KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo spoke from the podium at team headquarters prior to practice on Thursday. The Chiefs (3-3) are hosting the Las Vegas Raiders (2-4) on Sunday (12 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan).

To view his comments, watch and read below:

Opening statement:

“Yeah, listen, we’re onto, obviously, the Raiders, and it’s a big week. It’s a rival week. So, we’re fired up about that. And another home game, which is good.

On proving they can make important adjustments after allowing big opening drives:

“Yeah, I would put, I would put it right back on them. Like, we’re very fortunate, we being the whole defensive staff, in that we have real cerebral guys. I mean, Drue’s (Tranquill) right up there, Nick (Bolton), I mean, they come over, they see things, feel things, hear things out there that I can’t hear, and they’re always relaying it.

“And then, and Brendan (Daly) and Joe (Cullen) and Dave (Merritt) and Matt (House) and all the coaches kind of like, kind of get together. We did a good job with that. I mean, we kind of hang our hat on that, hope to do it at every game, because all these teams that script these, it gets tough. Because there’s people moving all over the place, and it’s usually things that we haven’t seen or worked on. But our guys do a good job of settling in.”

On David Montgomery’s fourth-down touchdown pass to Jared Goff last week:

“Yeah, I’m distraught that they scored, first of all, because that’s the first thing. I didn’t know; I remember the rule now. It didn’t like pop in my head at that moment, because I don’t even remember if he got under center, if he was out of the gun. I just saw the motion.

“And what I remember from the players, I thought Trent McDuffie, he almost stopped it, but he was out there by himself. There was something else that should have happened defensively, and we got that all squared away, but I thought the effort he gave to almost get that thing defended. I mean, Goff did a great job getting in there. But, yeah, listen, I was happy that we were very fortunate on that play, that it went that way and resulted in a field goal instead of a touchdown.”

On whether the coaches helped the officials make the correct ruling:

“From my standpoint, I remember them, they just figured it out. That’s the way I remember it. I couldn’t tell you if anybody else on the back was saying, ‘Hey, that’s a penalty.’ But glad it worked out the way it did.”

On Joe Cullen’s run meetings to kick off each week’s preparations:

“Yeah, every coach on our staff has an area. Joe’s is the run game. Brendan on the same day, does play-action pass and drop-back pass on first and that second down. Dave Merritt, third down, Matt red zone, and everybody’s involved and all that.

“But Joe kicks it off. Joe’s got some energy to him, but I think the credit really goes to the players to get dialed in right from the beginning on Wednesday morning. Because we always begin, no matter what team we’re facing, we’re stopping the run. Yeah, we say it all the time, if they’re two-dimensional, or can be two-dimensional, that’s tough on us. So, let’s try to make it a one-dimensional game.”

On where he’s seeing growth in the pass rush when rushing four:

“Well, yeah. I mean, I thought as the game, I think Andy (Reid) might have mentioned this, but as the game wore on and because I thought Detroit did a good job early, where we didn’t get some pressure, they decided that one drive where they were just going to throw it. And they had some success. And, he maybe had a little more time than we really wanted. But I thought as the game got rolling and our guys got used to who they were going against, I thought it got better. So hopefully it’ll keep going like that. Hopefully we can begin that way.”

On how much the defense benefits when the offense gets rolling, especially the double-dip TDs sandwiched around halftime:

“Yeah, we’d love to be in that mode all the time. Does make a huge difference, because I call it a little bit differently. I think the guys on defense, they think a little bit differently, and they should. And most teams, offensively, when they get in, down two possessions, certainly down three possessions, you’re going to see a lot more passes.

“And I think our guys can pin their ears back and play it as such. And again, it goes back to, that’s headed toward the one-dimensional, and that’s a team thing. It’s complementary football, just like football.”

On the communication among safeties, including Chamarri Conner and Bryan Cook:

“Yeah, I think both those guys had really good, solid games. That meant Bryan tackled well. Chamarri always tackles well. He had a bunch of tackles. And listen, I think you might have asked me last week about Nohl Williams not playing a lot, and it was matchups, and the whole thing. And this particular game was different. And where I’m going with it is, it forces Chamarri to play in two different spots. He plays a nickel, then he goes back there and he plays safety.

“So, for him to be able to do that and work with Bryan says a lot about Chamarri, and we value him, and the fact that we can do both things with him. But I thought both those guys communicated and played really well.”

On the defensive-tackle spot next to Chris Jones, and the play of Derrick Nnadi:

“Yeah, I rely heavily on Derrick, with regard to I trust him. I mean, he knows what we’re doing. I know he’s going to be where he’s supposed to be, and he handles his gap. And now we don’t put Derrick in to rush to passer, because that’s not his. But I think for what we’re asking him to do, I think he’s done a solid job.

“We need that from those inside guys. I mean, you guys see it during the game. I mean, Chris can’t be out there every down, so at some point, Joe’s (Cullen) got to give him a break, and then the next two guys that go in there got to kind of hold the fort down until Chris gets back in there.”