Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 10/6

Good morning! Lots of Kansas City Chiefs news for you this morning. There would have been more, but The Baltimore Sun limits page views to non-subscribers. It looked like there were some interesting stories there so it might be worth a search. Enjoy!

Pitoitua Has Made Big Impression With Chiefs from KC Star

In last week's loss to San Diego, Pitoitua made the first start of his four-year career and came up with two sacks. That matched the number of sacks left end Tyson Jackson has had in four seasons and is half as many as Dorsey's four sacks in five years.

"I felt pretty good, but as a team, we didn't come up with a win, so that (cancels) it out," said Pitoitua, who joined the Chiefs this season after three years as a backup with the New York Jets.

Early Deficits Forcing Daboll To Make Major Playbook Adjustments from KC Star

It's no secret that the Chiefs haven't led during a game all season. But they've also been behind for 204 minutes out of a possible 249, or the equivalent of three quarters of competitive football out of 12 and a half.

Having to constantly play from behind is putting the offense under significant pressure. Coordinator Brian Daboll, who calls the plays during games, acknowledged that he has discarded at least a portion of the playbook each week because the Chiefs have fallen so far behind.

Baltimore Ravens/ KC Chiefs NFL Week 5 Game Preview from Examiner.com

The Ravens offense runs through their talented running back in both the running AND passing games. In their last game against the Cleveland Browns, Rice had 97 yards rushing and also caught nine passes. He leads the team in receptions, though Baltimore's talented wide receivers, Anquan Boldin and Torrey Smith, aren't slouches by any means.

'Fire Pioli, Bench Cassel' Banner To Fly Over Arrowhead On Sunday from Yahoo! Sports

In this particular case, though, I don't know what positive outcome we're pushing for.

It's not like we're pushing for a policy change of some kind here. It's not as if the Chiefs are intentionally inflicting damage on their fan base through the intentional losing of games. I don't think they're unaware that the fans are unhappy, either. No one at Chiefs headquarters is going to see this banner and say, "Whoa, whoa whoa. Fans don't like 1-3? Why didn't someone tell me?"

Ravens Meet Chiefs For First Time Since Playoffs from The Associated Press via The Knoxville News Sentinel

"They've got great veteran leadership," Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel said. "They try to push those guys to go in the right direction, so any of those young guys that are coming in, they have to jump on the bandwagon and get going."

There hasn't been a bandwagon in Kansas City so much as a sinking ship.

That playoff loss to the Ravens a couple years ago represents the Chiefs' only appearance since the 2006 season, and their only winning record. The franchise has only been to the playoffs three times total over the past 15 years, and hasn't won a game since the 1993 season.

Ravens: O-Line Prepares For Tough Challenge Against Chiefs OLBs from CBS Sports

After surrendering four sacks and six quarterback hits against Cleveland, the Ravens' offensive line has yet another challenging front seven on tap Sunday.

The unit will face Chiefs OLBs Tamba Hali and Justin Houston, who have combined for five sacks and seven tackles for loss. Houston, who has four of those sacks, figures to line up over Ravens RT Kelechi Osemele, a rookie out of Iowa State.

Osemele's been off to a solid start, though the Browns ran some different stunts he wasn't used to seeing that caused a few miscues last week.

Chiefs Injury Woes Piling Up from The Associated Press via FS Kansas City

Romeo Crennel shuffled into the small interview room, settled into a chair behind a table holding a couple of microphones, and launched into what's become his usual routine.

"All right," Crennel said, "I'm going to start with our injuries."

And with that, Crennel started the roll call.

Romeo Crennel Says Chiefs Enjoy 'Crisp, Efficient' Friday Practice from SNB Kansas City

The Chiefs will need a 'crisp' game if they are to upset the Ravens on Sunday. The Chiefs are nearly seven-point underdogs against the Ravens despite being the home team, which shows just how much they're expected to lose the game. Perhaps the team is ready to move forward and find the rhythm they were expected to have.

McClellan: KC's Charles Biggest Challenge from The Carroll County Times

Q: Well, Jamaal Charles obviously gets a lot of attention. So does Dwayne Bowe. Who's somebody else on the Chiefs' offense you guys will be keying on come Sunday?

AM: We've got to stop the quarterback, [Matt Cassel]. He's out there managing the game, so we just need to get in his head. Once we can get into his head, it's a wrap.

Ravens @ Chiefs: Preview & Prediction from Baltimore Beatdown

When you take quick glance at the match-up between the visiting Baltimore Ravens and host Kansas City Chiefs, immediately you think this appears to be as clear of a blowout as there could be this week 5 in the NFL. The Ravens are 3-1 and only a point away from coming into this game undefeated. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are 1-3 and have already be blown out twice at Arrowhead Stadium in 2012.

The Ravens are +38 in scoring while the Chiefs are -48. Baltimore has scored 14 TD's, fourth best in the AFC, while Kansas City has scored nine TD's, fourth worst in the conference. Need we say more? We do? Fine, follow along closely:

Ravens Notes from The Capital Gazette

Only minutes into the first quarter and the Kansas City Chiefs' home crowd was already booing Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel.

Cassel had just thrown an interception only three plays into Kansas City's first offensive series of Sunday's 37-20 home loss to the San Diego Chargers.

The crowd's disgust with Cassel grew progressively louder throughout the game with each additional Cassel incompletion or interception.

Chiefs Must Establish Winning Culture from The Examiner

Everyone figured the Chiefs had the players to win. Romeo Crennel has the Super Bowl experience to coach them to win. Scott Pioli came from a team with multiple Super Bowl wins.

As far as management goes, the experience is there to win and go to the playoffs. The pieces are in place, but with Baltimore coming to town, Kansas City is 0-2 at home.

What's missing?

When The Cowboys Battled For Dallas from The Wall Street Journal

For all Mr. Jones's notoriety, he is just the latest in a line of hardheaded businessmen who shaped Dallas football. John Eisenberg's "Ten-Gallon War" tells the rough-and-tumble tale of how the Cowboys got their start and their short, heated rivalry with the AFL's crosstown Texans (today's Kansas City Chiefs), which lasted from 1960 to 1963. Neither franchise might have existed without the efforts of a young Texas oil heir whose self-effacing modesty masked a determination to bring pro football to his hometown: Lamar Hunt.

Ngata Playing The Best Football OF His Career from The Capital Gazette

Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata has long been considered one of the NFL's premier defensive linemen. A three-time Pro Bowler, he's a presence against the run and has even shown a growing ability to generate pressure on opposing quarterbacks in recent years.

But Baltimore defensive coordinator Dean Pees indicated Thursday that he's never seen Ngata performing at a higher level than he is this season, acknowledging the massive defensive tackle is playing the best football of his seven-year NFL career.

Final Word: AFC West from ESPN

A bad matchup in Kansas City? The Chiefs are 1-3, making Sunday's home game against Baltimore a must-win. The numbers suggest Kansas City will be in for quite a challenge. According to ESPN Stat & Information, the Ravens have outscored their opponents by 28 points in the first three quarters of games, which is the fourth best in the NFL. The Chiefs have been outscored by 74 points in the first three quarters of games, which is, by far, the worst mark in the NFL.

AFC West First-Quarter Checkpoint from ESPN

Disappointment of the quarter (team): Kansas City. The Chiefs added several impressive pieces in the offseason and looked primed to make strides on the field. They were a popular choice to win the division, including by yours truly. However, Kansas City is 1-3 and looked awful in all three of its defeats. This team is talented enough to turn around its season, but its start is alarming.

Ravens Game Preview: Week 5 vs. Chiefs from CBS Sports

Who matters: WRs Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones will need to fight off the press coverage from Chiefs CBs Stanford Routt and Brandon Flowers. Kansas City plays a similar Cover-1 look that Philadelphia employs, which gave the Ravens fits in the second half of their Week 2, 24-23 loss to the Eagles. For the offense to have success, Smith and Jones will need to stretch the defense and force the corners to back off a bit, which should then open up the intermediate routes as the game goes on.

Ravens-Chiefs National Media Predictions from CSN Washington

Sunday's game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium would appear to be precisely the type of game that gave the Ravens trouble last year: A road game against a seemingly inferior opponent. The Ravens appear fresh and rested after a 10-day layoff, while the Chiefs, at 1-3, are desperate to salvage their season.

The Chiefs have put up some impressive numbers, but their most telling number is this: 15. That's how many turnovers they have committed, the highest total in the league.

Here is how some of the national media see the game:

The Island Of Dr. Simbeau from Grantland

Q: Near the end of last year you kept kidding that you hoped the Chiefs would finish strong so they'd bring back Romeo Crennel, then you could bet against him in 2012 and clean up. They brought him back in 2012 and got killed in 3 of their 4 games. And yet - you picked them to cover their last 3 games. The lesson, as always ...

-Thomas, Kansas City

SG: I know, I know. The NFL Network's next documentary should be called, How The Hell Did Matt Cassel Win 11 Games? That was one of Bill Belichick's greatest coaching feats, right up there with three Super Bowls, 21 straight wins, 16-0 and resuscitating Vinny Testeverde's career and continuing to lead playoff teams while looking like a hobo.

Former Chiefs RB Larry Johnson Arrested In Las Vegas from KC Star

According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Johnson, 32, was arrested Friday at the Bellagio in Las Vegas after a fight with his former girlfriend, also 32. The paper reported that the woman suffered injuries to her face and bruising on her neck and that Johnson had small scratches on his face.

Clark County, Nev., jail records show that Johnson was being held on $15,000 bail and was scheduled for a 7:30 a.m. hearing today.

KCChiefs.com Video: From The Podium: Romeo Crennel 10/5/12

KCChiefs.com Video: Chiefs Breakdown Week 5

KC Star Video: Formation Pilots Prepare For Arrowhead Flyover

NFL.com Video: Plan B Quarterbacks

NFL.com Video: 'Playbook': Baltimore Ravens vs. Kansas City Chiefs