Arrowheadlines: Kansas City Chiefs News 11/2

Game Recap: Chiefs Roll to Third Win of the Season, Defeat Lions, 45-10 from The Mothership

In the second half, Kansas City furthered its lead.  Just like in their opening drive to start the game, the Chiefs scored a touchdown on their first drive of the second half.

Starting on the Kansas City's 39-yard line, Smith worked the offense down to Detroit's 2-yard line. Two yards away from the end zone, Smith hit tight end Travis Kelce on a screen to his left, and Kelce ran it in for his first touchdown since Week 1 and a 31-3 lead.

Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin and fullback Spencer Ware would also get into the mix with touchdowns. Ware's touchdown rushing was the first of his career.

Chiefs vs. Lions: 12 Observations from The Mothership

1. Wembley Stadium turned into Arrowhead East

While it's not Arrowhead Stadium, fans who made the trip over and the fans currently living across the pond were able to see that Wembley Stadium turned into "Arrowhead East" for a day.

From "Home of the Chiefs" to "The Chop" to all of the signs throughout the stadium, Wembley definitely had a Chiefs feel to it—even if it was 4,000 miles from home.

All of the fans in attendance were also given Chiefs Kingdom flags, which they waved throughout the game.

Clark Hunt Discusses London, Possibility of Returning from The Mothership

Q: What are your thoughts on how the season has gone this far?

HUNT: "Well, clearly during the five-game losing streak, we were all very disappointed. It's not what any of us expected going into the season. I was glad to see the guys get it turned around last week and play a solid four quarters of football, and the challenge for us now is to do that two weeks in a row and build from there."

Q: Have you or will you consider making any staff changes?

HUNT: "Well, first of all, any decisions on the coaching staff are Coach Reid's decisions, not mine. I have full confidence in Andy and John Dorsey, think they're the right people to lead our football team. They're as disappointed as I am, but I think they're the right guys to lead us not only this year but going forward."

KCChiefs.com Videos: Chiefs vs. Lions: Kansas City Highlights

Chiefs have a jolly good time in 45-10 win over Lions in London from The Kansas City Star

Right before the national anthem Sunday, a fellow Chief saddled up to safety Ron Parker. Together, they stared at the sellout crowd of 83,624 that turned out to watch the two-win Chiefs take on the one-win Lions.

"Somebody came to me and they said, ‘Man, it's a lot of people out here,' " Parker said. "Everybody kind of felt the same way. It was unexpected."

It was appreciated, however. Over 4,000 miles away, Arrowhead Stadium - the official home of the Chiefs - sat empty due to the team's decision to surrender a home game to play in London. But Wembley Stadium still proved to be a very welcoming environment for the Chiefs, who fed off the energy of a crowd in a convincing 45-10 win over the Detroit Lions.

"I think it shocked everybody when we first came into the stadium at the beginning of the game," inside linebacker Derrick Johnson said. "We saw how packed it was. It was shocking. It was good."

Chiefs use punishing ground game en route to 45-10 win over Lions from Chiefs Digest

Facing the hapless Detroit Lions, the Kansas City Chiefs did not need Jamaal Charles to rack up a season-high 206 rushing yards in a 45-10 win Sunday in London.

Running back Charcandrick West amassed 97 yards rushing on 20 carries, and quarterback Alex Smith threw for 145 yards and two scores and rushed for 78 yards and another score.

"[Smith] had some very positive yards for us at a needed time," Chiefs coach Andy Reid told reporters in London after the game. "He did an outstanding job with that. We know he can run. We don't really want him to run, but if it works out that way, that's OK."

Defense leads the charge for the Chiefs in blowout victory over Lions from ESPN

An offense that converts on a vast majority of its third-down plays while scoring a touchdown on six of its seven tries inside the opponent's 20-yard line, as the Chiefs did in Sunday's win, doesn't hurt.

But the defense is leading this turnaround. The Chiefs snuffed an opponent for the second straight week, this time getting six sacks and a pair of interceptions.

Chiefs Blitz: Q&A about Sunday's 45-10 win over the Detroit Lions from The Kansas City Star

4. Will the Chiefs adopt the relentlessness, as seen in the Royals, for the remainder of the season? — @B12Mentalist

The Royals are a special ball club. Very few teams can do what they do, even in baseball. So probably not. But I do think the Chiefs should get credit for the energy they've played with the last few weeks. They've come out and played hard, even against daunting odds. And while this is the part where you probably get upset that guys that make millions per year don't always go hard, just remember that's just how football is. At 3-5, the Chiefs are still long shots to make the playoffs, but if they can somehow pull off a win in Denver in two weeks, all bets are off because the schedule after that isn't particularly daunting.

Chiefs QB Alex Smith gets it done on ground, through air to headline Week 8 highs from Chiefs Digest

Not only did the Chiefs command the run game, the effort through the air was impressive as well. Smith turned in an efficient day, completing 18 of 26 passes for 145 yards and two touchdowns, good for a 108.7 passer rating. His touchdown passes went to tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.threw for 145 yards and two touchdowns. Those touchdowns went to tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Jeremy Maclin.

Sean Smith up, Demetrius Harris down in Chiefs' win from ESPN

CB Sean Smith: He battled with Calvin Johnson for much of the game and while Megatron made his share of plays, Smith did too. He had an interception and broke up three passes.

Chiefs team chairman says he'll stick with Andy Reid, John Dorsey for 2016 from The Kansas City Star

Part of the reason for the unusual schedule was the team's decision to ask the NFL for road games the weekend of the American Royal, as well as the weekend of a fall NASCAR race and the weekend of a Missouri-BYU college football game at Arrowhead.

"It's a balancing act every year, and this was an unusual year in terms of the number of other significant events we hosted at the stadium," Hunt said. "We're cognizant of the impact on the schedule, and as we said, it's just a balancing act, trying to figure out how to make it work, particularly with the Royals — I guess we can now count on the Royals being in the postseason every year, so we have to take that into consideration."

Hunt anticipates the schedule being different next year.

Chiefs' Clark Hunt gives vote of confidence to Andy Reid, John Dorsey from Chiefs Digest

Change at key leadership positions won't happen anytime soon despite the Kansas City Chiefs' sluggish start to the season.

Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt offered total support of coach Andy Reid and general manager John Dorsey while addressing reporters Sunday morning in London before the Chiefs played the Detroit Lions at Wembley Stadium.

If the Chiefs make the playoffs, it will be because of their defense from ESPN

As strong as the Chiefs looked on offense at Wembley Stadium, they were better on defense. When the Chiefs have things rolling, this is the part of their game that gives opponents pause.

The Chiefs' defense almost carried a limp offense to the playoffs last year, and it has played as well in the last three weeks, including games against the Vikings and Steelers, as at any time in 2014.

This season, the Chiefs are forcing turnovers, something they didn't do last season.

(American) football fans get their fix in England from The Kansas City Star

There are fireworks, T-shirt cannons, cheerleaders and $25 hot dogs. But tailgating? No thanks, we're British.

"Not even for the Chiefs?" cries my editor. Not even for the Chiefs. Wembley, England's national stadium, is a suburban ground. There is no parking suitable for busting out the grill. Londoners do not drive vehicles suitable for busting out the grill.

So visiting members of Chiefs Kingdom hold pregame court at the Green Man — a pub located about a five-minute walk from Wembley. Crammed inside are fans not just of the Kansas City Chiefs, but seemingly anyone who has ever owned an NFL jersey.

Alex Smith, Kansas City Chiefs run over Lions in London from NFL.com

1. Alex Smith did his best Steve Young impersonation for the London crowd. The Chiefs' quarterback burned Detroit with his feet early Sunday. Smith's 49-yard first half run set up his 12-yard TD run to put the Chiefs up 14-3. The game felt over at that point. Smith compiled 78 rushing yards and 145 passing yards and two TD passes. It was the ideal game for dink-and-dunk Smith who was nearly flawless. The Chiefs finally punched the ball into the end zone after weeks of settling for field goals.

Smith, Chiefs run over Lions 45-10 at Wembley Stadium from The Associated Press via Sports Illustrated

''We got a lot of guys with a lot of different strengths,'' Smith said. ''We can present a lot to a defense. It's hard for them to defend.''

De'Anthony Thomas, Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware also rushed for touchdowns - the first time the Chiefs had four different players rush for scores in the same game since 1960. Thomas ended up with 100 total yards, while West ran for 97. Travis Kelce and Jeremy Maclin caught the two TD passes in the second half.

''Alex was putting the ball on the money today and Charcandrick was running north,'' said Kelce, who had six receptions for 49 yards.

Column: The fall of Lions GM Martin Mayhew and others feels inevitable from MLive.com

The Lions general manager met with reporters Friday morning in a little alcove at The Grove, a luxury resort that served as Detroit's European training base last week.

There was coffee and tea. There was a fruit plate. It was pleasant.

But Mayhew walked into the room with a purpose: To convince everyone that Detroit could still win this season. But there really is no convincing to be done, is there? Does anyone really believe Mayhew? That the Lions could make the playoffs? When no other team, ever, has been able to do it after a start as bad as this?

Mayhew should know this as well as anyone. He built this mess, after all.

Lions miserable yet again in 45-10 loss to Chiefs from The Detroit Free Press

Jim Caldwell fired coordinator Joe Lombardi and line coaches Jeremiah Washburn and Terry Heffernan on Monday, hours before the team made its transatlantic flight to England, in the hopes of jump-starting an offense getting far too little production of its best players.

But instead of using those moves as a catalyst for change, the Lions slept-walked through another miserable day.

"It sucks," defensive end Darryl Tapp said. "It sucks to be in this situation. It's not what anybody envisioned coming into this season. The amount of work we put into training camp, off-seasons, even the amount of work we put in on a weekly basis, for us to get the results that we've been getting is not a good feeling."

NFL happy after passing latest UK tests with 'flying colours' from ESPN

NFL UK officials have described the goal of bringing a team to London as a 15-year project. Dating back to the first International Series game at Wembley in 2007, they are halfway through that timeframe.

With work still to be done, Kirkwood said: "I think every single year we're proving something new to ourselves. In the last three years we've gone from one game a year to two, two to three, and then three with back-to-back games during a Rugby World Cup.

In Pro Sports, the Fan Becomes Part of the Action from The New York Times

For example, the Kansas City Chiefs try to make the biggest impact possible by focusing on helping children, fighting hunger and supporting the military, as well as on Play 60, a youth fitness program run by the N.F.L. The team also supports programs run by former players and coaches.

"Kansas City in a short time embraced the team, so there was a natural desire to give back," said Clark Hunt, the team's owner, referring to the team's arrival from Texas in the 1960s.

Not all efforts are top down. Decades ago, Mr. Hunt's father, Lamar Hunt, asked fans to donate their suites and tickets from one preseason game to a children's charity, which auctions them. This year, the Children's Place, which helps neglected or abused children, raised $750,000.

Each game, the Chiefs also hold 50-50 raffles, with half the amount raised going to a charity and the rest to a fan. The team sold Chiefs flags on the Friday before the start of the regular season and donated the proceeds to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Kansas City.

Kansas City Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt has no plans to fire Head Coach Andy Reid or GM John Dorsey from Warpaint Illustrated

The issue for Reid is the fact his entire coaching staff will be without a contract at seasons end. I can't see, what could be a lame duck 2016 season for Reid if he can't turn this franchise into a playoff team next season, he could attract the high end staff, he needs in Kansas City.

Of his current staff, I could argue the entire crew needs to be blown out. However, most assistant coaches won't work under a one or two-year agreement, three years is generally the term to get the games best assistant coaches. Again, if Reid isn't interested in retaining his buddies (and there is nothing to say he'll break his own mold of friends over coaching substance), he might find the sledding tough to attract what this team really needs, a top flight Offensive and Defensive Coordinator.

The Harrisons: James Harrison doesn't get much help from teammate Ben Roethlisberger from USA Today

RILEY REIFF

It might be unfair to pick on just one of the Detroit Lions offensive linemen after their ugly performance. But left tackle Reiff was dominated by Kansas City Chiefs pass rusher Tamba Hali" culang="en">Tamba Hali. The stats won't show just how badly, but the film doesn't lie. And neither do our eyes.

With the soft part of the schedule looming, can Chiefs fans dream of the playoffs? from Warpaint Illustrated

There's a more-than-solid chance that 9-7 is enough to punch the final ticket for the last ticket to the AFC side of the playoff bracket. Back-dooring into the Wild-Card game after August's lofty dreams isn't anyone's ideal route from A to B, but compared to 1-5, it's nectar.

Well, OK, unless you're in the Please-Blow-It-Up-Now-And-Start-Over camp. And given that Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt just threw everything but tea and crumpets in his endorsement of general manager John Dorsey and coach Andy Reid, the nuclear option frankly isn't one, realistically, in the short term. You're stuck with Dorse, you're stuck with Andy, you're stuck with Alex, and the ceilings for all three will be justifiably debated. And have been.