Getty Kansas City Chiefs safety Daniel Sorensen.
One Kansas City Chiefs player that silenced some of his many critics on Sunday Night Football was safety Daniel Sorensen.
Sorensen, 31, has been a polarizing player in Chiefs Kingdom this season. After a rough start to the season, the eight-year veteran was demoted from his starting role in Week 6 in favor of third-year safety Juan Thornhill. While Sorensen has, for the most part, flown under the radar since his demotion, he caught everyone’s attention in Week 13 during the Chiefs’ 22-9 victory over the Denver Broncos.
Early in the fourth quarter of Kansas City’s fifth-straight win, a Teddy Bridgewater pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage and landed in the hands of Sorensen, who took the interception for 75 yards and a touchdown. The pick-six marked the fourth of Sorensen’s career.
Daniel Sorensen TO THE HOUSE. 75-yard Pick-6! #ChiefsKingdom
📺: #DENvsKC on NBC
📱: t.co/uJbgLU8JP7
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Sorensen on Criticism: I Don’t Care, Frankly
After a game in which Sorensen displayed some of his value to the Chiefs defense, the veteran safety was asked if he had heard any of the criticisms directed at him from earlier in the year.
“I’ll be frank, absolutely zero. I didn’t read a single article. I won’t read an article from tonight, either – what people say, good or bad,” Sorensen said on Sunday, December 5. “I don’t get on social media, I don’t read articles. I don’t care, frankly. The only people that I care about are the people in that locker room – coaches and players. We’re a family, we stick together, and we have each other’s backs. Good or bad, I could care less. I’m more focused on the next task.”
He also acknowledged that his celebration at the end was him letting some emotion out.
“Definitely.”
Andy Reid on Sorensen: He’s a Good Player
Head coach Andy Reid has continued to keep Sorensen as a role player on defense despite a nightmarish start to the season for the veteran. Big Red discussed his reasoning for sticking with Sorensen.
“He’s a good player and he has a role on that defense. Everything’s not going to go perfect. We understand that,” Reid said during his postgame press conference on Sunday, December 5. “As long as he can still run the same way, somewhere age gets you, but if you can run the same way and you’re seeing things right, then you kind of push through those things. It’s why Pat [Patrick Mahomes] came back to [Byron] Pringle. So, there’s a certain trust that you build up with a player knowing his knowledge and toughness and skill level.”
Reid also explained why he believes Sorensen is wired to make plays even if he goes through a dry spell.
“Guys can hang their head if things aren’t going right, especially if it’s as big as it was becoming, and he didn’t do that,” he said. “[Sorensen] trusted himself. He trusted the coaches. He trusted the scheme and the guys around him. That’s not always the case. We have a good locker room here. When we talk about that during training camp or when they start going through these ups and downs during the season, you need that. You cherish the guys that give others support.”
Andy Reid on Sorensen: A few weeks ago, i was sitting in here, everybody wanted him gone.
After defeating one of their division rivals, Kansas City now has an 8-4 record, which is tied for the best record in the AFC. The Chiefs lost their matchups this season against the Tennessee Titans (8-4) and Baltimore Ravens (8-4), both of which are currently seeded higher than the Chiefs, so Kansas City would need better overall records than those two teams to leapfrog them in the standings. However, because the defending AFC champions have not played against the New England Patriots yet and won’t in the regular season, Kansas City still has a chance to claim the No. 1 seed in the conference.
If the Buffalo Bills beat New England on Monday Night Football in Week 13, then the Chiefs would also need a better record than Buffalo in order to leapfrog them in the standings because they lost to the Bills in Week 5.
In Week 14 the defending AFC champions take on the Las Vegas Raiders for their second and final matchup of the season. Kickoff is on Sunday, December 12 at 12 p.m. Arrowhead Time.