bye week: "I think we just executed better. That's part of the way it is in the National Football League. You don't play the same every week. They key is, can you overcome when you don't play well and still win football games. That's what we were able to do last week. I think this week we came out and I think we executed well from the very beginning of the game. We were able to get a few takeaways during the game and that was critical to letting the score get to where it was."
On the recovered muffed punt and getting the touchdown: "Huge to get seven points there at that point in the game was a big break for us and a big momentum builder for us. That was a huge play in the game, I felt."
On Carson Palmer's play: "Outstanding. I thought he played really well. I thought he managed the game really well. I thought he had tremendous poise. One of the few times I felt they got pressure on him, he was still able to step up and kind of throw the ball with a guy on him and convert a big first-down conversion. I thought he played outstanding in the game."
On receiver drops throughout the game: "Yeah, if you want to point out a negative of where things were in the game, I didn't think we caught the ball as well as we should have. We left some plays out there on the field and so we still have a lot of things we need to get cleaned up, a lot of things we have to get better at doing. But the good thing is that we're able to make those corrections after a win."
On if they changed anything when Matt Cassel came in for Brady Quinn: "It was pretty much the same game plan. We figured if we were able to get a little pressure, if our coverage matched up good, they were going to try to pull the ball down and run some. That's exactly what they did. That was probably the thing on defesne that we have to get cleaned up as much as anything is just handling the quarterback on quarterback scrambles."
On stopping the run: "No, I think our guys up front, our linebackers and d-linemen, did an outstanding job of using their hands to get off blocks and make some plays and limit them as far as their running game was concerned. Because that was an explosive offense we played as far as the running game is concerned and that was a focus of ours going into the football game. I felt like we did a good job there."
On Denarius Moore asserting himself more: "I think so and obviously, early in the year, being that he missed a lot of the off-season program and missed a lot of training camp, it takes a little bit of time to get really back into football shape. It takes a little bit of time to get that timing back. I believe he's beginning to round into form a little more."
On only two penalties: "Again, it's something you fight every week and you battle every week. Our guys understand we can't have the dumb penalties that cost our team. We were better in that this week and we have to continue to improve in that area."
On confidence in Darrius Heyward-Bey: "We have confidence in all of our guys. Darrius did a great job of catching an underneath route and making a couple of guys miss, a lot of yards after contact there. That's one of the things we spend a lot of time talking about – yards after contact. I thought we did a good job there today."
On if they focused on turnovers more this week based on KC's history: "We knew that was going to be a key coming into the game. That was a critical factor in us being able to win the football game as it is every week. If you're able to win the turnover/takeaway ratio, you've got a good chance of winning the football game. I thought that was a critical stat in the game, the fact we won 4-1, I believe it was, on the turnover ratio."
On building team momentum: "I think our guys have confidence that we can go out and compete and that we can win football games. But like I told them in there, this one is only important if you're able to go out and win the next one. We have a big week coming up in front of us. We've got a good Tampa Bay team that's coming off a couple extra days of rest and we've got a huge challenge set in front of us."
On if Coach pays attention to the standings: "We'll probably know once we get home where we're sitting and who won the game (Broncos vs. Saints) so we'll see what happened in that game. At the end of the day, it really doesn't have any bearing on how we get ready and prepare to play Tampa Bay."
QB Carson Palmer
On facing Stanford Routt: "He made a great play on the first play of the game. I need to give Darrius [Heyward-Bey] a better chance to make a play on that ball and try to get a completion out of that. But he had a good jump on what play was coming and we tried to kind of set the tone early on what kind of day it was going to be. Unfortunately, he got the best of me on that one. Need to find a way to give Darrius a little more air, a little more distance on the ball and give him a chance to make a play on it."
On if they were targeting Routt: "We were going to come in and attack him. They did a good job later on clouding his side and double covering with the safety on some plays. But we were going to come in, we had a specific game plan, we stuck to it. We were fortunate to come out of here with a win."
On attacking the outside of the field: "They made it known that they were going to stop the run. They played a lot of single-high defense. It's a really good front seven. I thought we played really, really well up front today. They get a lot of pressure on quarterbacks. Both guys on the outside are really good pass rushers and we did a really good job neutralizing both of those guys. Just really wore them down up front with our big guys. Later on in the game, you saw Darren [McFadden] rip off some five-plus yard plays here or there, 10-plus yard plays. We just did a good job wearing them down and they wanted to try to stop the run and load up the box and we just did a good job up front all day."
On if they thought scoring early would break the Chiefs spirits: "No, this is a rivalry game and we have a lot of respect for those guys and that coaching staff. We wanted to score early, but we want to score early every week. We knew statistics, but when you talk about Chiefs and Raiders, you can't rely on statistics. You know you're going to get a good shot from them. They were coming off a bye week and there was a number of things that you have to factor in to a rivalry game like this. We have great respect for that defense and especially that defensive coaching staff. Coach [Romeo] Crennel does a great job getting his guys ready. We just kept grinding, kept working, kept pushing up front and won the battle up front."
On importance of scoring a touchdown after the recovered muffed punt after settling for field goals: "Big. It's frustrating…it's a good defense in the red zone. They've had some kind of weird touchdowns occur on them that have knocked down their rankings in the red zone, but like I said when I talked to you guys all week, it's a good defensive group. Very talented; a lot of first-round picks, a lot of top-5 picks. I think three top-5 picks over there. So we were going to have our work cut out for us in the red zone and we need to keep getting better at it. We need to keep working on it. We had some opportunities to score that we didn't capitalize on, we didn't execute on. We're going to go back and continue to work and find ways to get above 65-percent in the red zone because that's our goal."
On if the team is developing momentum: "I believe so. You get two wins in a row and come in here, it's a difficult place to play. Regardless of their record, it's a difficult place to play. It's a tough crowd to play in front of. It's loud. Their fans really understand the game. They know when to be loud. We're going to use this as a little bit of momentum like we did last week. We got Tampa Bay that's a team that's kind of in a similar situation that we are. They've had a little bit of rest playing on Thursday and they've been able to get a couple of wins here. It's going to be a fight next week and I'm excited we get to go back and play in front of our fans in our stadium."
On if play against Routt immediately was coincidence: "Yeah, that was the plan. He got me. He made a good play, but in the end, we won the battle."
On the offensive line: "Played phenomenal. I don't think my jersey needs to be washed. They did a great job up front in the passing game. Those two guys, their two defensive ends, have been on a 10-11 game sack streak and both of those guys have been getting sacks week in and week out. Both of our tackles did a really good job against them. Game plan-wise, what Coach [Greg] Knapp did to neutralize those guys I'm thankful for because I had all the time in the world to throw. We did a good job, especially there late in the game, in the running game, getting Darren over 100 yards and winning some of our one-on-one blocks up front."
On Denarius Moore: "I think everybody knows that he's the guy in our locker room. He's a young guy. I don't know if guys around the league know about him yet. He's young, it's year two, he's had some injuries, he's finally healthy. He's a special player. He's a great football player, great teammate. He'll block in the run game. He'll catch the ball. Just a special player."
On how much easier it is when the offensive line is blocking well: "It's a different game. You look across the league when quarterbacks step into throws, you're going to make them. There's a lot of really good quarterbacks in this league. I can't say enough how good those guys did up front. Like I said, no sacks. I think I got knocked down maybe once and it was probably because I held onto the ball for too long. But you got really good pass rushers on the edge; you've got big, stout, thick guys up front that can push the pocket, and we won the battle in the trenches and that's why we won the game."
On if there is an advantage on either side of the ball facing a former teammate (Routt): "I don't think so. It's a crapshoot. He does some things really, really well. He can turn and flat run with anybody. We attacked him with some running game stuff and ran some plays at him, but I only played against him for half a year really and never really went against him because during the season you're going ones versus twos, not ones on ones. We had a great game plan coming in and took some shots at him, took some shots at the other guy, [Brandon] Flowers on the other side, and like I said, came out with a win."
RB Darren McFadden
On the game: "I feel like it took us awhile to get it going, but once it finally got going, we finished the game out well. We feel like with our offense, you just have to stick with it. You're going to get one or two yards here or there, and eventually they're going to start popping."**
On tiring out the defense:* *"Yes, you want to wear a defense down. I feel like we did that today and eventually we were able to start to get them to break out."
On winning six in a row at Kansas City: "That's something that we really don't pay much attention to. We just try to come in here and play ball just like anywhere else."
WR Darrius Heyward-Bey
On beating Routt for the touchdown: "I don't look at it as if it was Stanford or whoever. I need to make a play, catch the ball, try to make somebody miss and get into the end zone. I don't care who is out there, I just need to make the play."**
On facing Routt: "I don't care; it's a division game, that is all I care about. You are going to play against different corners. Stanford is really talented but I don't look at guys as individuals. You try to watch film and do well but it's nothing personal against anybody."
On the atmosphere at Arrowhead Stadium: "It is great. The fans root hard for their team. I was telling the young guys the National Anthem at the beginning is crazy. It is always good to play a division game here. It is fun."
WR Denarius Moore
On the first play of the game: "We were just trying to challenge the defensive backs period to see how it would play out and be the rest of the game. It just so happened it was Stanford Routt's side. We were not going to run away from him. We tried him and he got the best of us but we came back."**
On if there is an advantage for either side playing a former teammate: "No we don't have an advantage because that was last year. He can change his technique. The coach might make him change his technique. We came in, game planned and ran what we wanted to run."
On challenging Routt or avoiding [Brandon] Flowers: "We are not going to run away from any cornerback, no matter who it is. You are always going to attack each cornerback with whichever wide receiver is open."
LB Philip Wheeler
On the defense:* *"Just like every week, what you want to do is eliminate the team's big plays and execute your plays. You just want to play fast and physical. That's what we did."
On focusing on Jamaal Charles:* *"We focused on him and No. 82 (Dwayne Bowe). We felt like we did a good job on him. We rushed the quarterback pretty well. We just got after people."
On his 11 tackles: "I just wanted to come out and execute plays. Last week, you had Miles Burris making great plays. You had Lamarr Houston making great plays. I feel like everybody's going to make great plays on this defense. It just depends on if it's your time."
SS Matt Giordano
On if the game was won at the line of scrimmage: "Hats off to our front guys, both on offense and defense. They fought hard. They played well today. It starts there. It starts with the line on both sides of the ball. Once you can establish something, either the run game or take away the run game, that's when good things happen for your team."
On his interception: "I was just reading the quarterback. Praise the Lord. God put me in the right spot at the right time. I was reading the quarterback. I noticed a nod route. They ran an out-and-up with the tight end. I saw a pump, and then I just took off. Praise the Lord I caught it."
On winning six in a row at Arrowhead Stadium: "It's big. This is not an easy place to play, especially when the crowd gets rocking. Our goal was to try to start fast and keep the crowd quiet. Unfortunately, we didn't start as fast as we wanted at first, but then we started getting in a rhythm."
SS Mike Mitchell
On the Raiders defensive improvement over the last few games: "Those guys [defensive coaches] are really doing a good job figuring out what the other team is going to be doing. We are just playing physical. I think we are finally understanding each other. We have a good scheme. The first couple of games we were still trying to get the kinks out at little bit, but now I think we have it figured out. The guys are putting in the extra work that is necessary to win games in the National Football League."**
On Condo's muffed punt recovery: "He's probably the best fumble recovery guy we have on this team. Somehow he and Joselio Hanson find ways to make those plays for us. They are critical. They are huge. They are always getting some fumble recovery no one else seems to get. They're huge for us. That is why Condo is a Pro-Bowler. He has to snap the ball and then get down the field and cover. That is such a huge momentum play for us. I think that really changed the dynamic of the game. Before we were not getting touchdowns. They were holding us to three. Then finally we get the touchdown. You could just see their spirit break. We knew if we kept grinding them they would break. That is what we have done to them here. We have to keep doing it."
On recent success at Arrowhead Stadium: "I enjoy playing here. I'm undefeated in four years. I would like to play every game here. We have a good thing figured out on how to play these guys here. We have to make sure we can do it again at home. Maybe there is something in the air. I think when we come here, we have great focus and know we have to be a very physical team to impose our will on this team and try to break them."
