KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs gave up one of their nine home games this season to host the Miami Dolphins on Sunday at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany.
But it still felt like home to the Chiefs’ coaches and players during the 21-14 win.
“The crowd was unbelievable,” Kansas City coach Andy Reid said. “I’m going to say we won in the crowd. There was a lot of red there.”
That was the goal for Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt, who said the team exported its game-day production to Europe for the game in hopes of recreating the GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium atmosphere nearly 5,000 miles away.
“The music [and] the celebrations will be very similar to it being a home game,” Hunt said Tuesday via video conference. “I’m obviously hopeful most of the fans will be wearing red. We’ll have KC Wolf and our cheerleaders there, so that part of it should feel very similar.”
As the U.S. national anthem rang out before the game, broadcast microphones clearly picked up a very loud “Chiefs” on the final note, so it definitely felt like home for Kansas City.
“The Chiefs fans won that one,” Reid said. “We could feel them. It was loud. Whether they were from Germany or whether they were from Kansas City or the UK, it was something. It was loud, aggressive and we can feel that. As players and coaches, we can feel that and we appreciate it.”
There was universal agreement that it was a special atmosphere.
“This Frankfurt crowd was great — honestly, kind of like a playoff atmosphere,” said cornerback Trent McDuffie, who led Kansas City with a game-high 10 tackles.
He said the whistles from the crowd were different than a typical NFL game.
“But the energy was infectious and we had a great time out there,” McDuffie said.
Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes lauded the buzz around Frankfurt leading up to the game and the knowledge of the German fans as well.
“We appreciate the enthusiasm over here,” Reid said.
Mahomes added, “It was an amazing experience to be out here in Germany. You could see red all around the town. The Chiefs Kingdom showed up, and you could feel the love that they had — not only for the game of football, but for the players. You could tell that they watched and knew what they were talking about.”
Mahomes, whose only previous international experience came in a 2019 win against the Los Angeles Chargers in Mexico City, said he “hopes Clark jumps at” the chance for future international games.
Kansas City is the first team in NFL history to win regular-season games in the United Kingdom, Mexico and Germany as part of the International Series.
“It was great for the NFL to give us this opportunity,” Mahomes said. “I’m sure there will be many more as my career goes on, and I’m excited to get back and play in not only Frankfurt, but Munich or where the NFL goes.”
Only one player on the Chiefs’ roster — safety Mike Edwards, who was signed in the offseason after four years with Tampa Bay — had played in Germany before.
Edwards had four tackles in the Buccaneers’ 21-16 win against Seattle last November in Munich and relayed to his teammates how special the atmosphere would be.
“I told them my experience last year was really cool,” said Edwards, who had a tackle and fumble recovery Sunday against Miami. “We came out with a win, so that made it better. But the atmosphere was crazy.”
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