Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 11/9

Good morning, and welcome to Tuesday. Thankfully, as the week progresses, we begin to turn our attention from last Sunday's crapfest game to the upcoming contest against the Broncos. Today's Kansas City Chiefs news includes a little more on DJ, a look at Denver's roster, and a couple of blasts from the past with T-Rich and Marty. Enjoy.

Johnson, the Chiefs’ first-round draft pick in 2005, is having his best professional season. He leads the Chiefs with 65 tackles, returned an interception for a touchdown, forced three fumbles and broke up five passes.

"Derrick has clearly been a big reason behind us starting to play better football," coach Todd Haley said.

One of the Chiefs’ other top defensive players, linebacker Tamba Hali, is also in the final year of his contract and presumably will be their next target for a contract extension. Hali is tied for third in the league with eight sacks.

Chiefs’ Derrick Johnson agrees to new contract from KC Star

The Broncos' roster looks like a broken teeter-totter - heavy in aging veterans on one side, youth on the other, and not much balance in between.

"With the exception of Kyle Orton, (Elvis) Dumervil when healthy and (Brandon) Lloyd, there's no one in their prime," said Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. "They got rid of everything on offense and everything on defense. And in order to do that, you're not going to get anybody in their prime. You're going to get either more established, old guys, or you're going to get young guys who aren't ready yet. And the end result is you're going to lose a lot of games."

Broncos' old defense, youthful offense not a great combination from The Denver Post

KC Star Video: Todd Haley on Derrick Johnson

One year, the breaks go your way, the next they don't. The difference could easily be 6-10 vs 10-6 - if not more extreme than that. Consequently, I don't pay much attention to "what ifs". I don't think it is healthy and I do think it takes away from the enjoyment...

...Ok, just this once... what if Bowe had caught that ball late in the game for a first down! I think it is safe to say if he had, KC would have won.

Chiefs Wrap II: Who's to blame? from Upon Further Review

Biggest area to fix: penalties: The Chiefs were flagged 12 times for 100 yards Sunday. They saw 10 points go of the scoreboard because of penalties. Good teams don't play this sloppy for long.

Moving on: Kansas City Chiefs from ESPN

When it comes to his hair, Tony Richardson relies on one man to cut and style it - DeJuan Bonds, owner of Purple Label Luxury Barber Shop in Overland Park.

Richardson, a fullback for the New York Jets (and formerly with the Kansas City Chiefs), travels back to Bonds' shop for a trim whenever possible. That's what happened recently when the NFL team had its bye week.

Barbershop is old-school, in a new place from KC Star

The key player in the resurgence was Jacoby Ford, a fourth-round pick this year who raced 94 yards on a kickoff return at the start of the second half and then brought back memories of Cliff Branch with two dramatic catches downfield, the first setting up the tying field goal, the second setting up the winner.

Wait a minute! Wasn't that supposed to be the role of Darrius Heyward-Bey?

Dickey: Raiders unearth unheralded gems from The San Francisco Examiner

With the season pretty much lost at 2-6, do you think Tim Tebow will start getting more reps? I cannot believe when the Broncos were being blown out by the Raiders that he did not play the fourth quarter. I would like to see him take some licks and get ready for the future. Any thoughts? 
-- Doug, Jacksonville, Fla.

Doug - I say wait until at least after the Chiefs game this Sunday before going there. Dire as it seems, if they beat the Chiefs at Invesco Field, the Broncos are just two games back in the AFC West with seven to play.

Broncos Mailbag: Starting gig nigh for Tebow? from The Denver Post

#5 Marty Schottenheimer
From 1984-2006, Marty Schottenheimer became one of only six NFL head coaches to accumulate 200 regular season victories. His .613 winning percentage is fifth amongst head coaches who coached in 300 games or greater.

Schottenheimer helped to make the Cleveland Browns, Kansas City Chiefs, and San Diego Chargers some of the NFL's most competitive regular season teams. From 1986 to 1997, Schottenheimer had twelve consecutive seasons where he was above .500.

The five greatest NFL head coaches to never win a Super Bowl or championship from Yahoo! Sports

The most notable team has been the Oakland Raiders who have already had more wins this season than they did last season with a record of 5-4. Since their loss in the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, the Raiders have not found much success by losing 11 games or more in seven straight seasons.

This season, the Raiders are trying to turn things around and make statements by beating all of their AFC West Division rivals, most recently the first place Kansas City Chiefs. They have shown that they can be contenders this year by dominating such teams and being consistent even after a blowout loss to the Tennessee Titans in their first game of the season.

Football’s surprise special from The Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan

Collie's hit yesterday adjusted my thinking about the brutality of football.  I sat next to the mom of a youth football quarterback a week ago, and each time the kid was tackled, she said, "Get up.  Get up."  I thought of Collie's parents yesterday, and the horror they must have felt as they saw Austin laying on the ground - out cold, maybe paralyzed, and maybe worse.  What kind of a voluntary activity would put a man's health in such peril.  I thought about the family of Mike Webster, the former center for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs, who lived out of his pickup truck after retirement due to the effects of the brain injuries he incurred during his playing career.

Sterling’s Daily Apology – 11/8/2010 – to Colts Receiver Austin Collie from KentSterling.com

At the halfway point in the season, 12 teams in the AFC are within a game and a half of a playoff spot pending the results of tonight's game involving Pittsburgh and Cincinnati (the Dolphins would fall two back and be in tiebreaker trouble if the Steelers win). The Chiefs are leading the AFC West at 5-3, and then six other teams are 5-3 or better. That means at least one of those six teams is going home before the playoffs begin, maybe more.

AFC has Six Teams for Five (or Fewer) Playoff Spots from The Big Lead