Kansas City Chiefs - 33, Miami Dolphins - 27
Q. You said before the season that you dropped way too many interceptions last year, I guess you're catching them this year, huh?
TYRANN MATHIEU: Yeah, just trying to catch the ones that's catchable, yeah just trying to look it in, man.
Q. The defense has had its moments during the year but you guys came up with four sacks, your pick, the safety today, does the defense feed off of big moments like that?
TYRANN MATHIEU: I think in the end it's all about the end result whether or not we won the game or lost the game and how we played in regards to that. I felt like defensively we kind of let the team down in a way, giving up obviously 17 points I believe in the fourth quarter. Obviously that's a well coached football team, young quarterback with a bright future, but I think any time we have the opportunity to kind of close the coffin on teams we got to do that.
We're getting into January football and a lot of these games are going to come down to whether or not we can finish the game defensively. So I think that's really my focus. So I think we'll be a motivated group this week.
Q. I'm thinking, I know, as an organization, the Chiefs are really focused on achieving success this season. But do you ever reflect on how by playing football the way that you do and by being a role model for our community you really have the power to bring positivity and hope and even a sense of normalcy to our community and our region during these difficult times?
TYRANN MATHIEU: Yeah, I think that obviously that's a great responsibility, one that I don't take lightly. I know my teammates feel the same way. I think being a part of this team, we're all about community, we are all about the people around us, we're all about family.
And that's what we're going to kind of continue to push, so I know my teammates feel the same way.
Q. Five straight division titles, you've been a member of at least the last two. What does it mean to you and also to your teammates knowing that you've accomplished this?
TYRANN MATHIEU: Well I think it just says a lot about our coaches, the organization and all the things that they have invested into this program. Obviously the players believing in that, believing that they're a divisional champion-type players conference champion-type players.
So I think really it's just about the group, everybody believing in the people around them. But, wow, such a great standard, not every team can say that they have done that consistently. So hats off to the Hunt family, Coach Reid, Brett Veach, all those people that play those critical roles.
Q. This was obviously a pretty tough game, I mean it was a little pushing and shoving on both sides and it looked like there was a hit that you took early that kind of got you fired up. What was kind of going on on the field? Was there a little bit of jawing and pushing back and forth between you guys?
TYRANN MATHIEU: No, this is football, man. This is like the highest level of competition, right? Like every play is important and every rep is going to get coached and you never want to be that guy that's not showing the fight.
So obviously coming into this game we knew it was going to be a fight, well-coached team, great defense, got playmakers on offense, young quarterback that's going to be really good in this league, so we knew we were going to get those guys' best shot.
It's all about just standing up for the fight. I thought my teammates did that, obviously I thought we finished the game well, we didn't play too well in the fourth quarter, but, yeah, it's all about showing fight, no matter if you're a champion or you're a contender, it's all about showing that fight. So I think my guys showed that tonight, today.
Q. We always look at you as one of the leaders of the locker room and we know you guys didn't have Damien today and Willie Gay being a top pick, with some of that pressure, how have you seen him develop and how did you feel like he rose to the occasion today?
TYRANN MATHIEU: He's a mature young man. I'm so impressed with him and really his character. Not everything has gone his way this season, pretty sure he wanted to be a day one starter, but he just kept his head down.
He's always prepared at meetings, coach is calling on him, he always knows what to do, he always knows the answer. And I think that's all you can ask from a young player is a guy that's just committed to the team and I think Willie shows that each and every week. And it's going to take, for guys like me and Chris and Frank and Hitchens to step up and continue to encourage him, because I truly believe at some point in the season he's going to make some big plays for us, he's going to be one of those guys we lean on, especially going forward.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports