Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 11/11

Andy Reid Explains Dwayne Bowe's Targets on Sunday from The Mothership

On Sunday against the Bills, Bowe caught eight of the 17 completed passes from Smith on the day.

Over the entire season, Bowe has caught 21.4 percent of the team's overall receptions, but was by far the main target against the Bills with 47 percent.

Only three times this season has a Chiefs player had more than 10 targets in a game and Bowe has two of them (Buffalo, New York). The other player was Donnie Avery in Week 1 against the Tennessee Titans (13).

Chiefs coach Andy Reid spoke about Bowe's production at his usual Monday press conference.

Andy Reid Press Conference 11/10 from The Mothership

Q: Ron Parker, claimed off waivers last year to what he's done the past two seasons. How would you assess his growth?

REID: "He's come quite a way. That's a tribute to John (Dorsey) and the staff for picking him up. Then for his work ethic that he brings every day to practice and it carries over into the game. And we ask him to do quite a little bit, he's playing two or three positions. And playing well."

Q: Parker had been waived 15 or 20 times before he got here. A lot of guys give up. Why do you think he stuck with it?

REID: "Guys do give up, that's not his personality, not his make-up. He's a pretty persistent guy. I joke with him, he's a twin so it's like battling for the refrigerator. Who's going to get there first? So he started young."

Chiefs vs. Bills: Game Takeaways from The Mothership

Whoever coined the phrase, "Nobody said it'd be easy, they only said it'd be worth it," probably didn't use it to describe the Kansas City Chiefs' 17-13 win over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, but they might as well have.

The Chiefs trailed 13-3 going into the third quarter, but scored 14 unanswered points in the final 15 minutes of the game to come away with their sixth victory of the season.

"There are games you're going to have like this where everything is not pretty and you have to play through it," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game. "There's a certain toughness that it takes to not only play in the National Football League but to be able to come back from a deficit like that and our guys showed that today.

"They showed real grit there that second half. Nobody hung their head. Nobody was pointing fingers. They were all positive and you just had this feeling that good things were going to happen. We were just hoping we had enough time on the clock to get that done."

KCChiefs.com Podcast: Chiefs Download 11/11

KCChiefs.com Photo Gallery: Chiefs vs. Bills

KCChiefs.com Video: Arrowhead Update 11/10: Sherman's Versatlity

CSNNE Video: Curran: Contenders and pretenders in AFC?

Chiefs still buzzing over DB Ron Parker's Week 10 performance from Chiefs Digest

Chiefs defensive back Ron Parker's play against the Buffalo Bills looked just fine from the sidelines to coach Andy Reid.

And nothing has changed after the head coach had an opportunity to review the game.

"Parker I mentioned yesterday (Sunday) after the game, played well," Reid said Monday. "After looking at the tape, I still felt that way."

Parker produced what many could argue is the NFL defensive performance of Week 10.

Chiefs are being rewarded for their good work with Ron Parker from ESPN

Parker looked like a candidate for release over the summer. He had been starting at cornerback but hadn't played well and was benched.

"It was a weird thing,'' Reid said. "During the (offseason practices) and the early part of camp he was playing great at corner. Then he kind of went through a little phase there where it wasn't working for whatever reason. It wasn't working at the corner spot. That's where the persistence thing comes in. He battled through that. He got himself back on track at the corner spot and then we moved him. Then he got forced into action at the safety position. I think if you asked him back then he'd tell you that safety is his more natural position. I think now he feels comfortable at both of them.

"He's come quite a way. We ask him to do quite a bit. He's playing two, three different positions and playing them well.''

3 in the Kee: Why Chiefs fans should love Dwayne Bowe from FS Kansas City

When the only way coach Andy Reid seemed to be able to move the ball was along the boundaries, Bowe, more often than not, tried to make something happen. Late in the third quarter the veteran receiver accounted for 45 of the Chiefs' 80 yards on a touchdown drive that cut the hosts' lead from 13-3 to 13-10.

Much has been made of the fact that Chiefs wideouts have yet to record a receiving touchdown after nine games, but less talked about have been Bowe's steady contributions along the perimeter since his suspension served in Week 1. No. 82 is still scoreless, but he's also on a pace for 78 receptions and 982 yards. Bowe hasn't come close to either of those respective season numbers since 2011, when the ex-LSU star caught 81 balls for 1,159 yards and five scores. After all: When you're 6-3, it takes a village. Right?

National media off target with last Chiefs WR touchdown from Chiefs Digest

The NFL's fantasy show also had a lower third graphic showing Bowe as the last Chiefs wide receiver to score a touchdown.

CBS Sports and the NFL Network are correct pointing out Bowe caught a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Alex Smith in Week 14 of the 2013 season.

Both broadcasts, however, are incorrect by stating Bowe's reception is the last regular-season touchdown catch by a Chiefs wide receiver.

Former Chiefs wide receiver Dexter McCluster caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chase Daniel in the first quarter during the 2013 season finale against the San Diego Chargers.

Chiefs prove mettle in beating back Buffalo from The Associated Press via FS Kansas City

After getting trounced by Tennessee in their season opener, the Kansas City Chiefs returned to their practice facility the following day and went through the game film in all its gory detail.

They saw the missed blocks and tackles. They lamented the missed opportunities. They watched as defensive starters Derrick Johnson and Mike DeVito went down with season-ending injuries.

"Then we moved on," wide receiver A.J. Jenkins said. "We haven't looked back since we watched that film, that Monday."

They might want to now. The picture in the rear-view mirror is a little bit rosier.

After rallying to beat Buffalo on Sunday, the Chiefs have won four straight and six of their last seven.

Roster decisions loom on Chiefs RB Cyrus Gray, TE Demetrius Harris from Chiefs Digest

Barring a free-agent signing, the Chiefs have options on the practice squad to fill Gray's and Harris' roster spot in the event the players are placed on season-ending injured reserve.

Rookie running back Charcandrick West, whom the Chiefs signed as an undrafted free agent in May, spent organized team activities (OTAs) and training camp with Kansas City. He's familiar with the scheme and can contribute on special teams.

The Chiefs could choose to elevate tight end Brandon Barden, a third-year pro out of Vanderbilt, from the practice squad to take Harris' place.

Eric Berry is all the way back from ESPN

This is meaningful for the Chiefs, who have developed some depth in their secondary. When everyone is healthy and available to play, the Chiefs have some bodies they can move around and play different coverages with.

Don't underestimate how important this is. It may be the biggest single reason the Chiefs are playing so well when defending the pass.

Chiefs bring back OL Jarrod Pughsley to practice squad from Chiefs Digest

The Chiefs 10-man practice squad currently consists of Pughsley, wide receiver Armon Binns, tight end Brandon Barden, linebacker Darin Drakeford, defensive tackle Hebron Fangupo, guard Ricky Henry, cornerback Deji Olatoye, running back Charcandrick West, wide receiver Fred Williams and defensive lineman Jerel Worthy.

Chiefs playing so well, there is no need for Joe Mays from ESPN

The key issue there is that the Chiefs shouldn't disrupt a good thing. They have won six of their past seven games and are playing well on defense. They haven't allowed more than one touchdown in their past three games.

It's nice for the Chiefs to have Mays back, but they don't need to fix what's not broken.

Chief Concerns from MMQB

But this game was more about what the Bills didn't do-three fumbles, all lost, poor decisions from Doug Marrone and his staff-than what the Chiefs did. And you're naturally a bit skeptical considering Kansas City's six wins have come against five teams that are currently out, or on the fringes, of the playoff picture (Dolphins, Chargers, Rams, Jets, Bills). The other win was over the Patriots, who bottomed out on that Monday night but are a completely different team now.

Yet that feels unfair. Any team that has the second-best scoring defense (behind Detroit) is going to be in every game for the rest of the season, provided it doesn't go into a tailspin (like the Chiefs did last season... after an improbable early-November win in Buffalo, outgained 470 to 210 by a Bills team starting Jeff Tuel at quarterback).

Here's how Chiefs fit into playoff picture from ESPN

If the season ended today: The Chiefs would be the first of the AFC's two wild-card teams and the fifth overall seed in the conference playoffs. They would be headed to play the Browns in Cleveland for their wild-card round playoff game. The Colts would be the third AFC seed and the Browns the fourth because Indianapolis has a 5-2 record in conference games while the Browns are 4-3 against AFC opponents.

Chiefs rally to beat bumbling Bills, 17-13 from The Associated Press via The Boston Herald

Andy Reid and the Kansas City Chiefs showed the Buffalo Bills which team just might be better prepared to make a second-half playoff push.

After a slow, sloppy start, the Chiefs persevered in overcoming a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, while the Bills bumbled through a late-game meltdown in a 17-13 loss on Sunday.

"Nobody hung their head. Nobody was pointing fingers. They were all positive," Reid said of his team's demeanor heading into the fourth quarter down 13-3. "You just had this feeling like good things were going to happen."

They did, gift-wrapped courtesy of the Bills.

Fake Andy Reid just wants to shake the Real Andy Reid's hand from FS Kansas City

"We saw a couple of articles," Wilhelm says from his home in Leola, Pa. "I didn't know it was going to get crazy. I wasn't expecting a phone call from anybody in Kansas City. That's pretty fricking nuts."

Nuts? Nuts is Emmitt Thomas waving at you. Nuts is Jamaal Charles reaching up and high-fiving you during an icy Sunday in Washington.

"My (overall) Chiefs stuff, you don't have a big enough calculator (to add up), probably," Fake Andy says. "Hats, shirts, sunglasses, my watch, you name it."

The entire Reid get-up, head to toe, cost him roughly $500. He found the fake headphones online; his fake play-call sheet is a menu from a local eatery.

But the passion, though, the passion is real:

Chiefs playing in London so they can host Super Bowl from The KC Star via The Detroit Free Press

In a press box high above the field Sunday at Ralph Wilson Stadium, Kansas City Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt spent 10 minutes addressing the reasons the team is surrendering a home game next season to play the Detroit Lions in London.

The biggest of which, he clarified, is the hope of someday bringing a Super Bowl to Kansas City.

Hunt said the league passed a recently amended resolution from 2006 that requires teams that play host to a Super Bowl to also be host to an overseas game, and he is hopeful his team's decision to surrender their home-field advantage against the Lions will take care of that obligation for the next four or five years as it pursues a Super Bowl bid.

Sammy Watkins' underwhelming day, and 5 observations from stats and snap counts for Bills from Syracuse.com

The good news is that Sammy Watkins was able to get on the field for the Buffalo Bills' 17-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. He played 93 percent of the team's offensive snaps despite not practicing Thursday or Friday and being listed as questionable with a groin injury on the official report.

Unfortunately for the Bills, Watkins wasn't quite the same player he was in the two games prior to Buffalo's bye week, in which he went over 100 yards in consecutive games. Against the Chiefs, Watkins finished with four catches for 27 yards despite being targeted 10 times.

Poll: Would You Rather Have Alex Smith, Jay Cutler Or Andy Dalton? from Arrowhead Addict

You have the truthers; the people who think Smith is the quarterback equivalent of Sam's Choice-a generic knock-off who can't win a Super Bowl, because his intermediate throws don't break the sound barrier. (Highest single-game passer rating of the playoffs? Conspiracy!)

You have the worshipers; the people who bow at No. 11's feet like he's the second coming of football Jesus (see Tebow). If he has a bad day? Dwayne Bowe sucks, Andy Reid can't coach and Smith's toast was burnt.

Lastly, you have the bystanders-decent, objective people who don't get the urge to do hammer curls after a Chiefs podcast. No witch hunts. No lynch mobs. Just flies on a padded wall, watching a psych-ward riot.

Bills focus forward following 4th-quarter meltdown from The Associated Press via The Houston Chronicle

"It lingers bad," he said, referring to how Buffalo squandered a 10-point lead in a 17-13 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

"That game was ours. And we all knew it. And we gave it away," Williams said. "We can't give away games like that, especially AFC games, especially home games. Good teams find a way to win."

It's unclear how good the Bills are after bumbling away an opportunity to insert themselves firmly in the thick of the AFC picture.

K.C. Synergy: How The Royals Have Bolstered The Chiefs from National Football Post

The Royals, who finished last in the majors in home runs with just 95, employed small ball. They succeeded in 2014 because of their speed, sacrificing base runners over and stealing bases to compensate for their inability to hit the ball over the fence.

The Chiefs, despite playing in a passing-friendly era, are not an explosive home-run team. None of their wide receivers have caught a touchdown this season. The longest pass play for the Chiefs is 34 yards; every other team has had a pass play that went farther. Ranked 29th in the league in passing entering Week 10, the Chiefs have gained their yardage in small chunks through the run and short passes.

But give the 2014 Chiefs a lead - just like the Royals - and they become a nightmare for opponents.

Chiefs 17, Bills 13: five observations from Buffalo's Week 10 loss from Buffalo Rumblings

I'm typically the last guy to jump on the second-guessing-every-coaching-decision bandwagon, but man, is Doug Marrone's act wearing thin. His unwillingness to reveal anything even remotely behind-the-scenes in press conferences is beside the point for me, even though that had already become irritating weeks ago. His excessive conservatism situationally, and over-reliance on a good defense to bail the rest of the team out, has reached absurd territory. I'm a fairly stoic dude when I watch Bills games, but I was among the thousands screaming my throat raw as the Bills continually gave the football away on manageable fourth downs.

This is the NFL in 2014. It is tremendously difficult to play defense in the NFL in 2014, and it is tremendously easy for even iffy offenses to make plays in key spots. That's why success rates on fourth downs at specific points on the field - stats that Marrone has previously cited himself - continue to trend positively in the direction of offenses.

Chiefs benefited from Bills' late-game strategy from ESPN

Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone faced an interesting decision late in Sunday's game against the Kansas City Chiefs. The Bills, down 17-13, faced a fourth-and-10 at the Chiefs' 15 with 2:32 to play and three timeouts plus the two-minute warning remaining.

Marrone had the Bills try to score the touchdown, or at least convert to get a fresh set of downs, rather than kick a field goal and play to get the ball back, at that point needing only another field goal to win. Marrone's strategy didn‘t work. The Bills' fourth-down pass was incomplete.

CBS analyst Wilcots baffles with fake view of Marrone, late game strategy from The Buffalo News

Wilcots' baffling performance was a reminder that sometimes watching a network telecast of a Bills game leaves one wondering where the announcers get their information and opinions about the Bills.

It happened repeatedly Sunday with Wilcots and his on the ball play-by-play man, Spero Dedes.

Wilcots, who has a commanding voice that makes a viewer pay attention to even some off-the-wall observations, referred to the Bills coach as an aggressive play-caller who learned under New Orleans Coach Sean Payton and would "keep his foot on the gas pedal." He added that Marrone and Reid both "go for broke."

Now when is the last time a Bills fan remembers Marrone going for broke?

A look at the Chiefs, the Seahawks' next opponent from The Seattle Times

Kansas City's keys to success: After an 0-2 start, the Chiefs have been one of the hottest teams in the NFL, winning six of their last seven - the only defeat a 22-17 setback at San Francisco. The Chiefs have done it with an offense that ranks third in the NFL in converting third downs, at 48.7 percent, and a defense that ranks first in the NFL against the pass, allowing just 205.3 yards per game, and hasn't allowed a rushing touchdown all season. The Kansas City defense hasn't been as adept at getting turnovers this season, with just nine (compared to 36 a year ago, which was second in the NFL behind only the 39 of Seattle).

Tough tests ahead from The Spokesman-Review

"Really liked this game," the Seahawks' coach said Monday, one day after Seattle (6-3) set a team record with 350 yards rushing in its third consecutive win, 38-17. "This game really shows some really strong traits about competitiveness and toughness and finish, stuff that we really take a lot of pride in.

"I think we take three weeks here in a row that we really are pleased with the progress we're making."

They are going to need even more of those traits and that progress for this weekend's rugged test at Kansas City (6-3). Especially after Monday's news that run-stopping, blocker-devouring defensive tackle Brandon Mebane is out indefinitely with a "really legit" pulled hamstring, to use the coach's words.

Sour Rankings: Fake punts galore in Detroit, Andy Reid's promise from Sports Illustrated

1. Andy Reid: A big Sour Rankings day for the Chiefs' head coach. First and foremost, there was this dude:

And then after Kansas City rallied to knock off Buffalo, Reid celebrated perhaps as only he can, offering his victorious team "all the Uncrustables" during his postgame speech.

These are Uncrustables, by the way: basically, peanut butter-and-jelly calzones with no crust.

Monday Read Option: Chiefs Come Up Big, Marrone Makes the Right Call, and Steelers Flip Again from The Big Lead

One of my first Super Bowl memories was John Riggins rumbling to the end zone on 4th and short, just outside the Miami Dolphins' 40 yard line, in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XVII. It was one of the iconic moments in Super Bowl history, and it was set up by the drama of a fourth down attempt, with Washington trailing at the time.

If you grew up in the 80's watching ESPN, with Super Bowl highlight shows mixed in with Australian Rules Football and bowling in the late afternoon after school, you probably saw that play a thousand times set to the dramatic slow motion music.

I thought of that play as Jamaal Charles turned the key game in Buffalo with a fourth down pitch play that brought Kansas City back into the game.

Six from Sunday: The Browns are back; has Colin Kaepernick hit a wall? from CBS Sports

1. My favorite 'Dangerous Teams' right now: Cleveland officially joined the list Thursday night with a 24-3 win over Cincinnati for their third straight win. It is time to put Mike Pettine in the conversation for Coach of the year. A 10-6 record might be a stretch, but it is a possibility and whether they make it to the postseason, the Browns are back!

The other two teams I consider dangerous after this weekend are the Kansas City Chiefs and Detroit Lions. The Chiefs are on a four-game winning streak and they are giving up just 17 points a game. Their defense also hasn't given up a rushing touchdown this season in 220 rushing plays.

Right now I see the Chiefs getting to 10-6 and getting a wild-card spot.

Dolphins: McKelvin trash talk 'cheap' from ESPN

In relation to the Dolphins, McKelvin said Sunday that Buffalo was "going to go out and beat that ass. Point blank. Period..."

...Word travels fast in the NFL community. Wilson said some Miami players were aware of McKelvin's comments before the Dolphins boarded the team plane Sunday following their loss to the Detroit Lions. He said the initial reaction from Miami players was, "Wow! Didn't they just lose [to the Kansas City Chiefs]?"

Hot reads: Bears' season keeps spiraling out of control from USA Today

Not enough has been said about the job Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his staff are doing to keep that team on track after an 0-2 start. The Chiefs have won six out of seven since, including on the road at Miami, San Diego and Buffalo - three teams in the race for the AFC wild cards. Sunday, they rallied from 10 down in the fourth quarter to beat the Bills, sparked by a counter-toss on fourth-and-1 that RB Jamaal Charles took for an untouched 39-yard touchdown. Besides Charles and rising TE Travis Kelce, the Chiefs lack difference-makers on offense, but their play-calling coach is one. Reid is in his 16th year as a head coach, and though the remaining schedule looks tough - save for two meetings with the still-winless Raiders - this Chiefs team has a shot to be the 10th to finish with at least 10 wins. That'd be no small feat.

The List: Cold Blast & A Hot, New Restaurant from KSHB

A big, blast of cold weather is coming Kansas City's way. The List's Mitch Weber looks at the bright side and shows you how it could help the Chiefs.

14 most important games of 2014 NFL playoff chase from Sporting News

Week 16

Pittsburgh at Kansas City. The Steelers and Chiefs have run hot and cold in different ways. The Steelers are week to week with that, while the Chefs were icy early and have been red-hot of late. There's a lot to like to think one of these teams would be very dangerous as a wild-card floater in the AFC playoffs, but there's only room for one, and the loser here should be eliminated from consideration.

Eight plays that explain Week 10 from NFL.com

On a day when Alex Smith was hit nearly every time he dropped back to pass, his legs made a huge difference. An incredible 12-yard scramble early in the game set up a field goal, and this read option play in the fourth quarter gave the Chiefs the lead. Kansas City's advantage at quarterback showed up against Kyle Orton. --Gregg Rosenthal

Monday Musings: Cardinals still very much a contender with Drew Stanton from CBS Sports

The Bills lost to the Chiefs, a game they probably had no business losing after leading 13-3 in the fourth quarter. One of the decisions made by coach Doug Marrone late in the game was a questionable one. With 2:32 left, he decided to go for it on fourth-and-10 from the 15 down four points. Kyle Orton threw a terrible incomplete pass, and Kansas City took over. Why not kick field goal, kickoff, and then use your three timeouts and still have the two-minute warning? They would have been down one and only needed a field goal to win it. In that situation, I would have kicked to make it a one-point game. Buffalo did get the ball back late -- after Kansas City made a first down -- but they got it at their own 20 with 14 seconds left. It was too late by then.

Hot photos of Alexis Welch wife of NY Knicks Amar'e Stoudemire in 2014 from Examiner.com

Alexis Welch is a native of Kansas City, who moved with her family to Phoenix, Arizona where she went to high school. When she was 19 years old in October of 2002, Alexis went to a Nelly concert in Phoenix and she met Amar'e Stoudemire at an after-party.

At the time Amar'e Stoudemire was also 19 years old and he was in his rookie season in the NBA with the Phoenix Suns, having gone right into the NBA after high school. At the after-party, Amar'e was wearing a Joe Montana Kansas City Chiefs jersey which started a conversation between him and Kansas City native Alexis.

Injured boy's family overwhelmed by stranger's gesture at Chiefs game from WSEE

As Jacob Beemer kept vigil by his son's hospital bed, he desperately searched for a way to cope and tell his young J.J. just how many people are sending healing thoughts his way after he was struck by a vehicle.

And Beemer thought about how much his son loves the Kansas City Chiefs so Beemer turned to social media and sent out a plea on Facebook. He asked that someone hold up a sign at Sunday's Chiefs game in his son's honor.

Except the Chiefs weren't playing at Arrowhead Stadium. Instead, they were on the road visiting the Buffalo Bills.

Pennsylvania resident Noah Kauffman saw the plea and knew he had to do something to help support the family. He made up a sign and headed east in his Chiefs gear to New York to see the game and wave the sign offering prayers for an ailing boy.