Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 11/11

Chiefs vs. Broncos: 10 Stats to Know from The Mothership

2. He doesn't put his defense in bad situations

Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith has attempted 197 consecutive passes without throwing an interception, which is the longest streak for anyone in the NFL this season.

Running Back Jamaal Charles Has High School Jersey Retired from The Mothership

You've heard the "Voice of the Chiefs" Mitch Holthus talk about it before—injured running back Jamaal Charles' "Port Arthur toughness."

Last Friday night, on November 6, Charles had his No. 4 high school jersey retired from Port Arthur Memorial in Port Arthur, Texas.

Around the AFC West: While Chiefs Were Away, the Rest of the Division Lost from The Mothershp

After the Chargers lost their fifth game in a row to the Chicago Bears on Monday night, quarterback Philip Rivers sounded befuddled in his address to the media.

"We just don't have the answers right now," he said. "It's not surrendering and saying we're not good enough. I'm not saying we're surrendering, but we are what we are and right now that's a 2-7 team on a five-game skid."

Vote: Who is the midseason Comeback Player of the Year? from ESPN

Everybody loves a comeback, and this NFL season has offered a few.

Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry returned after being diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma last November. Now cancer free, Berry has 31 tackles and an interception.

The Star's Chiefs and NFL midseason awards: KC still in the wild-card mix from The Kansas City Star

The Chiefs are at the midway point of the 2015 season, and while no one expected them to get out to a 1-5 start, they have managed to pull back into the thick of things by winning their last two games.

Unbelievably, the Chiefs are still in the wild-card mix. The Steelers, 5-4, and Jets, 5-3, own the final two spots, but the Chiefs have a head-to-head win over the Steelers.

The Chiefs also have showdowns looming against Oakland and Buffalo, two other teams currently ahead of them in the wild-card mix. They also have the benefit of a schedule that gets significantly easier down the stretch — their final six opponents have a combined 21-28 record.

So yes, things can potentially get pretty interesting here, especially if they find a way to upset Denver, 7-1, on the road Sunday. But in the meantime, here are The Star's midseason awards for the team and the entire NFL.

Broncos represent hump Chiefs have to get past from ESPN

Would things be much different for the Chiefs had they held on to beat the Broncos for the first time since 2011?

That's impossible to say. But the Chiefs did go into a tailspin they only recently recovered from. There's evidence of a hangover from that Denver loss.

"I said it then that I didn't think there was but there might have been," coach Andy Reid said. "I thought we played some good teams along the way and they got us. There was some good football in there but not enough to win those games. You probably could argue that ... but I haven't looked at it that way."

Less arguable is that the Broncos represent a hump the Chiefs have to get past.

Charcandrick West has helped rescue the Kansas City Chiefs' season from ESPN

Midseason MVP: Running back Charcandrick West has rescued the Chiefs, who appeared doomed when Jamaal Charles' season ended due to injury in a Week 5 loss to the Bears. West has been the offensive star in the Chiefs' two-game winning streak. He rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Steelers and 97 yards and a touchdown in the win over the Lions.

Broncos Look To Rebound Against Weakened Chiefs from CBS Denver

Outlook:

The Chiefs have some momentum and their second-half schedule, the easiest in the NFL, could even put them in contention for a wild card in a weak AFC. But the Broncos, and their fans in the stands, are looking to make some noise. After sacking Alex Smith four times and picking him off twice in the first game, Denver's defense should be able to continue its success against the Chiefs. And if Manning can hit a few big plays, it should be enough.

Von Miller has a penalty history that'd make Ndamukong Suh blush from FOX Sports

Miller goes out of his way to earn that reputation, though. He famously speared Smith late in a 2012 game the Broncos were winning. And just last week, Miller placed his knee on the throat of Colts' tight end Jack Doyle.

The Chiefs won't have to contend with Aqib Talib -- but that doesn't mean they should let their guard down on Sunday.

(h/t Arrowhead Pride)

Denver's defense all of a sudden not all that deep from The Associated Press via The Greeley Tribune

The Broncos (7-1) still sport the league's top defense after being knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten Sunday at Indianapolis.

But they lost Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware to a recurrent back injury.

Pro Bowl cornerback Aqib Talib also got a one-game suspension for poking a player in the eye.

Add those to first-round draft pick Shane Ray's absence with a knee injury and suddenly, Denver's defense isn't so deep.

Wednesday NFL preview: Eyeing Megatron's injury status from ESPN

Don't look for another big rushing game from quarterback Alex Smith, who ran for a career-high 78 yards and a touchdown in the recent win over the Lions. Detroit's coverages allowed Smith the opportunity to scramble for a lot of yards, but Denver's don't. On a couple of Smith's runs against the Lions, he didn't so much get great blocking but most of the defenders had their backs turned to him. -- Adam Teicher

Derek Carr's rise is bad news for Chiefs on more than one front from ESPN

Carr, with 2,094 yards, 19 touchdowns and four interceptions, is the NFL's sixth-rated passer. He's behind only Tom Brady, Andy Dalton, Carson Palmer, Tyrod Taylor and Aaron Rodgers, so he's in good company. He's ahead of, among others, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Ben Roethlisberger and, of course, Alex Smith.

The Kansas City Chiefs will have to play against Carr twice each season now. The Chiefs face the Raiders in Oakland on Dec. 6 and finish the season against them at Arrowhead Stadium on Jan. 3.

Making the situation worse is that the Chiefs could have drafted Carr.

Agent's Take: Contract-year players who are helping, hurting themselves from CBS Sports

Eric Berry, safety, Kansas City Chiefs: Berry is performing at a Pro Bowl level in his much-quicker-than-expected return from last December's Hodgkin's Lymphoma diagnosis. Successfully making the transition to free safety from his customary strong safety spot should help ensure that the three-time Pro Bowler gets a raise on his contract. Berry received a six-year, $50 million deal as the fifth overall pick in the 2010 NFL draft.

Who is NFL's Comeback Player of the Year? Bengals, Cardinals lead way from Yahoo! Sports

In what has been a strong season for bouncing back, we've seen strong play from Kansas City Chiefs safety Eric Berry, who was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma last year; Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, whose 2014 season was shut down early amid reports of harming his child; Oakland Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree, who has rebounded from an Achilles injury to have a fine season; Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back Doug Martin, who had been written off almost completely after two declining seasons.

Oh, but there are so many more.

AFC Mid Season Projections from Pro Player Insiders

QB ALEX SMITH is on track to pass for a career-high 3,938 yards and aims to join Trent Green (2003-05), Elvis Grbac (2000) and Bill Kenney (1983) as the only Chiefs with 4,000 passing yards in a season...WR JEREMY MACLIN leads the team with 566 receiving yards and is on pace to join Andre Rison (1,092 in 1997) as the only Chiefs with 1,000 receiving yards in their first seasons with the franchise...TRAVIS KELCE is on pace to join Tony Gonzalez as the only Chiefs tight ends with 1,000 receiving yards in a season.