Chiefs coach Andy Reid: Kansas City fans at Arrowhead Stadium are ‘like a 12th man’

The last three games played before full capacity at Arrowhead Stadium were all memorable.

• There was the 31-21 win over the Chargers on Dec. 29, 2019 that, coupled with a Patriots loss, clinched a playoff bye for KC

• The AFC Divisional playoff game against Houston followed, and the Chiefs rallied from a 24-point deficit and won by 20 points

• Then came the 35-24 win over the Titans that clinched the Chiefs’ first Super Bowl appearance in 50 years.

That’s quite a three-game stretch, and if you were at all three games maybe you are just now getting your voice back.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Chiefs played the 2020 season before a reduced capacity at Arrowhead, but the team is expecting a full house when the 2021 season starts with a game against Cleveland on Sept. 12.

During an interview Wednesday with his friend Steve Mariucci on the NFL Network, Chiefs coach Andy Reid was asked about playing in front of a sell-out crowd in the opener.

“Yeah, well, listen, this is one of the all-time good venues in the National Football League, so we’ve got great fans, and they are loud, man,” Reid said. “I mean they get after it and they are like a 12th man, and we appreciate that, every minute of it.

“To have Cleveland, a great team like Cleveland coming in here, you saw what happened during the playoff game. That thing came right down to the end and I’m sure this one will just be a knockdown drag out too.”

Reid also was asked about facing the Packers and (maybe) quarterback Aaron Rodgers in Week 9. Reid mentioned how Rodgers and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes both appear in State Farm commercials.

“We’ve got some good quarterback match-ups with that being one of them,” Reid said. “I mean, Rodgers is gonna go down as one of the all-time best ever and I know those two have a relationship, they do those commercials together and so there’ll be that nice competition between those two. And obviously they’ve got a bunch of good players and so we have to be ready for that one.”

Mariucci talked about the Chiefs’ moves on the offensive line, as they notably traded for Orlando Brown, signed free agent Joe Thuney and drafted Creed Humphrey.

The constant pressure on Mahomes in Super Bowl LV was mentioned by Mariucci, too.

“Well, listen, we have some guys returning that were on that Super Bowl team too, so we’ve got great depth and there’ll be competition. And as you know, competition brings out the best in everybody and so we’ve got that now on the offensive line and these guys will battle it out,” Reid said. “I mean, the kids that were in that Super Bowl are tough kids. It just wasn’t our day. Things didn’t quite work out right; it’s not all their blame, for sure. And that’s not where we were going with this.

“We just hadn’t done a whole lot recently with the offensive line and you need to take care of that bunch and so that’s where we went. As far as Patrick goes, listen, he’s going to get the five best that are available to play, that we have and, he’ll play with anybody, so he’ll get out there and do his thing.”