Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 10/3

Good morning! Victory Monday feels nice, right? We've got your Kansas City Chiefs news waiting for you ahead. Keep checking back for more stories, analysis, and opinions throughout the day from Joel and the gang. Be sure to check out the story from the Boston Globe to hear about Haley drawing up plays on the sideline (it was a TD). Enjoy.

On Sunday, sticking with Haley’s plan of maintaining control and avoiding panic, several players took steps forward. McClain said he thought the win against the Vikings, one of the NFL’s four remaining winless teams, might be enough to save the season. Not that the Chiefs have solved all their problems, but at least the team began repairing one of its more significant ones.

"Everybody was tuned into themselves," wide receiver Dwayne Bowe said. "Everybody made a promise to themselves that they were going to do their job and not worry about the other 10 guys on the field."

Chiefs Take Care of Business in First Win of Season from KC Star

Full of frustration that boiled over on the Chiefs sideline, QB Matt Cassel gave a fiery halftime speech that his teammates credited as a difference maker in the outcome of Sunday's 22-17 victory over the Vikings.

"Matt is the leader of this team and everybody follows him," FB Le'Ron McClain said. "He came in and gave us a good speech. He said to finish, have your brother's back, finish and play ball."

Chiefs Respond To Cassel's Halftime Speech; Succop Finds Redemption from The Mothership

NFL.com Video: Vikings vs. Chiefs Highlights

NFL.com Video: Chiefs Postgame Press Conference

KC Star Photo Gallery: Chiefs 22, Vikings 17: Sunday, Oct 1

Television cameras caught most of it, including the part where Le’Ron McClain rushed over to separate teammate and coach. In that moment, this whole Chiefs season could’ve gone from worse to worst, but instead we saw something much more surprising than Haley screaming at a player.

The Chiefs won.

Cassel Makes a Stand, Which Pays Off for Chiefs from KC Star

A one-win first quarter was far from what the Chiefs had in mind coming off a division championship season, but the difference between 1-3 and 0-4 is more than significant. Sunday's 22-17 victory makes next weekend's visit to Indianapolis much bigger.

The Chiefs simply couldn't afford another loss. No one came out and delivered that message prior to Sunday's game, but the brunt of post-game comments pointed towards a collective understanding in what a 0-4 start would truly mean.

The Morning After: Minnesota from The Mothership

On Sunday, Kansas City held Peterson to 80 yards in 23 carries, a 3.5-yard average inflated by a 14-yard run in the fourth quarter. He never found a rhythm, and because of that, the Chiefs were able to rush McNabb and put together their best defensive performance of the season.

Chiefs' Defense Makes Plays Against Peterson, Vikings from KC Star

 "It was a simple hitch and go. They were rolling the coverage. Once I ran, I saw that Matt [Cassel] threw a remarkable ball. I double caught it and got chewed out on that, but at the end of the day I made the play. It was just a double move, hitch and go. Matt gave it some air and I just came down with it."

Chiefs Players Postgame Comments from The Mothership

On your speech to your teammates in the locker room at halftime:

"I am proud of this team and how it's responded to adversity early on in the season. These guys continue to stick together. We are not going to fold and be one of those teams you see that goes out there and struggles when people say you can't do something. That is the big part about moving forward; sticking together."

Matt Cassel Postgame Quotes from The Mothership

On the sideline conversation with QB Matt Cassel being one of motivation:

"I give a lot of motivational speeches throughout the game. Matt wasn't perfect but I don't think any of us are and he understands that too; none of us coaches are either. He battled throughout that game and, once again, what he showed, one of his great qualities is the ability to keep fighting and keep bouncing back and he did it throughout the game. I can't say enough about how the line protected for him; that was a challenge last night to our guys to protect our quarterback and keep hits off him and I thought, up front, the two tackles and the tight end: Casey [Wiegmann], Ryan [Lilja] and Jon [Asamoah], and the backs did a terrific job giving Matt a nice clean pocket. Then guys like Dwayne [Bowe] and Stevie [Breaston] and all those guys made big, big plays for us."

Todd Haley Postgame Comments from The Mothership

"Winning is contagious," linebacker Derrick Johnson said after the Chiefs snapped a regular-season and playoff losing streak at five games going back to last year. "It’s a good habit. The more you win, the more confidence you get. This league is about having confidence."

The Chiefs found some Sunday. Under other circumstances, it might have qualified as an ugly win.

Chiefs Get Chance to Build Some Confidence With Win from KC Star

Starting Streaks: C Casey Wiegmann started his 163rd-consecutive game dating back to a contest vs. the N.Y. Giants (9/23/01). Wiegmann has now participated in 10,363 consecutive snaps. CB Brandon Carr has started 52 consecutive games to start his career, the second-longest streak by a Chiefs player to begin their career.

Chiefs-Vikings Postgame Notes from The Mothership 

"I knew it was going to bother me, but I heal very quick, and I have a high tolerance for pain," Flowers said. "We took it day by day this week. I woke up this morning, felt good to go, so they trusted me to go out there and play."

Flowers said he didn’t concern himself with the possibility that the Vikings might pick on him to test his weak ankle. He said he just played as if he were healthy.

Chiefs Buzz: Brandon Flowers Plays Through Pain, Offense Shows Progress from KC Star

The blazing speed that Kansas City fans remember so well factored into at least one of Allen’s sacks. Cassel walked away from that play shaking his head, probably wondering what had hit him.

The answer? A very large man whose two sacks against the Chiefs pushed his season total to 6 1/2 — a heady and likely unsustainable pace that would put him at 26 by season’s end.

Allen Back Sacking at Arrowhead - In Different Uniform from KC Star

If you watched the Chiefs game this past Sunday you probably are experiencing some relief and frustration at the same time.  Relief that the Chiefs got their first win of the season and some frustration that the same issues still appear to remain...they just have been polished a little more this week.

Kansas City Chiefs Game Notes: Week #4 vs Vikings from Pro Football Spotlight

Jake O'Connell has joined the Chiefs again and finished the day with a 98%  assignments grade in run blocking and a 0 power score.  Jake didn't stay in to pass block much but he did have a couple of reps and had an assignment grade of 50% with a -1 power score.

Let's take a look at the rest of those grades...

Chiefs vs Vikings Week 4: Breaking Down the TEs and Backs Film from Pro Football Spotlight

On a playground, Dwayne Bowe's instructions might have sounded something like this: Take off like you're heading deep, do a little hitch at the parked car, and then sprint to the oak tree that marks the end zone.

Except the play that Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley drew up on the sideline Sunday happened to be at Arrowhead Stadium, in the fourth quarter of a critical game against the Minnesota Vikings.

Chiefs Draw Up Critical Win Over Vikings, 22-17 from The Boston Globe

Here's what happened after that sideline blowup: Cassel went 15 for 22 with 202 yards. He finished the game with a 102.7 passer rating. The Chiefs learned that the long rectangle at the end of the field is called an end zone, and they found it, courtesy of a 52-yard Cassel hitch-and-go to Dwayne Bowe.

Then in a press conference afterward, both coach and quarterback pretended like they barely remembered that sideline moment that seemed to light a fire under these Chiefs.

Cassel-Haley Blowup Puts KC on Track from FOX Sports

In NFL history (since 1960 anyway) there have been 128 times when a kicker hit at least five FGs without a miss, so it's not exactly unheard of. But, considering the Chiefs were 0-3 and barely breathing, it couldn't have come at a more critical time - that is unless you think losing would have been preferable.

Chiefs: Succop for Luck from Upon Further Review