DENVER BRONCOS HEAD COACH MIKE SHANAHAN

Opening statement

"I'm pleased with the effort of our football team. I'm also impressed with the way Kansas City played. They played extremely hard throughout the game. We made some plays when we had to in the fourth quarter. We had an improvement in our rushing defense and you saw that today. Kansas City moved the ball a little bit but we were able to keep them out of the end zone. Offensively, we had a few good drives when we needed them, and we made some big third downs there at the end. It was a great effort for our football team for the full 60 minutes."

On Overcoming Mistakes

"We lost the turnover battle, and we don't normally play well when that happens. But we made some plays we had to make, and I was very pleased with that. It wasn't easy. Any time you miss a field goal and have an interception returned for a touchdown it puts you against the odds, but we kept fighting and that's what you have to do. This game came down to the last few minutes and we made plays when we had to."

On RB Larry Johnson

"Larry Johnson made some plays. We had him stopped at the line of scrimmage and he still found ways to get yards. Holding him to 3.3 [average] yards per carry is obviously hard to do against good running backs who make plays. But we made the plays when we had to make them."

On S Josh Barrett

"For his first game he played exceptionally well. Any time you ask a rookie to come in and start against [KC TE] Tony Gonzalez it's obviously a tough situation to be in, especially for a young guy, but with his size, we thought he could match up. He obviously made some big plays today."

On the running backs

"We have a couple guys who can go out there and perform. What we were planning on doing was to bring a guy from the practice squad and now we have to. We have a fullback, Andrew Pinnock who is getting used to our terminology. I think we'll still be alright."

On the number of rookies starting

"Any time you have eight rookies starting, you can't anticipate that ... I'm really proud of the way they stepped up. You have guys that have not played in the National Football League who look like they have played for a number of years. We have veteran leadership that is making those guys step up and perform at a certain level. By no means are we perfect, but to have the adversity that we had today, I'm very proud of how they played."

On QB Jay Cutler

"He played excellent and managed the game well. Their DB [KC Maurice Leggett] made a great play on the interception for the touchdown, but Jay didn't panic. He was cool, calm and collected and he made the plays that he had to on the third down and the long drives."

DENVER BRONCOS PLAYERS

QB JAY CUTLER

General

"Kansas City did a good job keeping everything in front of them. It kind of hurt losing [FB] Peyton [Hillis], but [RB] Tatum [Bell] stepped up and played well."

On the first quarter interception returned for a touchdown

"The guy made a good play. They were in man-to-man coverage and [WR Brandon] Stokley ran an option. He [Kansas City Chiefs CB Maurice Leggett] made a cut, made a good play."

On his response to the interception

"Coaches expect us to keep attacking and to keep going down field. If I'm afraid to go down field after making a mistake, we're not going to be able to do what we want to do."

On WR Brandon Marshall's performance

"That was big for him. As a team we can function whether he has ten catches or two catches, but this will help him a lot. He hasn't been 100% all season, but looked good today and had a good attitude."

On the third down conversion, in the fourth quarter, from the one yard line

"We work on that all summer. We have a lot of options on that play and it takes a lot of practice in order to get it down. [WR] Brandon [Marshall] made a good snag."

On the running back injuries

"It seems like we have one go down every game. But, we have [RB] Tatum [Bell] and he understands the system; knows when to cut back."

On playoff potential

"Anything can happen and that's the kind of mindset we have. This is the time of the season when you want to play your best football. We don't want to have to squeak it out in order to get in."

WR BRANDON MARSHALL

On scoring two touchdowns

"That's big for me, it felt good to get in. After my first touchdown, I kissed the end zone. It felt good to get in, but even better to get the win."

On his second touchdown

"I was hungry for the end zone. When I got the ball, I smelled it and I got it in. That was a big touchdown for us."

On his health

"For the past two weeks, I felt great; even better than when I came into camp."

On FB Peyton Hillis' injury

"It's alright. We have T-Speed [RB Tatum Bell]. Hillis has been playing great, but Tatum is a premier back in this league. I'm excited to see what he can do."

On winning at home

"It means a lot when you play good in front of your fans. They paid the big bucks to see us play; this is our way to pay them back. We have good fans and we want to treat them good."

On making the playoffs

"This is football in December, where the best man wins. We have great character in the locker room and in the huddle; that gave us the edge today. We have a lot of ball left to play. The organization is heading there, right now. It'll be good to get back there; we haven't been there in two years."

On coming from behind

"That was good for us. We were able to prove to ourselves that we could come back from a bad start, which we haven't been able to do all year. That's big for us to do, especially in December."

On the team's injuries

"It shows the characters of our coaches and our front office to get guys that can step up and make plays. As a team, we don't expect to miss a step when guys go down."

C CASEY WIEGMANN

On playing his former team

"It is a team you always want to beat in the division. We knew we had our hands full, and went out and executed."

On playing for the Broncos

"It is a good fit for me and I am enjoying every minute of it."

On injury problems at the running back position

"We just have to play well up front. As long as all five of us (offensive linemen) stay healthy, we will be ok."

On winning at home

"You have to give the fans something to cheer about. Hopefully we can give them something to cheer about from here on out."

On falling behind 10-0

"Our job is to play for sixty minutes. It was still early in the game, and we were able to battle through it and get the win."

WR EDDIE ROYAL

General

"The coaches are doing a good job of getting me the ball, and different people are stepping up at big for us. You have to be prepared for every team. We knew Kansas City would be tough, and we were prepared to battle for four quarters."

On leading the AFC West

"It is a good feeling, but you have to go to work every week. We needed to play better at home, and we did that today."

On having four drives of 80-plus yards

"It is a testament to our offensive line. We tried to pound the ball, and mix in the play-action today, and we did a good job of that."

LB NATE WEBSTER

On returning from injury

"It has been a long time. It's like an old girlfriend, we broke up, but now we are back together."

On the defense

"For us to hold (Chiefs RB) Larry Johnson to 40-something yards (11-36, 3.3 avg.) today was a plus. We will feel good tonight and celebrate, but we will go back to work tomorrow and stay focused."

On stopping Kansas City on fourth and goal in the 4th quarter

"All of us were talking about maintaining our focus and doing our jobs. We were able to come up with a big play. You have to have pride in your defense."

CB DRE' BLY

On the Chiefs final possession near the end zone

"I had a great break on the ball, but (LB) Jamie (Winborn) had good coverage on his guy and got his hand up to knock it away. Today we stuck together, and we got the stop on that big fourth down play. On the final play my goal was to hit him high and hard, that way he couldn't get in."

On the Kansas City Chiefs

"They played hard. They don't have anything to lose, and it shows in the way they play. Their team is very aggressive, and their record is an understatement. We have to throw out records when playing division games. We came out today on fire, and late in the game we had our way. We just have to be playing hard."

On how the defense played in general

"We definitely played well. Our goal was to eliminate Larry Johnson, and we did it today. We knew what was at stake when coming into the game, and we knew we couldn't fold. It was a rivalry game and we knew they would be fired up."

TE DANIEL GRAHAM

On a slow start

"We weren't worried. We came out a little slow, but we settled down later in the game. We came out in the second half and fought hard enough to get a win."

On winning

"It was a big win for us after what they did to us last time. We came out and executed the way we wanted, and it was nice to defend our home field, because we haven't been able to these last few games. Today they called the tight ends' numbers late in the game, and gave us the opportunity to play a big role. Now we have to get back to work and prepare for Carolina."

INJURY REPORT

Brandon Stokley- Ankle

Mario Haggan-Knee

Peyton Hillis- Hamstring