The Kansas City Chiefs' head coach says he never cared about going unbeaten throughout the 2024/24 NFL season as Andy Reid's side lost to the Buffalo Bills in Week 11 on Sunday, November 17.
A clash between the two sides at the summit of the AFC Conference saw Josh Allen's side run out 30-21 winners at the Highmark Stadium and hand Patrick Mahomes his first loss of the campaign.
It comes as the Chiefs are gunning for an unprecedented third Super Bowl ring in a row, something no other team has ever completed including the New England Patriots when they were spearheaded by Tom Brady and Bill Belichick.
But one thing they won't be doing is by matching the Massachusetts maestros, who managed to go the entire 2007/08 season unbeaten, before they surprisingly lost Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants.
"I don't really care about all that crap," Reid told reporters, as per Charles Goldman. "I just go forward and I try to exhaust what team we're playing, and I present that to the players and expect them to do the same.
"I don't really hear a lot of that talk from them. Or really think they care too much about that. You get to a point where you say, 'Listen, I've done everything I possibly can. Here's the product.' And you go play."
Why doesn't Reid care?
A loss has been on the cards for a while considering the Chiefs' injury struggles and offense woes, and that might be part of why the 66-year-old Reid never actually cared about going unbeaten to begin with.
Isiah Pacheco, Rashee Rice and Hollywood Brown are all injured whilst Travis Kelce has struggled for form, as well as Mahomes, leaving the Missouri-based side taking seven of their nine wins by seven or less points.
"You got to dig in, man," Reid warned his players. "These should hurt. You spend a lot of time in preparation for these games. You've got to reach inside, as coaches and players. You can't just say, 'Everything is going to be OK.'
"That's not how this works. You have to dig in and check the ego at the door and do some self-evaluation there."
