Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 10/17

Good morning, Chiefs fans. I'm running a little behind today. With that said, the off day didn't make for a lot of stories. Here is today's Kansas City Chiefs news.

But because Charles is on injured reserve after tearing a knee ligament and Jones has been largely ineffective - averaging only 3.4 yards per carry - the Chiefs have been forced to seek other options.

It's tempting to assume that spells disaster for their running attack, but the numbers suggest there is reason for optimism.

Despite the backfield upheaval, coach Todd Haley's squad ranks seventh in rushing yards per game, but it's been much more of a piecemeal effort to date.

Chiefs Stay Grounded Despite Loss of Charles from KC Star

Kansas City may have debunked the thought process on intra-division important last season, but they were operating under much different circumstances as well.

The Chiefs built an early division lead last year and held it for 17 straight weeks. Whenever the Chargers or Raiders made a push, the Chiefs found a way to string together multiple victories and re-gained any lost advantage.

This year, however, it's the Chiefs who are playing catch-up.

Chiefs Enter Critical Division Stretch from The Mothership

This is hardly new, and we've seen enough in recent years to know that coaches will get into it at times.

We've especially seen this from Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley, who's had things to say to Harbaugh's brother John, the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, and former Denver Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels. The Harbaugh-Haley flap occurred this preseason, when Harbaugh was evaluating his low bench players in the late seconds of what became a 31-13 Ravens victory. Maybe Haley should have been unhappier about his own team's inability to hold a lead (the Chiefs were up 13-10 at one point), but it got around that Haley didn't like the way Harbaugh handled his business.

Harbaugh/Schwartz Just One Of Many Recent Coaching Flaps from Yahoo! Sports