Damien Williams: Chiefs feel ‘the fans’ energy’ at Arrowhead

The crowd at Arrowhead Stadium has long been regarded as one of the loudest in the NFL.

And it was at its full-throated best Saturday in supporting the Kansas City Chiefs during their 31-13 divisional-round playoff victory against the Indianapolis Colts.

‘You couldn’t do nothing but play off of that energy’

“Oh, my God, it was incredible,” running back Damien Williams, who ran for a game-high 129 yards and one of four Chiefs touchdowns on the ground, told Zig Fracassi on Late Hits. “Feeling the fans’ energy on the sideline, seeing everybody’s energy, the coaches. You couldn’t do nothing but play off of that energy.”

That was particularly true of Kansas City’s defense, which shut down the Colts’ offense. Outside linebacker Dee Ford had a strip sack of quarterback Andrew Luck, who was under heavy pressure throughout the game.

Kansas City Chiefs outside linebacker Dee Ford. (AP Photo)

‘The defense was just outstanding’

“It’s incredible watching (Ford) and Justin (Houston) come off the edge,” Williams said. “Those are two different guys, but when they come off the ball and they get to the quarterback, I feel like they’re similar. And they both were in sync with each other. The defense was just outstanding. They were really on it.”

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes continued to show why he is the leading candidate to become the NFL’s Most Valuable Player. He wasn’t spectacular, but he was efficient in completing 27 of 41 passes for 278 yards.

‘It’s exciting to see how exciting (Mahomes) is playing’

“For him to be so young and have so much hype around him and a lot of distractions for him to come out of the game and just kind of shut all that out … just be him each and every game,” Williams said. “It’s exciting to see how exciting he is playing.”