KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs know that they’re going to get the opposing team’s best shot every time they step on the field.

That comes with being the NFL’s lone unbeaten team.

They wouldn’t want it any other way.

”We love it,” Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said. ”You want the stages to get bigger. That’s why you put all the work in. You want this opportunity. You want that honor.”

The Chiefs got another stiff test from the Cleveland Browns on Sunday, racing out to a big first-half lead and then holding on through a harrowing second half.

The result was a tenuous 23-17 victory and just the second 8-0 start in franchise history.

”I mean, not that anybody sneaks up on anybody in this league, but yeah, we’re the only undefeated team,” said Smith, who threw for 225 yards and two touchdowns.

”I think that teams have recognized how we’re playing and no question, they’re coming prepared.”

Jason Campbell, starting in place of the ineffective Brandon Weeden, threw for 293 yards and two touchdowns for the Browns.

His second scoring pass, a 17-yarder to Fozzy Whittaker out of the backfield, got Cleveland within a field goal early in the third quarter.

The Chiefs kept making stops down the stretch, though. They punted with 3:55 left, but forced Campbell out of the pocket on fourth down, and his pass bounced off wide receiver Davone Bess for an incompletion. It was one of several drops for Bess, who also fumbled on a punt return.

Ryan Succop tacked on his third field goal of the game with 17 seconds left, and the Browns were unable to do anything with their final possession before time expired.

”We weren’t able to make the plays at the end there to win the game,” Brown coach Rob Chudzinski said. ”Kansas City started fast and we weren’t able to get anything going early in the game. I thought our guys did a great job of fighting and getting back in the game.

”We were in position a couple of times,” he said, ”one break or one play.”

Josh Gordon had five catches for 132 yards and a touchdown in what could be his final game for the Browns. They’ve been fielding offers for him ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.

”I know just as much as you all know,” Gordon said. ”When it happens, if it doesn’t happen, we’ll know at the same time.”

The Chiefs marched downfield on the game’s opening possession before settling for Succop’s first field goal, and then did the exact same thing when they got the ball back moments later.

Kansas City eventually reached the end zone early in the second quarter when Smith found fullback Anthony Sherman out of the backfield on third-and-10. He picked up a couple of marvelous blocks and rumbled 12 yards for his first career score and a 13-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the Browns’ offense struggled to get on track, going three-and-out on their first three series. Campbell overshot a couple of wide receivers, but the real problem was their lack of a running game – they had three carries for minus-1 yard at halftime.

”We have to start faster,” Campbell said.

It took some trickery for Cleveland to score. Campbell handed off to Willis McGahee, who flipped it back to the quarterback, and he hit Gordon in stride for a 39-yard reception.

The good vibes on their sideline were short-lived, though.

Jamaal Charles ripped off two long runs, including one to convert another third down – the Chiefs were 9 of 12 in the half – to get into Cleveland territory. Smith finished the drive by hitting Dexter McCluster down the seam for a 28-yard scoring pass.

The Browns managed to get a field goal to get within 20-10 just before the break, and then carried the momentum into the second half, closing within a field goal on Whittaker’s TD catch.

That was as close as the Chiefs defense would allow them to get.

”The best you can be right now is 8-0 and that’s where we’re at,” Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson said. ”Everybody’s going to give us their best. We know that. If we can take that punch and keep rolling, that’s what we did today. It wasn’t pretty, but a ‘W’ sure does look good.”

— Associated Press —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs had their backs to the end zone in the third quarter on Sunday, and the Houston Texans had first-and-goal with an opportunity to take the lead.

Three straight plays went nowhere and the Texans had to settle for a field goal.

It was a virtuoso display by the NFL’s stingiest defense, and a signature stand in a stellar second half.

The Chiefs kept repelling the Houston offense the rest of the way, and the result was a 17-16 victory to extend their perfect start.

”You know as well as I do you win with great defenses. That’s how it rolls,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. ”You can’t be successful like we are without a great defense.”

Nor can you be successful without a guy like Jamaal Charles, who ran for 86 yards and a touchdown, or quarterback Alex Smith, who also had a touchdown scamper.

”It was a physical game,” Charles said, ”the kind of a game this team needs to go far.”

The game was still in doubt even after the Chiefs’ goal-line stand. They had to punt with 1:46 left, but the Texans had no timeouts. Case Keenum threw an incompletion on first down, and then was stripped by linebacker Tamba Hali on the ensuing play.

Derrick Johnson recovered the ball for the Chiefs, and Smith simply kneeled on it from there to run time out. The result was a 7-0 start for Kansas City, trailing only the 9-0 mark put up by the 2003 team for the best in franchise history.

In the Super Bowl era, 31 teams have started 7-0 and all qualified for the playoffs. Fifteen of those 31 clubs advanced to the Super Bowl and nine have won it.

”It’s confidence,” said Hali, who was part of the Chiefs’ two-win team last season. ”Guys believe in what we’re doing. They believe in one another, and that goes a long way.”

Keenum, making his first NFL start in place of the injured Matt Schaub, threw for 271 yards and a touchdown for the Texans.

His performance was overshadowed by a pair of crushing injuries: Running back Arian Foster left in the first quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return, and linebacker Brian Cushing was carted off with a left knee injury in the second half.

”It was very detrimental to us,” said Texans coach Gary Kubiak, whose banged-up team is riding its first five-game skid since Nov. 6-Dec. 11, 2005.

”When they can pin their ears back, they’re very, very difficult,” Kubiak said. ”They came and got us pretty good there late in the game.”

The Texans moved the ball well early on, taking the lead on Randy Bullock’s 48-yard field goal. But the scoring drive proved costly when Foster left for the locker room, and then emerged a short while later in a gray sweatsuit.

”I’m going do everything I can to get healthy and come back and fight,” he said afterward.

The Chiefs took the lead later in the first quarter when Charles pounded into the end zone from a yard out to cap an 82-yard drive. But the Texans, behind Keenum’s unflappable play, retook the lead on a 29-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins.

”He did a great job,” Kubiak said of his young quarterback, who beat out T.J. Yates for the starting nod. ”He’s got some things he’s got to understand when they come after him. But he made some great football plays to get his team in position to win.”

Indeed, the Texans still led 10-7 midway through the second quarter. Smith proceeded to guide the Chiefs 97 yards in 15 plays, and his 5-yard draw gave the Chiefs the lead at halftime.

Bullock tacked on two more field goals for Houston, and Ryan Succop hit one for the Chiefs, who came within inches of extending their 17-16 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Tight end Anthony Fasano caught a pass at the goal line and was ruled down, and Reid was unsuccessfully in challenging that it should be a touchdown. Charles was stuffed on the next play, and Smith’s pass to wide open Sean McGrath on fourth down was out of bounds.

It turned out that the missed points didn’t matter.

The Chiefs’ defense made sure of that.

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Tuesday that the club has added cornerback Vernon Kearney to the team’s practice squad roster.

Kearney (6-2, 185) originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Buffalo Bills on April 29, 2013. He was released by the Bills in May then signed by the Cleveland Browns prior to training camp.

Kearney was released by the Browns on Aug. 26. The Bradenton, Fla., native played collegiately at Lane College where he spent his first two years as a wide receiver before moving to the defensive backfield.

He totaled 45 tackles in his final two seasons with the Dragons along with two interceptions, seven passes defensed, one forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He prepped at Sarasota Riverview High School in Sarasota, Fla.

— Chiefs Media Relations —

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andy Reid swore he could feel the ground shake.

Alex Smith couldn’t hear himself talking to his teammates. Dwayne Bowe said the deafening din inside Arrowhead Stadium reminded him of college.

Just imagine what it must have been like for the Oakland Raiders.

Buoyed by the loudest crowd to attend an outdoor sporting event, the unbeaten Chiefs took advantage of three second-half interceptions thrown by Terrelle Pryor to pull away for a 24-7 victory Sunday.

It was the first time in seven meetings at Arrowhead Stadium that the Chiefs (6-0) had beaten the Raiders (2-4), and it allowed them to press on with the second-best start in franchise history.

The Chiefs won their first nine games during the 2003 season.

”Every win is a great win, and when you can win with a crowd like this, it makes it even better,” Reid said. ”That was loud, real loud. The ground was shaking.”

According to an official from Guinness World Records, the volume reached 137.5 decibels in the closing minutes of the game, breaking the record of 136.6 set by Seahawks fans earlier this year.

”I was sitting there on the sideline and I could tell, it’s a hard environment to execute in,” said Smith, who threw for just 128 yards but didn’t make any big mistakes. ”It was pretty special.”

It wouldn’t have been nearly as special without a win.

Jamaal Charles ran for two touchdowns, and the Chiefs had 10 sacks while ending a three-game skid to the Raiders (2-4). They also held Darren McFadden, a thorn in their side, to 52 yards rushing.

”We were right there in the game, and we were punching back and forth,” said Pryor, who threw for 216 yards and a touchdown. ”I lost the game for us.”

That’s because the Chiefs turned his three interceptions into 17 points. The first led to Charles’ go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter, the second resulted in Ryan Succop’s 33-yard field in the fourth quarter and Husain Abdullah returned the final one 44 yards for a score with 1:35 left.

Part of the problem, Pryor said, was the combination of crowd noise and a patchwork offensive line.

On one possession, Pryor was twice whistled for delay of game penalties because third-string center Mike Brisiel couldn’t hear him. Oakland also had a false start on the same drive, which ended in a punt.

The Raiders finished with 11 penalties for 68 yards.

”It’s a tough environment, but we’ve got to be mentally strong as a team,” Pryor said. ”I know sometimes I let it get away from me with the delay of game. Like I said, it’s experience.”

Oakland actually struck first in the second quarter when Denarius Moore beat Chiefs defensive back Marcus Cooper, starting in place of the injured Brandon Flowers, on a quick slant over the middle. Moore caught the pass from Pryor in stride and went 39 yards for the touchdown.

It remained 7-0 until the waning minutes of the first half, when the Chiefs took over at the Oakland 45. Pass interference on the Raiders’ D.J. Hayden on third-and-10 kept the drive alive, and Charles squirmed the 7 yards for the tying score with 1:06 left.

The Chiefs were poised to take the lead early in the third quarter, but Hayden stripped Donnie Avery of the ball inside the Oakland 10 and Charles Woodson recovered it. But the Raiders gave it right back when Kansas City brought a blitz and Pryor lobbed a pass that Quintin Demps picked off.

Five plays later, Charles plunged into the end zone to give the Chiefs a 14-7 lead.

The way their defense was playing, that proved to be enough. Kansas City kept up the heat on Pryor the rest of the way – on one drive, two penalties and two sacks left the Raiders facing fourth-and-48 at their 12. Not even their punt made it to the first down marker.

Cooper’s interception set up Succop’s field goal with 2 minutes left to put the game out of reach, and Abdullah’s pick-6 left the crowd packed inside Arrowhead Stadium rocking at the end.

”Opportunistic team,” Woodson said. ”They’ve been doing it all year long, late in games coming up with turnovers and things like that to give them a chance to win. That’s what happened today.”

— Associated Press —

Being perfect is what matters most in the NFL, as Chiefs coach Andy Reid knows only too well.

No matter how ugly some of those wins may be.

Jamaal Charles scored a 1-yard touchdown with 6:23 left, and the Chiefs rallied to beat the Tennessee Titans 26-17 on Sunday.

”We are 5-0, and we’re not ashamed of that,” Reid said. ”We also know that we’ve got a ton of room to improve and it’s important that we continue to do that.”

The Chiefs (5-0) are off to their best start since 2003, when they won their first nine games. This win came despite blowing a 13-0 halftime lead in this early AFC showdown between these surprising teams bouncing back after losing seasons, and Charles called this a special win.

”I am speechless right now,” Charles said. ”This team is very blessed to be 5-0 right now. Nobody expected us to be 5-0.”

The Titans (3-2) couldn’t have been more out of synch in the first half with Ryan Fitzpatrick starting for Jake Locker sidelined with his sprained right hip. He missed his first five passes and went three-and-out on his first five series before guiding Tennessee to 17 straight points in the second half.

Charles put the Chiefs ahead to stay 20-17. He finished with 50 of his 108 yards on 22 carries coming in the fourth quarter on 11 carries. The Chiefs also intercepted Fitzpatrick twice in the final 6:14. Ryan Succop kicked four field goals, including a 48-yarder.

The Titans had one last chance needing to score twice and sent Rob Bironas out for a 32-yard field goal. But Bironas missed wide right, and time expired.

”The bottom line is we found a way back into that game and had an opportunity to go up by more than four and we didn’t do that,” Titans coach Mike Munchak said.

Now Kansas City heads home for a three-game stretch, though the Chiefs had plenty of support on the road in Nashville.

”I thought the fans controlled that lower bowl there and we heard them and we appreciate all that support that they were able to give us, especially down the stretch there,” Reid said.

The Chiefs and Titans came in tied atop the NFL with a plus-9 turnover margin, but it was Kansas City that forced three turnovers and turned those into 13 points. The Chiefs also had a goal-line stand at their own 1 late in the first half. The Titans forced two they managed to convert into a touchdown.

Kansas City dominated early with a 132-10 edge in total offense in the first quarter and was up 13-0 at halftime on a rainy day in Nashville. The goal-line stand also proved huge as the Chiefs not only stopped the Titans four times from their own 1 but drove for another field goal.

Fitzpatrick looked rusty in his first start since being in Buffalo last season, and his new teammates weren’t much help. Chris Johnson finished with only 17 yards rushing on 10 carries.

But Fitzpatrick outgained the Chiefs all by himself in the third quarter in keying the Titans’ rally. He flipped the ball to Johnson for a 49-yard TD. He also scrambled 9 yards for a TD giving the Titans a 17-13 lead early in the fourth quarter. The Titans also settled for a 22-yard field goal by Bironas after having first-and-goal in the third.

”We had to gear down and somebody had to make a play, stop the snowball from rolling downhill, and we did,” Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson said.

The Chiefs’ go-ahead drive was keyed by an unnecessary roughness flag on Titans linebacker Moises Fokou for hitting Alex Smith as the quarterback scrambled on third-and-5. Smith only picked up 2 yards and was hit at the sideline, and the flag gave the Chiefs first down.

”If you’re not sliding, to me, you’re not giving yourself up,” Munchak said of Smith. ”He wasn’t sliding.”

Marcus Cooper wrestled the ball away from Nate Washington with 6:14 left, and Quintin Demps picked off a pass that bounced off Titans receiver Kendall Wright with 2:39 left. Succop kicked field goals of 33 and 48 yards after each to pad the lead.

Cooper put the Chiefs up 7-0 when he recovered the ball in the end zone after the ball brushed up against Titans blocker Damian Williams before dribbling to the end zone – Tennessee’s first turnover this season.

— Associated Press —

Eric Berry credits Kansas City’s 4-0 start to the ”family feeling” that held everyone together during the hapless 2-14 season of 2012.

Maybe so. But after the Chiefs (4-0) pounded the winless New York Giants 31-7 on Sunday, it’s obvious that importing a cool, savvy quarterback from San Francisco and bringing in a smart, no-nonsense coach from Philadelphia also had a lot to do with a rags-to-riches transformation.

Even in a league known for quick turnarounds and breathtaking free-falls, this seems preposterous.

Alex Smith, who lost his job last year in San Francisco, threw three touchdown passes, and Dexter McCluster returned a punt 89 yards for another score as the Chiefs joined the 1980 Detroit Lions as the only teams in modern league history to win two or fewer games one season, then rocket to a 4-0 start the next.

”To be honest, all we talked about all offseason was being 1-0,” said Smith. ”Just get the first one.”

Did he ever dream of being 4-0?

”No, to answer your question.”

The Giants, proud Super Bowl champions of 2007 and 2011 season, are 0-4 for the first time since 1987, a mass of injury and disarray.

”It is disappointing,” said quarterback Eli Manning, who’s been operating all year behind a patchwork offensive line. ”The defense got us some turnovers and we weren’t able to do anything with it. We are just not playing very well offensively.”

The injury-ravaged Giants trailed only 17-7 after three quarters. They managed a 69-yard catch-and-run TD from Eli Manning to Victor Cruz.

”This is a situation we’ve got to fix,” said Giants wide receiver Hakeem Nicks. ”We know what we’re capable of doing.”

Smith hit touchdown passes of 4, 2 and 35 yards and was 24 for 41 for 288 yards. He was intercepted twice and the Chiefs also lost a fumble, Kansas City’s first turnovers in what may be turning into a magical season under first-year head coach Andy Reid.

”I know they’ll battle,” said first-year coach Andy Reid, who spent the previous 14 seasons coaching the Eagles. ”That’s what I know. There are a lot of things I don’t know but I do know this: We’re a tough bunch.”

Manning was 18 for 37 for 217 yards and the one TD. He was sacked three times and intercepted once, but harried and hurried much of the bright, sunny afternoon.

All of a sudden, the misery of 2012 that cost coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli their jobs seems a distant memory.

”We just kept working, kept sticking together,” said Berry. ”We know things don’t always go your way. But you’ve got to be able to stick together through tough times, in life, period. We kept leaning on each other. Nobody pointed a finger at anybody at any time. We just stuck together and I feel like that was the foundation that was built for us to do what we’re doing now. But we’ve still got a lot of work to do.”

Late in the first quarter, Smith hit Sean McGrath, Jamaal Charles and Dwayne Bowe for gains of 12, 17 and 14 yards on successive plays. McGrath, the heavily bearded tight end and Seattle Seahawks castoff, got free in the end zone to catch Smith’s 5-yard TD pass to cap the 11-play, 98-yard drive.

The drive took 5 minutes, 38 seconds. To answer, Manning needed only 54 seconds.

Cruz went streaking down the right sideline – turf normally patrolled by injured cornerback Brandon Flowers – caught Manning’s pass in stride and raced into the end zone. Trailing far behind was Dunta Robinson, a backup cornerback.

The Chiefs led only 10-7 when McCluster fielded the ball and set sail on the first TD punt return the Chiefs have had since Sept. 13, 2010, when McCluster took one back a team-record 94 yards against San Diego during a rain storm. He juked one tackler, put a dizzying 360-degree spin move on another and then broke clear up the middle.

Ryan Succop kicked a 51-yard field goal in the second quarter.

In the fourth quarter, Smith fired a 2-yard TD pass to Charles and a 35-yarder to Bowe, who twisted free of a couple of tacklers.

— Associated Press —

The look was strange: Andy Reid in all red on the visitors’ sideline.

The result was similar to what he gave Philadelphia in his 14 years in charge of the Eagles.

Reid’s homecoming was a smashing success for the new Kansas City coach thanks to a dynamic defense that forced five turnovers and sacked a harried Michael Vick six times in the Chiefs’ 26-16 victory Thursday night.

“Yeah, it was different,” Reid said. “I was on the opposite side of the field than I normally am at. But I can’t tell you that I was caught up in that part of it.”

Vick even limped off with 1:07 to go after the final sack and fumble, but stayed around to hug Reid following the final play — just after Donnie Avery gave Reid a Gatorade shower on the sideline.

“It was great to see the players that are here,” Reid admitted. “I had a chance to talk to them after the game.”

Kansas City, which has not had a giveaway in opening 3-0, has won one more game already than it did in 2012 — when it earned the first overall draft pick, then hired Reid days after he was fired on the heels of Philly’s 4-12 finish.

The usually stoic Reid showed some fire to match his bright red outfit late in the first half when he thought the Chiefs got a bad spot. He came out to the hash mark to yell at the officials, then walked off at halftime still gesturing his displeasure.

That was far more emotion than he displayed when he entered the stadium with the Chiefs just before kickoff. Although the Philly fans gave him a warm ovation, some standing in tribute to the man who won 140 games and six division titles for them, Reid walked briskly along the sideline, never turning his gaze toward the stands.

But he later said he recognized the tribute.

“I appreciate the fans and the support they gave me,” he said. “That was kind of them.”

He certainly had to like much of what he saw on the field from his defense, particularly Houston.

It was offensive master Reid’s defense and special teams that set the tone and put his team ahead early, silencing the sea of green at the Linc. The Chiefs forced four first-half turnovers and Houston had three of their four sacks. He had another half-sack to start the second half, off a bad snap to Vick, and the last one when he forced Vick to fumble with 1:34 remaining. Houston has 7 1/2 sacks in three games.

“We got the push from the guys inside and that made it easier for the guys outside to get in there and get after him,” Houston said.

Damaris Johnson’s muffed punt return gave Kansas City the ball at the Eagles 8, leading to Ryan Succop’s 33-yard field goal for a quick 3-0 lead. Derrick Johnson then deflected Vick’s ill-advised throw into the flat and Eric Berry picked it off, going 38 yards with the first interception of the year for the Philly quarterback.

There would be more mistakes as Philadelphia (1-2) lost its eighth straight home game.

But first, after falling behind 10-0, Vick got the Eagles’ no-huddle, fast-tempo offense going with the longest run of his 12-year career. He burst up the middle, shook off two attempted tackles and sped 61 yards. Two plays later, it was his arm doing the damage. Under a heavy rush, he stood in and led Jason Avant perfectly in the left corner of the end zone for a 22-yard score.

That three-play, 87-yard spurt epitomized the fast-paced offense coach Chip Kelly brought from Oregon in replacing Reid. But Kelly got cute, going for a 2-point conversion on tight end Zach Ertz’s run that failed.

The takeaways kept the Chiefs in front. And after Avery turned a short pass into a 51-yard gain thanks to sloppy Eagles tackling, Succop made a 31-yard field goal. He kicked a 34-yarder moments later after another turnover, Sean Smith’s interception, for a 16-6 halftime edge.

Avery had a big night, finishing with seven catches for 141 yards.

Alex Henery’s 29-yard field goal was the only scoring of a sloppy third period, and when Jamaal Charles surged around right end for a 3-yard TD early in the fourth quarter, Reid’s return was a rousing success. Not even LeSean McCoy’s 41-yard TD run with 11:36 remaining could spoil that.

— Associated Press —