After starting out 0-3 and seemingly ticketed for a season spent in the basement, the Chiefs won their fourth straight game, this time in front of a national audience Monday night with a 23-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers.  The sloppy win put the Chiefs, Chargers and Oakland Raiders in a three-way tie for first place in the AFC West.

The Chiefs had scary moments on both sides of the ball, but ended up getting the job done when they needed to.  If it wasn’t Jackie Battle fighting his way into the end zone (a second time after replay showed he wasn’t in the first time) or Andy Studebaker fighting his way to the bottom of the pile to recover a Philip Rivers fumble as the Chargers were setting up for a game-winning field goal in the final minutes, there was always someone ready to step up.

The theme of the night for the Chiefs should have been fighting as they refused to let the Chargers ever get over the hump and leave Arrowhead with a win.

It now seems like ages ago that local and national media were trying to figure out when (not if) head coach Todd Haley would exit Kansas City.  Clearly reports of his firing have been greatly exaggerated as the 4-3 first-place Chiefs now face two very winnable games before they begin one of the toughest stretches of games any team in the league will face this season.

There were plenty of options after that exciting win, but here are the three players most deserving of a game ball on offense, defense and special teams.

Offense: Steve Breaston

Take your pick with the Chiefs offense Monday night.  It wasn’t always pretty, but there were stand out performances all around.

There’s Battle, who seemed to get stronger as the game went on and came up with a huge 19-yard touchdown run (that later turned into a one-yarder after he was ruled down at the one) as well as a big first down on the Chiefs game-winning drive.

Rookie Jonathan Baldwin hauled in his first touchdown catch in the NFL with an 38-yard acrobatic grab to put Kansas City up 10-0 late in the first quarter.  It was a glimpse of what many expected out of Baldwin before his injured his thumb in a preseason fight with Thomas Jones.

But I’m giving our game ball to Breaston, who caught three passes for 42 yards.  Though the most important was a 17-yard catch and run that converted a 3rd and 14 in overtime that kept the Chiefs game-winning drive alive and put them in field goal range.

Those are the type of catches he was brought to Kansas City to make and he made it look easy, even though he caught it 10 yards short of the first down marker.  Breaston took the quick pass, escaped the grasp of rookie cornerback Marcus Gilchrist, raced towards the first down, side-stepped safety Steve Gregory and landed three yards past the marker.

First down. Game over.

Defense: Andy Studebaker

Again, there was no shortage of stars on defense.

Derrick Johnson was once again all over the field with a game-high 13 tackles, a sack, interception and pass defensed while leading the Chiefs defense.  There was also Tamba Hali who harassed Rivers for two sacks including a strip-sack in overtime that turned a Chargers 2nd and 8 into 3rd and 18.

The biggest game-saver of all, however, came from Studebaker at the bottom of that pile at the end of the fourth quarter.  Somehow the linebacker started at the top of the fray, but quickly found a way to reach down and come away with the ball as safety Reshard Langford pulled him away, raising it for the officials to see it and award Kansas City the ball.

Special Teams: Ryan Succop

This was the easiest decision to make with the kicker hitting on all three of his field goal attempts including a 30-yarder in overtime to send Arrowhead into one final frenzy.

Succop was also fantastic on kickoffs, putting all but one in the endzone.  The only kick that didn’t reach the endzone was just before half as the Chiefs special teams unit decided to squib and prevent the Chargers from having any chance for a big return.

Talk about a perfect example of what the Chiefs have gone through this season.  Succop struggled mightily early before turning things around and is now playing as good of football as we’ve seen from him in his young career.

“I was going to go in and check in with the training staff,” Studebaker said.  “But from what I’ve heard, the weight rooms are closed all across the league.  All we can do is go into the locker rooms.  I was going to go in, check in and shake hands with the training staff, give them an update where I’m at and walk out.  But from what I understand we can’t have contact with anybody.

“So I thought, ‘What the heck?  Why not just stay out of trouble and let the smoke clear a little bit and go in when it’s cleared up?’  I don’t think there’s much benefit to going in.  What’s the point if I can’t get in a workout and get some therapy?  We want to go in but it doesn’t seem we’re able to do much when we do go in.”

We talked earlier about there being no reason for most Chiefs players — including Studebaker — to aimlessly walk around the hallways.  But I still feel that it would have been good to see Matt Cassel along with a defensive leader — Brandon Flowers? — ready to work Tuesday morning.

At the very least we could have found out if the Kansas City coaching staff would have ignored their own players the way several teams around the league did.

“It hurts the team, it hurts the fans, it hurts the game of football for us not to be out at the stadium working out and getting ready for next year,” Studebaker said.  “That’s what we want to be doing, but we have to have a fair deal in place for us to be able to do that.

“How much is it hurting us?  I can’t say.  But I can tell you it’s better to have everyone there working out and getting ready to play football than having nobody there.”

This is where you hope that the values Todd Haley has been hammering home with his players for the last two seasons really pay off.  There is no way to make up for classroom work, but every team is dealing with that right now.  Some teams, however, will have a huge advantage if their players know the shape they need to be in and police themselves while they are home.

Teams with a new coaching staff and/or large roster turnover will suffer where the Chiefs should excel.  Not that there won’t be new players in Kansas City, but the veteran core is in place and they should know what they need to know from a conditioning standpoint to make sure they are able to perform at a high level whenever we have football activities again.

Oakland finds themselves on the outside of the playoff picture, but are undefeated within the division, a stat they take a lot of pride in.  The Raiders are going to try and finish strong to carry momentum into the offseason while the Chiefs will hope to stay healthy for next week’s home playoff game.

Last week the Chiefs beat the Tennessee Titans 34-14, while the Raiders suffered a tough 31-26 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.

Here are the three players from each team that you will need to keep your eyes on.

Chiefs

Offense: Jackie Battle

The amount of snaps Battle has on Sunday will tell the story of just how badly Todd Haley will try to win the game.

If the third stringer carries the ball once or twice, then likely you know Kansas City went all out to try and finish 8-0 at home without resting Thomas Jones or Jamaal Charles much.  But if the head coach decides to let his two headed running attack take it easy in preparation for the playoffs, that means a heavy dose of Battle.

His career high in carries is 13, though that was way back in 2007 during his rookie season.  Battle did the ball consistently in the preseason, averaging just over 10 carries the last three games.

Defense: Andy Studebaker

No matter how long the Kansas City starters play, Studebaker should play a big role in trying to stop the Raiders offense.  When he does get out on the field, he seems to find a way to find the football making Studebaker more than your typical backup linebacker.

Last week against the Titans, Studebaker registered his second full sack of the season and has found his way onto the stat sheet in every game this season with the exception of three.  Look for the young linebacker to get his most extended time this season on defense.

Special Teams: Verran Tucker

Already a star on the coverage units, Tucker should get another chance to show what he can do in the return game.

If there were ever two players that deserve time off to get their bodies ready for the postseason, it’s rookies Javier Arenas and Dexter McCluster.  It’s one thing to adjust to the speed and length of the NFL season, but it’s even tougher when you are dealing with dings something both returners are dealing with.

Tucker showed some promise in returns against the Chargers a few weeks ago, there’s no reason he shouldn’t get another look Sunday against the Raiders.

Raiders

Offense: Jacoby Ford

There were plenty of reasons why the Raiders took down the Chiefs the first time these two teams met, but none were bigger than Ford.  Not only did he have 158 yards in the return game — including a 94-yard touchdown — but he also burned the secondary for 148 yards on six catches.

Since his breakout game against Kansas City, Ford has averaged nearly 15.5 yards per reception as a favorite target of the Raiders quarterbacks.

Defense: Michael Huff

Some guys just love playing against certain teams.  For Huff, it seems that it’s the Chiefs.

Earlier this season Huff had one of his best games this year with 8 tackles.  Though that’s nothing compared to what he has done throughout his career against Kansas City.  During his first four seasons in the NFL, twice he posted his highest tackle totals in a season against the Chiefs.  Huff has also turned in a two interception performance early last season to help seal a 13-10 victory.

Special Teams: Shane Lechler

In the middle of the battle for field position every time you face the Raiders is the league’s best punter, Lechler.  He is averaging 47 yards per punt and even better has only had four touchbacks, an amazing number considering how often he has kicked the ball.  To put it in perspective, Chiefs punter Dustin Colquitt, with 10 more punts on the season, has registered 10 touchdbacks.

The one way you can attack Lechler is when he is kicking from deep in his own territory.  At times he will out kick his coverage, allowing room for a return.  It’s not much, but it’s something for the Kansas City special teams to attack.

Studebaker’s previous contract was set to expire after this season, and (agent Josh) Wright said it was important to get something worked out early.

“Nobody wanted it to be a distraction,” he said.

Studebaker had two sacks during the preseason, and he’s perhaps best known for intercepting two of Ben Roethlisberger’s passes in an overtime victory last season against Pittsburgh.

“This is about team and winning games,” said Studebaker, 25.  “If good things happen along the way, that’s how it goes.  But I’m pumped to be here, pumped that that kind of thing happened and that I can be a part of this process.

“Hopefully I’ll retire here.”

Not often you hear a 25-year old player talking about retirement, though it is good to hear how enthusiastic he is about sticking around with the franchise that gave him a shot.

One game isn’t going to stop what was most likely a long process of getting a new deal done, but it’s interesting that it was signed days after Studebaker saw much less time on the field than expected just a couple weeks ago.  Demorrio Williams played opposite Mike Vrabel in nickel situations instead of Studebaker, though he did help Dexter McCluster cover up a muffed punt that could have been a disaster for the Chiefs.

As I said earlier in the week, it’s great to see Kansas City (hopefully) locking up their young core.  Hopefully Brandon Flowers’ agent will be the next one Scott Pioli gets on the phone.

The Kansas City Chiefs have extended the contract of LB Andy Studebaker, according to Adam Caplan.

Terms of the deal were not immediately known. Studebaker was signed through 2010 and carried a base salary of $470,000.

Studebaker, who was selected in the 2008 NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles, was waived by Philadelphia in September of 2008.  He signed with Philadelphia’s practice squad a short time afterwards.  The Chiefs signed him off Philadelphia’s practice squad to their active roster later that month.

We can only hope that this is the beginning of the Chiefs locking up some of their younger talent.  Studebaker is a much more affordable option than Tamba Hali, Brandon Flowers and Brandon Carr, but they all need to be extended sooner rather than later.

After watching the “Summer of Revis”, it’s refreshing to see a kid playing his tail off just to keep getting better and have him get rewarded properly for it.

Unfortunately the Chiefs had to deal with a very scary injury to a defender for the second week in a row when LB Cameron Sheffield was carted off the field, but the defense as a whole put up a much better effort.  If this can be a preview of what the Kansas City pass rush can be, then we will all feel much better about the Chiefs chances.

Once again, there was no victory for the Chiefs but there were plenty of positives.  Here are the best from offense, defense and special teams.

Offense: Thomas Jones

Certainly a guy putting up 30 yards on 10 carries shouldn’t be singled out, right?

Wrong.

Jones continues to do what he will need to do this season if the Chiefs are going to run the ball: get tough yards.  In the third quarter, with the Chiefs looking to take their first lead of the game, Jones fought his way 11 yards into the end zone.  While we have seen flashes of big plays from Jamaal Charles and Dexter McCluster, it will be the grinding of Jones that will help keep those two fresh.  Not to say that the two explosive backs can’t fight for yards — we’ve seen quite the opposite during the preseason — but Jones has made a career out of it.

Defense: Andy Studebaker

If he continues to impress, we could be talking about Studebaker playing in place of Mike Vrabel and not just next to him in nickel situations.

Overall the linebackers played well, with Demorrio Williams netting two sacks along with Derrick Johnson and Jovan Belcher delivering some big time hits.  But it was Studebaker that was rarely out of position and consistently in the backfield.

Though he “only” had two sacks, Studebaker could have had another two.  It is not crazy to start talking about when the teacher will replace the student at outside linebacker instead of if.

Special Teams: Dexter McCluster

Before the game, some knucklehead suggested that McCluster had the look of a player that would only be an offensive weapon this season.  Idiot.

All the rookie did was return 3 kicks for 111 yards along with 2 punts for 19.  Included in those numbers were returns of 42 and 14 yards, respectively, in which his skills in the open field were fully on display.

Overall he was able to showcase the shiftiness he has become known for on the practice field both in the return game and running the ball.  Early in the preseason he didn’t look comfortable on returns, but that was certainly not the case on Friday night.  Javier Arenas will likely be the primary returner, McCluster has absolutely thrown his hat back into the ring.



Though rookie CB Javier Arenas looks to have his grasp on the Chiefs nickel back duties, the personnel that surrounds him has changed over the course of the first two preseason games.  We’ve seen a grouping similar to that of 2009 with ILBs Derrick Johnson and Jovan Belcher joining OLBs Tamba Hali and Mike Vrabel to form the linebacking corps.  But what about that “funky nickel” that the Chiefs brought to Tampa?

Against the Bucs, Vrabel moved inside to play next to Johnson, while Andy Studebacker joined Hali walked up on the edge.  Studebacker and Hali paired with two defensive linemen in Wallace Gilberry and Glenn Dorsey to form the front four of the Chiefs nickel look.  This is a package that we saw in practice dating back as far as spring OTAs, but it came to life in Florida.

With head coach Todd Haley placing an emphasis on players falling into regular season roles tonight, which nickel package with the Chiefs defense show?

I think they’ll once again role out the “funky nickel” — as Looney likes to call it — and we should all get used to it.  For all the talk about the defense has to do this and that better, this unit getting the job done will stop most of the questions regarding Romeo Crennel’s unit.  It’s a pretty simple philosophy: stop the other guys on third down and good things will happen for your team.

There is a ton of potential on the field with this package, especially when you consider that up front Dorsey, Gilberry, Belcher and Studebaker should all be improving with every game.  Add in Vrabel’s veteran presence along with Derrick Johnson trying to prove he is an elite linebacker and all of a sudden there are all the makings of an impressive group.

Here are three players (Offense, Defense and Special Teams) from each team to keep your eyes on.

Chiefs

Offense: Tony Moeaki

The rookie tight end has impressed every time he has been on the field during OTAs and training camp.  His problem, like it was in college, has been staying healthy enough to show off his talents.  Last week he wasn’t able to take the trip with the team to Atlanta, but is now primed to make his professional debut.

While veteran Leonard Pope is the odds on favorite to remain the starter through kickoff of Monday Night Football the first week of the season, Moeaki could apply plenty of pressure if he can translate some of that practice magic to the games.

Defense: Andy Studebaker

He might not be fighting for a roster spot, but that doesn’t mean Studebaker doesn’t have plenty to prove right now.  Everyone you hear talking about him during camp — Romeo Crennel, Todd Haley, Mike Vrabel — has done nothing but lavish praise on the young linebacker.  That’s not to say it isn’t all deserved, but Studebaker will need to prove it while running with the first team the way he did last week after Vrabel’s short stay in the game.

As his solid play continues, he becomes a much bigger part of the “process” that Haley and Scott Pioli are always talking about.

Special Teams: Ryan Succop

Blame it on the Kicker That Shall Remain Nameless, but I was a little uneasy after Succop missed those two field goals against the Falcons.  Forget that they were both from beyond 50 yards.  After the rookie season he put together there is no reason one preseason game should spook anyone.  Yet there I was, scratching my head when Succop put a 53 yarder off the upright.

Succop will be fine…  I know that.  But it would make me — and the other paranoid fans out there waiting for the clock to strike midnight on this kid — feel a lot better if Succop went out there and knocked down a couple field goals from 45 yards.

Buccaneers

Offense: Kareem Huggins

The Chiefs had trouble out of the gate last week stopping the run and will get plenty of chances to redeem themselves in Tampa Bay.  Not only will starter Cadillac Williams get carries early on, but so will the upstart Huggins.  Last week he reeled off 55 yards on just 8 carries playing behind (and against) second and third string linemen.

Bucs head coach Raheem Morris thinks that Huggins can be even better playing with the first-team and he’ll get that chance against the Chiefs.  With backup Derrick Ward coming off a disappointing first season in Tampa, Huggins could put himself in position to take his job.

Defense: Aqib Talib

Here is a name that Jayhawk fans will recognize.  But if you believe the buzz coming from Tampa, you won’t recognize the guy you see on the field wearing his jersey.

Even though Talib has been solid his first couple of seasons in the league — he started all 15 games he appeared in last year — it has been overshadowed by his off-the-field issues.  From everyone I’ve heard from in Florida this week, Talib has his head on straight and could be poised to take a major step forward.

If he wants to impress in his 2010 debut — an injury kept him out last week — Talib will have to do it against a Chiefs offense dying to finally get off the ground.

Special Teams: Clifton Smith

Want to hear a Pro Bowl and second-team All-Pro player tell you he has work to do before making the team?  Go down to Tampa Bay, because that’s exactly what return man extraordinaire Clifton Smith was saying earlier this week.  Due to the emergence of Huggins in the backfield, Smith could find himself fourth on the depth chart at running back and tightening up the roster.

He’s probably just trying to pump himself up.  No team is going to cut a guy coming off a season in which he led the league in kick return average, but either way he is going to be fired up Saturday night.  The Chiefs coverage units had plenty of hiccups last year and will have quite the test on their hands with Smith.

The Kansas City Chiefs still have plenty of question marks when it comes to their linebackers, but one of them isn’t Andy Studebaker with the 34-year old likely the first guy off the bench.  As Adam Teicher reports, the Chiefs feel comfortable with Studebaker after seeing him seamlessly step in for Vrabel last season and again Friday against the Falcons.

“There’s obviously some good and some bad in each game,” Studebaker said.  “There were some plays that I thought were a little worse than they were.  There were a couple of plays I made that I could have done a little better on, maybe made them faster than I did.  You take the good with the bad and you learn from it or move on.

“I’ve had a little bit of success in coverage, and I’m starting to have a little success in the pass rush.  I like to be able to do both things to pin one down and say, ‘That’s who I am.’  But I’m not quite sure which one I would pick.”

For the Chiefs, that’s good news for a player who only a couple of years ago was little more than a pass rusher and is still developing in all phases of the game.

“It’s not brand new to him, but he’s still in the transition, so he can improve in everything from rushing the quarterback to play recognition to recognizing formations,” [linebackers coach Gary] Gibbs said.  “That’s just part of the process.”

For all the discussion about who should start inside, it’s pretty incredible that we already know who, barring injury, the top three guys outside will be for most of the year.

It’s also been fun to watch Vrabel mentor Studebaker over the last year and help develop the young linebacker so quickly from a fringe player to potentially part of the core.  If he continues to mature anywhere near the pace that he did last season, the Chiefs nickel lineup should be fun to watch with Vrabel and Studebaker both on the field at the same time.