On the first of back-to-back road games, the San Francisco 49ers will travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs in Week 3. The Chiefs are riding high following two straight road victories as they host their home opener against the 49ers.
Here's a look at what the Chiefs are saying about the 49ers ahead of Sunday's contest.
Head coach Andy Reid on teams beginning to game plan for Patrick Mahomes:
"That's the challenge. As they study him, then he'll rise up and do that. Is there going to be a hiccup here or there? Yes. There will be learning experiences going on here. Everything has not been roses up to this point. It looks like it, but that has not been the case. He has a ton of things to work on. As he goes on, there are a lot of great defensive minds in this league and they will present it to him. One advantage I think he had was he was able to work against Bob (Sutton) at training camp and had a lot of things thrown at him. Everyone has their flavor and you have to be able to answer it. If you don't, you have a problem."
Reid on what makes DeForest Buckner a unique challenge for the Chiefs:
"He was a great basketball player at one time, too. A big kid and they're a big defensive front and physical. Buckner can rush the passer, they move him around, he's got a nice little combination of moves that he makes, and he's very long, 6'7"-ish. He and 91 (Arik Armstead) are big guys that were college teammates. They kind of know each other and how to play off it and they bring it. High motors. That's a good front right here, that's a very good front."
Reid on facing the 49ers in their home opener:
"We are looking forward to the opportunity to play the 49ers. They are a very well-coached football team with very good skill. When I say that, I am including all the bigs. It's a good football team. We have to have a really good week of preparation and get ourselves ready to play. We look forward to playing in Arrowhead with our fans. Should be a heck of a football game."
Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy on the challenges the 49ers present:
"Stout up front. (Arik) Armstead, (DeForest) Buckner who I have seen personally when I was at Colorado, they kind of destroyed us, those two big boys. They have the young kid Solomon Thomas from Stanford. I don't want to take anything away from (Earl) Mitchell, the nose, he is a hell of a player as well. You have Reuben Foster coming back along in conjunction with Malcolm Smith. You have Richard Sherman out there on the perimeter. It is a shame, I can't think of the safety's name, number 29 (Jaquiski Tartt). Big enforcer. He does a great job in the run game and can run. Number 27 (Adrian Colbert), the deep safety, does a hell of a job. Overall, they are a very good team. And also, they have another young kid out there. I know he has had his struggles, the kid from Colorado University (Ahkello Witherspoon). He is a tremendous talent. Each and every week presents a different type challenge. At the end of the day, it is not about the opponent. It is about who we are and what we do."
QB Patrick Mahomes on what stands apart in the 49ers defense:
"It is the same type of scheme that the Chargers ran and originated in Seattle. They have a lot of good players. They have (Richard) Sherman there now, he is a very instinctual player. They have a big defensive line. It is going to be a great challenge for us, especially being our first home game. We have to stay in process. Keep doing what we do well, keep getting better, fixing our mistakes and hopefully come out with the win."
Mahomes on where he can improve heading into Week 3:
"There's always places you can get better on this offense and this team. First off, I can be better with my protections. There were sometimes I had to throw hot and I think there was one I threw to Sammy (Watkins) and he broke a tackle for 30, but if I had been protected, I may have been able to run the route the way it was supposed to be run and throw it to the right guy. Just everywhere. I missed a couple shots I could have made. I stepped up and stepped on Mitch Morse's ankle and took a sack instead of just getting the ball out of my hands. There's stuff that you can get better at every single week and I'm going to keep trying to get better as this year goes on."
C Mitch Morse on the Chiefs offensive line allowing just two sacks through two games:
"I think a lot of that falls on Coach (Andy) Reid and Coach (Andy) Heck putting us in great positions to be successful in our runs and pass blocking. (Patrick Mahomes) getting the ball out always helps us offensive linemen. But we have great coaches and then we come out and we work on what we need to work on. The communication is huge in that department and we've done a really good job of communicating with each other and that correlates to putting points on the board."
