Chiefs 27, Raiders 20
Q. First and goal at the 3 yard line after Tre'von's interception. The play-calling there, were you guys all on the same page on that, or would you have liked to have been a little more aggressive there? Also, Brock Bowers went a long period of time without getting any looks. Was that what the Chiefs' defense was doing, or did you guys kind of get away from him?
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, I'll take the first question about the 3 yard line. You've got to punch it in, right? Last week we had the same opportunity, and we threw it four straight times. Trying to get it. We just got knocked back. They won the line of scrimmage on those plays.
Then Brock early in the game plan, obviously he is always a part of it, but I thought obviously Kansas City did a good job as far as bringing pressure, and the ball is coming out quick. You have to throw it to the open receiver.
Q. It seemed like on the Chiefs' second to last drive I think you guys used all three of your time-outs. Were you guys not considering saving those in case you had that situation at the end of the game where you needed to stop the clock?
ANTONIO PIERCE: I remember just looking at the score, looking at all the numbers. If they kick can the field goal, it's a two-score game. Try to save as much time as possible.
Q. That last drive of the first half for you guys, will you talk about what's going through your mind? Just what is your thought process there and the decision of how you played that out?
ANTONIO PIERCE: You don't want to give them a lot of time, so obviously you want the clock running. They didn't call a time-out after the first one. They did after the second.
I believe third down was an incomplete pass. They got the ball. We got a good punt there at the 20. Want to keep them backed up.
Obviously one of the best teams in football in a two-minute situation. Trying to give them the least amount of time as possible.
Q. If we can piggyback off of the original question. Forget about just individual drives themselves. The play-calling overall, is it something that you are okay with Luke doing, or is there something that you need to address?
ANTONIO PIERCE: I think that as a team overall we're going to have to get better. We were competitive today. Not to get into play-calling or anything of that nature. I'm sure there are questions about what I did.
I think one thing our team did was we were competitive, we fought until the very end, and gave ourselves a chance.
Q. With the rushing there have been four times this season where a team has rushed for less than two yards per attempt. Raiders have done it twice. Just address the rushing game, if you would.
ANTONIO PIERCE: I think it goes back to the first question. I'm trying to establish some physicality with our guys up front. Right there at the 3 yard line you have to pound it in. Turnover, sudden change. You should be able to punch that ball in.
It's not going to change. We're going to keep working on it, go back to the lab. Listen, three out of the last four I thought we did a good job rushing the ball, and then obviously we came up against a team that stopped the run.
Q. Football games usually come down to a handful of plays. When you guys play Kansas City, is there a feeling that you guys need to be perfect or near perfect in order to get the job done?
ANTONIO PIERCE: No, but you can't make mistakes. You can't kill yourselves, right? If you have great opportunities like we did twice in the third quarter to get points on the board, we have to do that.
Then we have to get off the field. They did a good job on third down. Patrick was really good on third down. Did a really good job there. No, I don't think you ever try to coach or play the game perfect. You do the best you can. Obviously they were better in a lot of areas today than us.
Q. Your impressions of Gardner today? Got off to a hot start.
ANTONIO PIERCE: Yeah, he got off to a hot start. I thought he made some good throws, good time. Had a little rhythm. Hell of a job even on that reverse. I thought I saw him throw a block out there on the wide receiver.
I mean, listen, everybody is fighting. I thought these guys were competitive. All I can ask them to do is fight for four quarters, and we did that.
Q. You stressed that you wanted to be a hard hat physical football team. How disappointing is it that that hasn't been able to come to fruition, and especially you were talking about, that first and goal at the 3 yard line?
ANTONIO PIERCE: That was part of our identity and DNA that we've been harping on. We harped on it in training camp. We're going to continue to harp on it.
Still a lot of games left. Not where we want to be at 2-6. Obviously we understand that, but we're going to go back to it. Put pads on Fridays the last couple of weeks trying to build their mindset and mentality with the group, and we're going to stay with it.
Q. What's your thinking about trying to kill the clock and trying to get a first down, and they have the ball back and scored a field goal? What's your thinking as far as what you want to do on offense before that?
ANTONIO PIERCE: We want to score, but more importantly, we want to keep the clock running. It was 1:57 or something like that. I believe a little under two minutes. Again, going against a good really team in a two-minute situation, you want to get a first down and allow them to use their time-outs and give Patrick Mahomes the least amount of time as possible.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports