Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 9/16 - Updated

Chiefs Hang On To Beat Cowboys 17-16 from KC Star

The Chiefs, wearing all red uniforms for the first time in franchise history, defeated the Dallas Cowboys 17-16 on Sunday in front of 74,952 at Arrowhead Stadium, enabling Hunt to reclaim the trophy his family contests with Cowboys owner Jerry Jones whenever the teams play.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak to Dallas, and was the Chiefs' first win over the Cowboys since 1998.

More importantly, the win gave the Chiefs a 2-0 record under coach Andy Reid, going into Thursday night's game at Philadelphia, the team Reid coached for 14 years. It's the first time since 2010 and second time since 2005 the Chiefs have started 2-0.

Game Recap:  Cowboys vs Chiefs from The Mothership

Charles took the next carry up the middle, gaining five yards, forcing a Colquitt punt, after the clock hit :29 seconds to play in the game.

The Chiefs Pro Bowl punter helped his team's cause, booting a 42-yard punt, which was downed on the Cowboys four-yard line. The Chiefs defense did its part, containing the Cowboys, who were stopped by Chiefs Pro Bowl LB Justin Houston, who tackled RB DeMarco Murray on the game's final play.

Chiefs win the game, 17-16, to move to 2-0 and will travel to Philadelphia to face the Eagles on Thursday night.

Chiefs Make It A Red-Letter Day In History With New Uniforms from KC Star

"The red looks good on us ..." Bowe said. "It was Red Friday ... the sea of red out there did a great job being loud when we needed to, and we won the game."

The big question is whether the Chiefs will return in all red for the next home game, Sept. 29 against the New York Giants.

"The guys had fun with it," quarterback Alex Smith said. "We got a W. Let's keep it going."

Andy Reid Press Conference Transcript from The Mothership

What about Brandon Flowers?

"I'm proud of Brandon (Flowers), because he battled the whole game. That's a great player right there. Right when you thought it was at the point, and dognabit, he came back and gutted it up and played like a winner. He was unbelievable. He made some big plays down the stretch. He's going to catch some balls, I don't care who you put on him, he's going to catch some balls. You double him up, and then you've got the other guys you have to deal with, that's what they want you to do. Brandon went out and I think he battled his heart out."

Chiefs' Charles Can Be Happy With Gritty, Not Gaudy, Numbers from KC Star

To that point, Charles' skewed stat line showed a career-high eight catches for 48 yards and a touchdown and a mere eight carries for a meager eight yards.

Between the way his game was trending and the fact he was coming off a quadriceps injury last week against Jacksonville that held him out of some practice this week, what came next was no sure thing.

Except, apparently, to Charles and Reid.

"He said, ‘Give me the ball. We need to end this thing the right way,' " Reid said.

These Chiefs Are Counting On Their Strong Defense To Lead The Way from KC Star

The Chiefs are zigging when the rest of the league is zagging, basically. League trends and rules are pushing more focus and importance on offense every day, and it is in this world that the Chiefs are making their way with defense.

The New Chiefs, in other words, are trying to win like The Old Chiefs, and didn't this feel a bit like the 1990s?

The Chiefs beat the Cowboys 17-16 on Sunday in perfect nostalgia. The biggest crowd at Arrowhead in years made the ground shake. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo looked lost at times, like he was constantly against the wind and going uphill, which is how it always feels here for quarterbacks when Arrowhead is rocking and the Chiefs are attacking.

Chiefs' Flowers Still Confident After Duel With Bryant from KC Star

The Chiefs refused to comply, stubbornly sticking with the 5-foot-9, 187-pound Flowers, even as Bryant racked up five catches for 100 yards and a touchdown by the end of the first quarter and made a handful of impressive grabs during the course of the game, including a diving stab down the sideline in the first quarter.

"I knew what kind of caliber of player he was coming in," Flowers said. "He's going to make some of those. If I had my head down" because of "catches he made all game, who knows what his" stats "would have been like."

Flowers, however, was rewarded for his resiliency as the game went on. He said the Cowboys did a good job of mixing up Bryant's routes all game, but over the final 27 minutes, his primary assignment was targeted four times and only had one catch for 13 yards.

Smith Inspires Chiefs With Running, Passing And Toughness from KC Star

If anyone personified what it took to slug out a 17-16 win over the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, it was Smith.

Smith led the Chiefs in rushing with a career-best 57 yards against a Dallas defense that was crowding the line of scrimmage with the intent of stopping running back Jamaal Charles.

Smith was under constant pressure from Cowboys pass rushers DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer and Jason Hatcher but still completed 21 of 36 passes for 223 yards, two touchdowns, and perhaps most important, no interceptions.

"In the trenches, when it's time to buckle up, he's all in," said wide receiver Dwayne Bowe, who caught Smith's second touchdown pass. "You should see the look in his eyes when he's demanding ... and controlling the offense. I never had a quarterback like that.

"He's tough, he's not going to back down ..."

Chiefs' Newcomer Ron Parker Helps Stave Off Cowboys from KC Star

Only two weeks ago, Ron Parker had been let go by a third NFL team since joining the league as an undrafted free agent in 2011.

But within 24 hours as part of an unusually busy final rejiggering of the Chiefs roster, the obscure and evidently nomadic South Carolina native was summoned to Kansas City. Who could know it would pay major dividends for both in the Chiefs' 17-16 victory over Dallas on Sunday?

Chiefs Buzz: Parker Makes Big Play from KC Star

They're 2-0 for the first time since 2010 and for the second time since 2005. In 2010, they won the AFC West with a 10-6 mark. In 2005, they went 10-6 but missed the playoffs in Dick Vermeil's last season as coach.

"Nothing's different," wide receiver Dwayne Bowe said, comparing 2013 to 2012. "To the public that is watching, it might look different, but this is kind of the same team we had last year (with the exception of) a great quarterback in Alex Smith and a great offensive coach in Andy Reid who is calling the plays and making sure the playmakers are getting the ball."

Chiefs' Special Teams Have Up-And-Down Day from KC Star

It was the fifth of Colquitt's seven punts that landed inside the 20-yard line Sunday - he already has 10 of those after racking up 45 last season, the second-most in the league - and it would have been his second inside the 5-yard line, had his earlier masterpiece stood.

Surprisingly, however, the one that was wiped out didn't bother Colquitt much. He's just glad Dallas' return man, receiver Dwayne Harris - the reigning NFC special teams player of the week - didn't touch the ball.

"It might have been a touchback, I get that part," Colquitt said. "But I'd rather it be that than him getting the ball."

Chiefs Blitz: Good, Bad, And Ugly vs Cowboys from KC Star

How was the crowd at Arrowhead?

Pretty good. The Chiefs have had better crowds, of course, but for a season opener and all the team's recent struggles, it was a solid effort by a fanbase eager to return to the Arrowhead glory days.

Chiefs Report Card vs Cowboys from KC Star

Rushing offense

When the quarterback is your leading rusher, that's not always a good sign, but the Chiefs ran it best when they had to, in the final 4 minutes.

Grade: C+

KCChiefs.com Photo Gallery: The Chiefs Week 2Win In Photos

KCChiefs.com Video: Ron Parker Shines In Arrowhead Debut

KCChiefs.com Video: D. Bowe Describes The Chiefs team Win

KCChiefs.com Video: Head Coach Andy Reid Addresses The Media

NFL.com Video: Dallas Cowboys At Kansas City Chiefs Highlights

Chiefs Show Gritty Side In Win Over Dallas from ESPN

"You need to win games like this," Smith said. "These are the games you look at when you get into November and December. You need [this] type of win. Not just against the caliber of team like that but the style of win. It's not always going to be pretty. It's going to be back and forth. You're going to make mistakes. The team that can find a way to kind of really bear down there in the fourth quarter ..."

Smith, one of the many new guys in town, had no way of knowing this, but the Chiefs have rarely won games like this one in recent seasons. More often, they had to be the better team to come away with a victory, and, sometimes, even that wasn't enough.

Cowlishaw: Dez Bryant Is Amazing, Then Awful; Is It Play-Caller's Fault? from The Dallas Morning News

The Cowboys staggered out of Arrowhead Stadium with a 17-16 loss to the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs. The common reaction among players, coaches and owner?

Puzzled.

No one was screaming, no one was crying. Everyone was a little confused.

Rapid Reaction: Chiefs 17, Cowboys 16 from ESPN

On their first drive of the third quarter, they got to the Chiefs' 4-yard line, but Ronald Leary had a false start on third down and they had to settle for a Dan Bailey field goal. The Cowboys' next two drives ended on fumbles by Lance Dunbar and Tony Romo. The fourth possession ended in a punt after Dez Bryant dropped a deep ball after getting by cornerback Brandon Flowers.

Recap: Chiefs Start 2-0 After Beating Cowboys 17-16 from The Associated Press via FS Kansas City

The Chiefs, coming off an uplifting win at Jacksonville, were amped for his first game as their coach at Arrowhead Stadium. A capacity crowd roared when they rolled onto the field in all-red uniforms, departing from traditional white pants to signify the start of a new era.

They kept on rolling, too. Kansas City marched 77 yards on the opening series, the highlight coming when Smith scrambled 17 yards on third-and-15 and executed a Fosbury Flop over a defender for a first down. Smith capped the drive with a short TD toss to Charles.

That's when the Romo-to-Bryant connection got on track.

Keeler: Chiefs Go To 2-0 By Making Turnovers A Weapon Instead Of Weakness from FS Kansas City

Exhibit A: A year ago at this time, the Kansas City Chiefs had played two games, turned it over six times and collected zero takeaways. They were 0-2, had been outscored 75-41 and were on their way to a 2-14 dumpster fire of an autumn.

Exhibit B: After a 17-16 victory over the Dallas Cowboys, the 2013 Chiefs have snatched four takeaways and have yet to turn it over. They're 2-0. They've outscored the opposition 45-18.

5 Thoughts: Dallas Cowboys Blow Multiple Opportunities To Open Season 2-0 from The Dallas Morning News

You want to know why the Cowboys pass so much? Well, it's because they can't run the football. Dallas ran 16 times for only 37 yards on Sunday. If you didn't know, that's terrible. The addition of Brian Waters should help, but this doesn't appear to be a problem that will be completely fixed this season. In the opener, the Cowboys ran for only 87 yards on 23 attempts. Not having a running game means a lot of long third down attempts for Romo. How has that worked out? After converting 5-of-15 third downs against the New York Giants, the Cowboys were 3-of-11 on Sunday. You won't win many games in the NFL converting only three third downs.

Energized Chiefs Turn Away Sluggish Cowboys 17-16 from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

For more than a decade and most acutely, the past three seasons, the Cowboys have proven to be a a bad-to-middling team that doesn't know how to win when it counts and one that majors in red-zone failures, untimely miscues and self-inflicting wounds.

It was all on full and vivid display in Sunday's 17-16 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs before a crowd of 76,952 at Arrowhead Stadium.

This Cowboys Loss Falls In The Lap Of The Offense from The Fort Worth Star-Telegram

In the real world of the NFL, 60 minutes each Sunday is usually enough time to separate the fakers from the eventually winners. Given enough second-half time, the Cowboys did the separating.

In a frustrating, 17-16, loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, you could say the Cowboys let one get away, or you could say the Chiefs simply took the W, and in both cases you might be right.

Dallas Morning News Photo Gallery: Cowboys-Chiefs Tailgating Photos

Dallas 16, Kansas City 17: Chiefs Clinch Tight Victory As Reid's Home Debut Ends In Delight from The Daily Mail

The Dallas Cowboys didn't have any trouble marching deep into Kansas City territory. It was finishing drives with a touchdown that proved problematic.

That was especially true in the fourth quarter on Sunday, when they had moved across midfield in search of the go-ahead score. Tony Romo was pressured into three straight misfires, and the Cowboys had to settle for Dan Bailey's third field goal.

Kansas City Mom Says There's No Room For Strippers At Arrowhead from KSHB

One Kansas City mom said she is on a mission to get strippers out of Arrowhead Stadium.

Thousands of families came out to Arrowhead Stadium to cheer on the Chiefs at Sunday's home opener game. But Angela Lukenbill of Gladstone, Mo., and her fiancé Chad Smith kept their two kids at home. They said there was no room for exotic dancers next to America's favorite sport.

Kevin Haskin: Chiefs Come Together To Preserve Tight Win from The Topeka Capital-Journal

"I knew that moment was going to be mine and I was glad to carry the team on my back," Charles said.

Charles gained 47 yards on eight carries as the Chiefs burned 3 minutes, 34 seconds, taking the clock down to :16. Just as important, the yardage gained - coupled with the pinpoint leg of punter Dustin Colquitt - gave the Cowboys the ball back on their 4-yard line.

Game over.

Chiefs' Defense Puts AFC - Including Broncos - On Alert from Sporting News

The Chiefs' 28-2 dominance of Jacksonville in Week 1 didn't garner much attention, because, well, it was the Jaguars. Their 17-16 escape from NFC power Dallas in Week 2 at home, however, should alert every team in the AFC-including Peyton Manning's division favorite Broncos-that the Chiefs have the best defense in the AFC, not just the West.

Considering the big changes to Andy Reid and Alex Smith as coach and quarterback, they added two leaders who, at their best, win plenty. But with that combined offensive-minded steadiness comes a reminder: The Chiefs are really loaded on the other side of the ball. When their offense simply controls and protects the ball, they are tough to beat.

Chiefs Fans Bring In The Beginning Of Arrowhead Tailgating Season from FOX4KC

The gates opened up three and half hours before kickoff on Sunday for tailgating. Even when the Chiefs were up 7-3 in the first quarter, there was still a line to get into the lot. The Chiefs came into the home opener with a win and a lot of hype and plenty of excited fans. Every Sunday, Brandon and his family eat together. Today, it's a tailgate feast.

Cowboys Come Up Empty In End from ESPN

The Dallas Cowboys' first loss of the season didn't have anything to do with the crowd -- no matter how much the players and coaches talked about Arrowhead Stadium's tough environment after the game.

These Kansas City Chiefs bear little resemblance to the raggedy 2012 team, but let's not act like they're headed to the Super Bowl.

They're not.

Andy Reid's Chiefs Force Cowboys Into Mistakes In Win from NFL.com

The Romo "clutch" narrative is overrated, but even his biggest supporters will admit he struggled late in this game. It happens. The underrated Chiefs defense, on the other hand, stuffed Dallas' running game all day. Dontari Poe continues to be a revelation at defensive tackle.

The Chiefs might not have enough offensive firepower to be a Super Bowl contender this year, but I'm feeling good about my 9-7 prediction. Reid quickly has shown he knows more than one way to win a game.

Dolphins, Chiefs Ascend; Redskins, Viking Fail from The Wall Street Journal

It's cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria and...the Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs doing well to start the season. In a league that basically ensures parity, two teams that parity forgot have started 2-0.

Efforts Wasted By Too Many Missed Opportunities from DallasCowboys.com

The Chiefs were able to force turnovers and the Cowboys were not. The Chiefs made some key plays down the stretch running the ball to kill the game and the Cowboys did not. Teams that find ways to make plays on a weekly bases, find ways to win. In Kansas City, the Cowboys learned that lesson the hard way.

Familiar Offensive Problems Pop Up In 17-16 Loss To Chiefs from DallasCowboys.com

It's obvious what kind of day it is offensively when the Cowboys fumble twice,Dez Bryant drops a deep ball on an otherwise superb day, the team averages 2.3 yards per carry and Tony Romo throws three straight incompletions on back-to-back possessions in the second half.

Once Again, Non-Existent Running Game Fails Cowboys from DallasCowboys.com

Yes, I know the Vegas oddsmakers had the Chiefs as a field-goal favorite and the Cowboys lost it 17-16 on the road. Yeah, forget all that. When you watch the game Sunday it looked as if the Cowboys were the better football team - at least on the field.

But it ends up 17-16 Chiefs and that's really all that matters when it's said and done. Give credit to Andy Reid for what appears to be a culture change in Kansas City. They've got a solid team, but I'm not really sure they're a playoff team.

Then again, the Cowboys certainly didn't look like one either.

Wait: The Chiefs Are 2-0? from USA Today

Grantland's Bill Barnwell pointed this out in August, but by merely upgrading their QB situation from "sub-average" to "league average," the Chiefs put themselves in a position to win close games they would typically lose last year - just like this one. Smith completed less than 2/3 of his passes but threw 2 TDs with no INTs, while running 8 times for a team-leading 57 yards, a 7.1 yards-per-carry average.

From The Jays To The KC Chiefs For Dr. Michael Monaco from The Springfield News Tribune

Dr. Michael Monaco has moved to the sidelines from his high school football career many years ago.

But that's not all that's changed. Monaco's focus also has shifted from winning games to keeping players in good health.

Monaco, a former captain of the Jefferson City High School Jays football team, is in his 19th season as team physician for the Kansas City Chiefs, caring for players on the sidelines and on the road all season long.

Seattle Sets Stadium Noise Record from Kansas First News

The group, called Volume 12, announced on its Facebook page it had set the mark late in the first quarter. The decibel reading taken during a sack of San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick in the first quarter - following a one hour weather delay - was 131.9 decibels.

Reid's Chiefs Go To 2-0 By Beating Cowboys from Philly.com

Shortly after Sunday's 17-16 win over the visiting Dallas Cowboys at energy-filled Arrowhead Stadium, Reid was asked by the only Philadelphia reporter in attendance whether it would be emotional when the Chiefs visit Lincoln Financial Field on Thursday to face an Eagles team that he coached the previous 14 years. True to his nature, Reid wasn't about to open his emotional box very much. "I haven't gotten there yet," Reid said. "I'm still on this one. I'm going to go back and take a look at their film, and we'll take it from there."

Reversal Of Fortune For Eagles' Williams from The Morning Call

According to Eagles defensive coordinator Billy Davis, his team can expect to see more of the same from the Kansas City Chiefs offense on Thursday night.

"It's similar [to San Diego's], yes," he said. "They have a quick passing game, they get four or five receivers out there. Yes, it's a similar offense."

Uh-oh.

Nate Allen, Eagles Defense Carved Up In Loss To Chargers from NJ.com

The Eagles have enough problems to take up an entire off-season, let alone four days. Andy Reid and his 2-0 Kansas City Chiefs are coming to town on Thursday, giving the Eagles a short week to try to fix problems that might prove to not be fixable.

"The Chiefs are going to watch the film," Matthews said. "and try to do exactly what the Chargers did,"

Hopefully, for Eagles fans sake, not as successfully.