Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 12/9

Good morning Chiefs fans! It's Thursday, do you know where your appendix is? Other than that one, there isn't a lot of new stuff today. Just your basic previews/ interviews. Enjoy today's Kansas City Chiefs news.

The 8-4 Chiefs can take a huge step toward winning their first AFC West title since 2003 by beating the 6-6 Chargers, the four-time defending division champions. Brodie Croyle would start at quarterback against the Chargers if Cassel is unavailable.

Croyle, who took the first-team snaps in practice on Wednesday, hasn’t played this season. He is 0-9 as an occasional starter for the Chiefs during 2007-09.

"I’ve just got to prepare the same way I always do," Croyle said. "It’s no different than any other week."

Chiefs QB Cassel’s status up in air after appendectomy from KC Star

Remember this feeling. Remember every sinking part of it: the uncertainty, the worry, the thought that the Chiefs’ grip on the AFC West may be slipping because Matt Cassel’s appendix acts up now.

Because it’s not too long ago that a lot of us — me included — saw Cassel as the guy who’d keep the Chiefs from the playoffs.

We’ve mentioned this before, and Cassel’s 23 touchdowns and four interceptions have won the day, but the context is important to remember that I called him "limp" and "frumpy" and a lot of you called him things that can’t be printed here.

Mellinger: Bad time to see Croyle from KC Star

Ever sensitive to sending the wrong message to the outside world — and in particular Sunday’s opponent, the San Diego Chargers — the Chiefs began the process of selling those tickets this week almost apologetically.

"Even on the business side, there’s a clear focus on San Diego," chief operating officer Mark Donovan said. "The timing forced us to do this.

"The good news is we’re a potential playoff team. We have to get this information out. But this team is focused on the San Diego Chargers."

Chiefs get permission to sell tickets for possible home playoff games from KC Star

Chiefs coach Todd Haley said Wednesday that the San Diego Chargers have changed since the Chiefs beat them in the regular-season opener at Arrowhead Stadium, but one thing has not: Kansas City still lacks the talent the Chargers have throughout their roster, Haley said.

"They’re a highly skilled team, multidimensional offensively, defensively and special teams. We will have our work cut out for us," Haley said. "I know we’re getting better. We’re just trying to ride our horse. We’ve got our blinders on, and we’re just really worried about the Kansas City Chiefs."

Chiefs notes: Haley says KC lacks Chargers’ talent from KC Star

If Cassel is unavailable, the Chiefs, winners of three in a row, will likely lean even more on a ground game that averages an NFL-best 175.2 yards.

Jamaal Charles is third in the league with 1,137 rushing yards and averages a league-best 6.2 per carry. Only Jim Brown in 1963 rushed for more than 1,100 yards and averaged better than 6.2 yards per carry in a season.

Charles ran for 92 yards and a touchdown on just 11 carries in Week 1, and will be facing a Chargers defense that was shredded for 251 rushing yards by Oakland last weekend.

San Diego vs. Kansas City from CBS Sports

How influential on the rest of your season was that season-opener and what you guys did that night?

When you're starting a new program, which we did last year, and you're really in the foundation-laying process, which last year we were in that, this year we know we're going to continue in that foundation-laying process - trying to lay a foundation that would hold up and stand the test of time that would allow us to be very similar to the Chargers, a team that's a good team year in and year out and plays in big games. That's what we want to be someday. We're clearly not there yet. We're just trying to make headway. But in that process it was very critical for the players to see some reward to their hard work and efforts and I think it was critical that we start out in a positive fashion so a win like that against a team that we know is a really good team was big for us.

Conference call: Kansas City Chiefs from Chargers.com

Jamaal Charles has entered rarefied air or, perhaps more accurately, hallowed ground.

The Kansas City Chiefs' "second-string" tailback is churning out chunks of sod at better than 6 yards per carry. If he maintains his current pace through Week 17, Charles and Hall of FamerJim Brown will be the only players in NFL history to rush for at least 1,000 yards while averaging better than 5.85 yards per carry in two different seasons.

Chiefs RB Jamaal Charles keeps piling up yards in chunks from USA Today

And former Grand Valley State Division II All-American defensive back Brandon Carr played a big part in the win.

The third-year starting cornerback for the Chiefs did not record a tackle, but he limited Denver's big-play wide receiver Brandon Lloyd to just two catches for 31 yards.

Area NFL roundup: Brandon Carr helps Chiefs maintain control of AFC West from The Grand Rapids Press

No more game-day decisions for San Diego Chargers tight end Antonio Gates. He knows that his team is pretty close to not making it into the playoffs so he says he's likely to be back in the lineup this Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs as he's been for the past two weeks with a torn plantar fascia in his right foot, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Chargers TE Gates likely playing Sunday from Yahoo! Sports

What has proven to be a difficult negotiation in the past has been getting the NFL onboard with getting a team back to Los Angeles. Leiweke said this won't be a problem with AEG head and billionaire investor Philip Anschutz behind the project.

"We are partners with most of the NFL owners," Leiweke said, citing AEG's involvement with Major League soccer and various sports and entertainment events in venues owned by NFL owners. "[New England Patriots owner] Bob Kraft and Mr. Anschutz saved soccer in this country. Trust me when I tell you [Kansas City Chiefs owner] Clark Hunt, the Kraft family and Mr. Anschutz have a great deal in common with the way they operate business. They would love to have Mr. Anschutz in the league. They're helping us carry this vision out. We're close to [Dallas Cowboys owner] Jerry Jones and he has adopted our vision and get's it and he's very involved. We deal with most of the NFL owners."

AEG's Leiweke lays out NFL in L.A. plan from ESPN

"First games, everyone's feeling each other out," Head Coach Norv Turner said. "I think we're a better team than we were on opening day."

The Chargers (6-6) have won four of the last five games after starting the season 2-5, a stretch that included four road losses. San Diego has been more balanced on offense since, sports a better turnover margin and has played better on special teams.

But Kansas City (8-4) also has gotten better, Turner said.

"I know they're a better team," he said. "Cassel's played at an extremely high level."

Fresh Slate from Chargers.com

Other roster notes for Week 14 include Adrian Peterson joining Brady at 99 overall, Knowshon Moreno jumping from 84 to 86, and the Kansas City Chiefs finally earning some respect with a team rating increase to 84.

Brady, Peterson join 'Madden's' 99 club from ESPN

Kansas City got a close win against the Broncos and benefited when the Chargers lost at home. The Chiefs' playoff chances went up more than 18 percentage points. The Chargers' chances plummeted more than 31 points. The Raiders are now averaging eight wins per season simulation, a solid improvement this season, but they are still forecasted third in the division with just an 18-percent chance of making the playoffs.

AccuScore: Jaguars in control of Colts from Yahoo! Sports

It all started as a child. Broyld played football in the street. Telephone poles were used for end zones and the curbs were out of bounds. Now, he is heading down the same path has his father, Ashley Sims, who played at Maryland. His younger brother Branden Albert, an offensive tackle with the National Football League's Kansas City Chiefs, attended Virginia. Eastern Michigan, Louisville, and Akron have all offered scholarship's to Broyld.

Is Broyld Greatest of All-Time? from HenriettaPost.com

The Chargers will not be playing football in Los Angeles - at least not next year.

In a mild effort to snuff rumors that the team is headed north and hold off lame-duck status, the NFL franchise informed the city Wednesday it is not triggering the termination clause in its Qualcomm Stadium lease for 2011. The Chargers have the option to do that every year from Feb. 1 through May 1 until their contract expires in 2020.

Chargers commit to S.D. for 2011, but not beyond from The San Diego Union-Tribune

The Kansas City Chiefs, believe it or not, have begun selling playoff tickets.

Even in K.C., minds are boggled that the Chiefs indeed are closer to a division title than anybody else in the NFL. Kansas City's the only franchise atop its four-team bunch with a two-game lead, and that's at 8-4, testimony to both the Chiefs' impressive turnaround from 4-12 last year and the AFC West's general mediocrity in 2010.

While the now-weekly question in San Diego has been which Chargers team will show up for its next game - the one flashing its many talents and reasserting its claim to four straight division titles, or the one that's lost at least five games it should have won - there's a different sort of wonder in K.C. and throughout the NFL.

Success is all coming back to Kansas City from The San Diego Union-Tribune