Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 10/27

Five Takeaways from Head Coach Andy Reid's Press Conference Monday from The Mothership

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said he was pleased with the way the team played against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the 23-13 win.

"I'm proud of the guys," he said, "the way they handled themselves yesterday against a Steeler team that I think is a good football team. They're very well coached and powerful. They were minus their starting quarterback and [Landry Jones] had stepped in and done a nice job the week before against Arizona and it looks like he's got a bright career ahead of him."

Tamba Hali, Derrick Johnson and Company Show They Still Got It Against Steelers from The Mothership

Over the years, we've come to expect big-time plays from guys like Derrick Johnson, Tamba Hali,Eric Berry and Sean Smith.

They're among the best in the game at their respective positions and they've built careers upon making the kind of plays we remember.

They once again showed us on Sunday why that's the case.

Alex Smith and Travis Kelce Connect For Key Play Late in Game from The Mothership

With the Chiefs facing a third-and-4 from their own 22-yard line early in the fourth quarter and slimly holding a 16-13 lead, Smith gave Kelce an opportunity to make the kind of play few tight ends in the NFL could make in a situation in which his team needed him the most.

"We got the look - he was isolated on the linebacker going down the middle," Smith said of that play after the game. "For me, you're kind of just throwing it up and a guy that big and fast that can go play the ball up in the air.

"It's a tough play to make as a tight end—the safeties are coming over the top, but that's one of the plays that ended up winning it for us."

Kelce ran a seam route right down the middle of the field and got over the top of the linebacker but in front of the safety.

It gave Smith a little window to deliver the football.

NFL.com Wants You to Name Safety Eric Berry's Interception from The Mothership

Berry's interception came at a critical moment in the third quarter with the Chiefs leading the Steelers, 9-3. On the ensuing possession, running back Charcandrick West scored a touchdown to make the score 16-3 in favor of Kansas City.

To "Name That Play" for the Berry interception, click here.

"Chiefs Kingdom Cards" Will Be Distributed Throughout London for the International Series This Week from The Mothership

For the first time ever, two kingdoms—Chiefs Kingdom and the United Kingdom—will unite at as one this week.

Kingdom Cards are scenery-engaging plastic cards that allow Chiefs fans to interact with some of their favorite aspects of the Chiefs by utilizing social media.

The idea is to take photographs of famous London landmarks with the cards and use the hashtag "#KingdomsUnite" to share the images on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. The best images will be displayed on Chiefs.com.

Chiefs' offensive line is praised for performance from The Kansas City Star

The Chiefs' offensive line issues have been no secret this season. Prior to their 23-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Chiefs linemen struggled to find continuity and to pick up stunts and blitzes.

But against the Steelers, something clicked. The starting line — their fourth different one in seven games — seemed to work together a little better.

They surrendered two sacks and seven quarterback hits, but on balance, they gave quarterback Alex Smith time to deliver a handful of nice throws, and opened up enough hopes to spring Charcandrick West for his first 100-yard game.

But the most important thing they did — the thing that caught the eye of Chiefs coach Andy Reid — was play with some grit and attitude.

Chiefs' Andy Reid happy with offensive line, likely to stick with same unit from Chiefs Digest

During the question-and-answer portion of the press conference, Reid specifically mentioned a position group that experienced change at three positions.

"I thought the offensive line did a pretty good job," Reid told reporters. "And I say that telling you that I think Pittsburgh has a pretty good front and they gave us a few different looks.

"So the thing I saw, and again, it wasn't all pretty, but the effort there was - and the ability to set a tempo, I thought was raised from what it was before."

Reshuffled offensive line makes a difference for Chiefs from ESPN

Alex Smith was sacked twice but also had the time to complete three passes of more than 25 yards. The Chiefs rushed for 138 yards, their second-highest total of the season. Charcandrick West had 110 rushing yards and a touchdown.

"You turn on the Pittsburgh tape and it was pressure, pressure and more pressure,'' Smith said. "They're bringing anybody and everybody: the corners, the safeties. It's coming from all over the place. They invented zone pressure, they do it better than anybody.

"[The linemen] had a tall task. There had to be a lot of communication. I thought for the changes that got made this week, those guys did such a great job of communicating and being a unit.''

Chiefs coach Andy Reid says receiver Jeremy Maclin ‘wasn't quite right' Sunday from The Kansas City Star

Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he and head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder could tell that Maclin — who they spent time with in Philadelphia during 2009-12 — did not quite feel at ease with playing.

"Rick could kind of sense it, too," Reid said. "We've been around him long enough. This isn't like somebody (who is) new here — we've known him a while. He just was off so between the two of them, they kind of worked that out with the docs. I had a chance to talk to him and he wasn't right."

Andy Reid on Jeremy Maclin: 'He just wasn't right' from ESPN

Reid didn't go into detail about how the Chiefs sensed Maclin shouldn't play. But he indicated Maclin didn't readily volunteer the information.

"Sometimes you have to dig a little bit,'' Reid said. "He's a competitive guy. But if you're around somebody long enough, you get a pretty good feel on him. He just wasn't right. You could sense that.''

Chiefs' Andy Reid welcomes "four good quarters of football" before business trip to England from Chiefs Digest

If the now 2-5 Chiefs want to build any momentum on the victory they face an international trip, with a long plane flight, jet lag and very different circumstances.

And, Reid made it clear there is nothing about the Chiefs trip that could be described as a vacation.

It's a business trip.

"We're going over to play a good Lions football team," Reid said. "It's not a vacation, that's not what this is. They can do that another time.

"I want to make sure we have maximum preparation right here and understand why we're going there."

Chiefs won't have time to take in London tourist attractions from ESPN

The Chiefs will have their normal practice week until Thursday night. They'll depart Kansas City at 7 p.m. and arrive in London about 9:30 a.m. on Friday, or about 8½ hours later. The Chiefs will practice Friday afternoon, have their usual meetings and walk-through on Saturday and play the Lions the following day.

They'll return home right after the game. If that doesn't leave any time for the players to see Buckingham Palace, that's fine with Reid.

"I'm not really into all that,'' he said. "Not that I don't like England. But I just let the guys practice here, sleep in their own beds, familiarity. We'll get ourselves over there [by Friday morning].''

The Lions are leaving Detroit Monday night with a Tuesday morning arrival in London. They will practice Wednesday, Thursday and Friday in London.

Five things to know about Chiefs running back Charcandrick West from ESPN

A star was born in Kansas City on Sunday, when running back Charcandrick West rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown for the Chiefs in their 23-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

West's play validated the Chiefs' decisions to sign West last year, promote him over Knile Davis to become the leading backup for Jamaal Charles early this season and then use him as Charles' main replacement after losing their featured back for the season in a loss earlier this month to the Chicago Bears.

Here are five things to know about West:

Offensive pass interference being called tighter than ever from ESPN

The whole conversation sounds silly, but 15 yards in a close game is nothing to laugh at. I'm guessing that's why I got questions Sunday from readers wondering if Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry should have been penalized for a celebration in which he tossed the ball in the air and mimicked the act of shooting it with a bow and arrow.

Berry's emotions were obvious, having just made his first interception since he was diagnosed with lymphoma in November 2014. But if you want to get technical -- and who doesn't when it comes to archery -- the ball served as the target in this celebration. I'm glad referee Walt Coleman didn't throw the flag, but he probably should have. Berry, like Bailey and Norman in Week 4, will probably receive a fine letter from the NFL later this week.

The NFL Top 25 Rankings from Grantland

22. Kansas City (2-5)

It took Landry Jones making his first career start, but the Chiefs finally broke their losing streak with their best defensive performance of the season against Pittsburgh. A defense that had just six takeaways in six games forced three Steelers turnovers, although it's also fair to say that they rode their luck, given how Eric Berry's interception was bobbled by Antonio Brown. The Steelers had seven different drives end inside Kansas City territory, and while the Chiefs continued to settle for field goals in the red zone early, they finally came away with a pair of touchdowns late to seal up their second win of the season.

The Latest: Mets slugger Cespedes set to play in opener from The Associated Press via WISTV

On Monday, Chiefs coach Andy Reid offered his encouragement on the eve of the World Series.

"I look forward to seeing them kick this thing off here in a couple days, I guess tomorrow, right?" Reid said, apparently unaware that kicking off is, well, a football term.

The Royals play the New York Mets in Game 1 on Tuesday night.

Reid and the Chiefs have become close with the Royals over the past couple years, often dropping in on each other's practices. Reid even stopped by to see manager Ned Yost - or as he calls him, "Skipper Yost" - when the Royals were in spring training.

RB Charcandrick West comes front and center in Chiefs offense from The Associated Press via FOX Sports

"I dreamed of this when I was 4, 5 years old. To be here talking now is crazy," West said in front of his locker, still wearing sweaty, grass-stained pads. "It's a surreal feeling."

When the Chiefs lost Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles to a season-ending knee injury a couple of weeks ago, the assumption was they'd get by with a committee approach in the backfield. But then West churned out 110 yards to help them snap a five-game skid.

Suddenly, the Chiefs had a new feature back to carry the offense.

Team Grades: Steelers Stumble In 23-13 Loss To Chiefs from CBS Pittsburgh

Coaching: C

Instead of showing a confidence in what Jones was able to do last week, Mike Tomlin and Todd Haley went conservative. It left the team stalled instead of maintaining any rhythm or momentum. In a situation where they could have kicked for three points, the coaches once again elected to go for it on a fourth-and-one and watched Williams get stuffed. In this case, it wasn't necessarily a bad idea since the kick was in the neighborhood of 49 yards, but Boswell made a 48-yarder last weekend without issues.

Eric Berry's interception inspires Chiefs to win from NFL.com

The Chiefs bombarded Berry to congratulate him on the play and made sure his interception was not wasted.

The inspired Chiefs went 53 yards on nine plays to score their first touchdown of the game and took a 16-3 lead. Kansas City broke a five-game losing streak.

Hundreds of Chiefs fans living in London from KSHB

When the Chiefs play in London this Sunday, they'll have fans visiting from the U.S. cheering them on as well as fans from the United Kingdom.

"This is a Super Bowl to us U.K. fans. For many it will be the first time that they have seen their team live," said Tom Childs, of London.  As a Chiefs fan, Childs started the fan group Arrowheads Abroad in 2013.

Arrowheads Abroad Welcomes You To London from Arrowheads Abroad

For many of Arrowheads Abroad's 500-plus members this will be their first chance to see their team live. I know it's not Arrowhead and I know the team aren't exactly in a rich vein of form but guess what . . . We don't care. . To be a part of the chop, to see the Chiefs cheerleaders or to watch our heroes such as Derrick Johnson or Tamba Hali in action is the ultimate for us British Chiefs fans. To be able to watch the team play in the presence of 84000 other fans is a privilege many of us thought we would ever have.

As the designated home team Wembley will become a second Arrowhead on November 1st. Now I am not that naive to say that Wembley will be anywhere near as loud as Arrowhead, or to say that everyone in the ground will be supporting the Chiefs because believe me, they won't be. There will be plenty of Lions fans there too as well as AFC West supporting foes. But for that one day, there will be an enthusiasm for the Chiefs. For one day, they will become the UK's team. The Kingdoms will be united.

Royal resurgence: how Kansas City became a baseball town once again from The Guardian

When it comes to baseball, this place is smitten. Serious smit. Deep smit. Pepe Le Pew smit. A football market falling back in love with its baseball roots. Kansas City is a major-league town with a minor-league ego; a tapestry of burnt ends, lavish fountains and big hearts; one of the biggest small cities in America. A place where grandmothers look into the eyes of the local athletes and see their grandsons, where players go to live after their careers go to die, where legendary quarterbacks (Chiefs Hall-of-Fame signal-caller Len Dawson) become legendary sportscasters, where heroes for one generation become neighbors the next.

"It (had been) so long, last year," Eisenreich observed, "the run that the Royals had kind of left the Chiefs on the backburner, so to speak."