The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Monday that the club has signed free agent tight end Kevin Brock.

Brock (6-5, 249) originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Carolina Panthers in 2009. He first joined the Chiefs on Feb. 12, 2013 after stints in Buffalo (2011-12), Oakland (2010-11), Dallas (2010), Chicago (2009-10), Pittsburgh (2009) and with the New York Jets (2009). He has played in two games, both with the Bills in 2011, recording two receptions for 27 yards (13.5 avg.).

Since entering the NFL, Brock has primarily served as a practice squad member. The Hackensack, N.J., native, played tight end at Rutgers. He prepped at Hackensack High School in his hometown.

— Chiefs Media Relations —

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Monday that the club has waived safety Bradley McDougald.

McDougald (6-1, 209) originally joined the Chiefs as a rookie free agent on May 1, 2013. He was active for one contest vs. Dallas on Sept. 15, but did not play. Prior to joining the Chiefs, McDougald played in 47 games (33 starts) seeing action on both sides of the ball at the University of Kansas.

He recorded 194 tackles (148 solo), 16 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, six interceptions, three forced fumbles. He also had 52 catches for 558 yards (10.7 avg.) with one touchdown and six rushes for 31 yards. He prepped at Scioto High School in Columbus, Ohio.

— Chiefs Media Relations —

Led by a new quarterback in Alex Smith and a new coach in Andy Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs so far have looked nothing like the team that had the worst record in the NFL last season.

The all-red outfits they donned for the first time Sunday drove home the point.

Playing nearly mistake-free for the second straight week, Smith threw for 223 yards and two touchdowns against the ball-hawking Dallas Cowboys, and the Chiefs defense held when it needed to in the fourth quarter to preserve a 17-16 victory.

”When you’re trying to build something, you need to win games like this,” said Smith, who also had a game-high 57 yards rushing. ”These are the games you look at in November and December. You need these types of wins, not only the caliber of the win but the style of win.

”It’s not always going to be pretty,” he said, ”but you have to find a way to bear down.”

The Chiefs did that marvelously in the fourth quarter.

Dwayne Bowe’s go-ahead touchdown catch and Ryan Succop’s field goal had staked them to a 17-13 lead, but the Cowboys were on the move in the closing minutes. After Tony Romo threw three straight incompletions, though, Dan Bailey had to kick a 53-yard field goal.

The Chiefs regained possession with 3:55 left. Jamaal Charles helped them grind out a couple first downs, and a pass interference call on Morris Claiborne on third-and-10 gave Kansas City another set of downs. That kept Romo from having any time to orchestrate some late-game magic.

”We ask a lot of certain players on this team and they showed up,” Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers said. ”We did a great job of holding them down.”

Romo, who was playing with bruised ribs, finished 30 of 42 for 298 yards. His favorite target was Dez Bryant, who had nine catches for 141 yards and the Cowboys’ only touchdown.

”You got to realize, you can’t forget all the work that you put in to go out and be a good football team,” Bryant said.

The Cowboys (1-1) forced the New York Giants into six turnovers in their opener, but couldn’t turn the same trick against Kansas City. After preaching ball security all week, the Chiefs got through their second straight game without throwing an interception or losing a fumble.

”Takeaways and points, man, on both sides of the ball. We try to eliminate the turnovers and we try to score points,” Reid said. ”It’s as simple as that.”

The Chiefs, coming off an uplifting win at Jacksonville, were amped for his first game as their coach at Arrowhead Stadium. A capacity crowd roared when they rolled onto the field in all-red uniforms, departing from traditional white pants to signify the start of a new era.

They kept on rolling, too. Kansas City marched 77 yards on the opening series, the highlight coming when Smith scrambled 17 yards on third-and-15 and executed a Fosbury Flop over a defender for a first down. Smith capped the drive with a short TD toss to Charles.

That’s when the Romo-to-Bryant connection got on track.

Bryant outwrestled cornerback Brandon Flowers for a 53-yard catch that helped set up Bailey’s first field goal. He then hauled in a short TD catch to give Dallas a 10-7 lead.

The Cowboys blocked Ryan Succop’s 57-yard try to carry their lead into halftime, and then Bryant caught three more passes to set up another field goal in the third quarter. But the Chiefs answered when Smith hit Bowe on a 12-yard slant for a 14-13 lead later in the quarter.

Dallas fumbled on its next two possessions – Lance Dunbar coughed it up first and then Romo was strip-sacked by Ron Parker. But its defense stiffened each time, first forcing a field goal and then getting a sack from Bruce Carter to push the Chiefs out of Succop’s range.

The Cowboys marched deep into Chiefs territory one last time, but again couldn’t find the end zone. And when Romo got the ball back, there was hardly any time left.

”We had a good plan and did some things that gave us a chance to win this football game. We put ourselves in position, but we didn’t,” Romo said. ”Ultimately, that’s all that matters.”

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Tuesday that the club has released offensive lineman Tommie Draheim from the club’s practice squad roster.

Draheim (6-4, 309) originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 2012. He was released by the Packers before the start of the regular season and was added to the Seattle Seahawks practice squad on Sept. 6.

Draheim served a short stint on the New England Patriots practice squad before spending the rest of the 2012 season on Jacksonville’s practice squad. Prior to entering the NFL, Draheim started 33 games for San Diego State University. The Lakeside, Calif., native prepped at El Capitan High School.

— Chiefs Media Relations —

It was Kansas City’s most lopsided season-opening victory in 50 years, a perfect start to the Andy Reid era.

Alex Smith threw two early touchdown passes, Kansas City’s defense dominated all day and the Chiefs handled the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-2 on Sunday.

Jamaal Charles ran for 77 yards and a touchdown before leaving with a quadriceps injury, but that was about the only negative for guys in red.

”You want to win every game you possibly can in the National Football League, that’s what you strive for. You work so stinking hard for every week, then you cherish it,” said Reid, who spent the previous 14 years in Philadelphia.

The last time Kansas City won its opener by such a wide margin was 1963, a 59-7 victory against Denver.

This one looked like it was headed in that direction after Smith threw two TD passes in the first quarter, both with short fields.

He had a 5-yarder to Donnie Avery, a play that followed a 36-yard punt return by Dexter McCluster. Smith added a 3-yarder to backup tight end Junior Hemingway, which came two plays after Brandon Flowers intercepted Blaine Gabbert’s badly underthrown deep pass. Flowers returned it 32 yards to give the Chiefs great field position.

”We could see this coming with our defense,” Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson said. ”We want to put something on film and let everyone see that the Chiefs’ defense is for real. … Our defensive line dominated their offensive line; it’s that simple.”

Charles made it 21-2 with his 2-yard scamper in the second period. He left the game in the third – after getting sandwiched by linebackers Geno Hayes and Paul Posluszny – but returned for two carries before calling it a day in the fourth.

”He did go back in for a play after he got stepped on, then we pulled him out,” Reid said. ”It was a quad and you don’t mess with those. I think he’s going to be OK. He did a nice job. He gives us great versatility there. He ran the ball hard. I thought he played good football.”

The defense was even better.

Not only did the Chiefs sack Gabbert six times and post a shutout, they allowed Jacksonville to advance beyond its 36-yard line just twice in 15 series.

”We’ve just got to be better up front. I’m going to say that,” Jaguars center Brad Meester said. ”We’ve got to do a better of creating holes and a better job of protecting for Blaine. We just didn’t give him enough time back there. If we don’t create holes and give him time, we’re just not able to get first downs.”

It was a stunning display of offensive futility for the rebuilding franchise. The Jaguars finished with 178 yards, but for most of the game challenged the team low of 117 yards set last year against Houston.

It wasn’t even close to the start Bradley wanted, but it was a clear indication of how far the team has to go.

”Sometimes it takes time to find out our identity,” Bradley said. ”I know as a staff we’re going to dig deep to find out the things that we do best and we’ll emphasize those.”

The Jaguars did little well Sunday.

Gabbert completed 16 of 35 passes for 121 yards and two interceptions, including one Tamba Hali returned for a touchdown and a 28-2 lead in the fourth quarter. Gabbert ran off the field in the closing minutes of the game with a laceration to his right hand. He needed 15 stiches after the game.

Chad Henne replaced him and led the Jaguars to the 3-yard line, but they failed to score.

Maurice Jones-Drew, playing his first real game since injuring his left foot last October, ran 15 times for 45 yards.

”We’ll see how this year turns out,” Jones-Drew said. ”No year is the same. It’s a loss. We didn’t play well as an offense. I don’t know as an offense if you can do much worse than we did today.”

The most telling sign for Jacksonville: Bryan Anger set a franchise record with 11 punts.

”We can’t punt that many times. It’s too many,” receiver Cecil Shorts III said. ”The whole offense didn’t do a good job and we need to improve on that.”

Many outsiders had the Chiefs pegged as a team that could make a significant turnaround under Reid. Not only did they return four Pro Bowlers on defense, but the offense was supposed to be improved with Reid calling plays and Smith executing them.

Against Jacksonville, things were mostly smooth.

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Saturday that the club has traded linebacker Edgar Jones to the Dallas Cowboys in exchange for an undisclosed draft pick.

Jones (6-3, 262) has seen action in 57 contests in six NFL seasons with Kansas City (2012) and Baltimore (2007-11). He has primarily served as a special teams player, recording 39 career tackles, one forced fumble and three fumble recoveries, including one returned for a touchdown.

On defense, he owns nine tackles (five solo) and 1.5 sacks (-4.5 yards). While with Baltimore he saw action in 41 contests, contributing as both a linebacker and tight end. Jones originally entered the NFL as an undrafted free agent of the Ravens from Southeast Missouri State University in 2007. He prepped at Rayville High School in Rayville, La.

— Chiefs Media Relations —

The closest that Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Chiefs counterpart Alex Smith got to the field Thursday night was the sideline, both teams electing to let their backups play things out in their final preseason game.

Third-string quarterback Tyler Bray took advantage of the opportunity.

The undrafted rookie from Tennessee threw for 169 yards and three touchdowns, leading Kansas City to a 30-8 victory over Green Bay as both teams rested their starters for the regular season.

”Tyler did a nice job for a young guy stepping in,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. ”Most series he put us in some form of a scoring position, whether it was a field goal or a touchdown.”

Bray hit Junior Hemingway for his first touchdown pass late in the first half, and connected with Josh Bellamy and Frankie Hammond Jr. for TDs in the second half, outplaying Chiefs backup QB Chase Daniel and Packers backups Vince Young and B.J. Coleman.

”I’m so proud of him, man. He finally got a chance to play and show what he’s got,” Daniel said. ”We all knew what he could do physically, but mentally he was on point. He played a heck of a game and I’m so proud of him.”

Young continues to struggle in the Packers offense. He was just 14 of 30 for 144 yards while fumbling twice, losing one of them. Coleman was just 2 of 7 for 19 yards and an interception.

”I could have made some better throws,” Young said, ”but overall I feel like with the reps and the game time, there are things I can go back and watch on film and it’s definitely going to help.”

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said his priority was to get tape of his backups before Saturday’s deadline to trim the roster to 53 players, and in that respect he got what he wanted.

”It’s something we’ll have to take a hard look at,” McCarthy said, when asked to grade Young’s performance. ”There was a lot of communication going on, which is normal when you get into this fourth game. Pass protection, run blocking, things weren’t very clean for us.”

That could be expected with most of the big names wearing baseball caps and floppy hats.

In the race to be the No. 3 running back in Kansas City, second-year pro Cyrus Gray appeared to move ahead of veteran Shaun Draughn with a solid performance. Gray gouged the Packers several times in the first half and finished with 73 yards on 13 carries.

Hemingway likely locked up his spot on the Chiefs’ roster after the former seventh-round pick out of Michigan caught his second touchdown pass of the preseason. And if it wasn’t his work that solidified his job, it may have been an injury to fellow wide receiver Devon Wylie.

The Chiefs’ fourth-round pick two years ago, Wylie left in the first half with a hamstring injury and never returned. Wylie missed most of last season with a similar injury.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who has missed time in practice with a left knee, hobbled off in the first half with another knee injury. The Chiefs were already thin at the position after Tony Moeaki fractured his shoulder in last week’s game against Pittsburgh.

Reid said that Kelce will have an MRI exam Friday but ”he should be OK.”

In a bit of positive injury news for Green Bay, cornerback Tramon Williams started the game after missing practice with a bruised knee. He picked off Daniel on the game’s first play as the Packers’ starters spent a series fine-tuning for their opener at San Francisco.

Their No. 1 offense – sans Rodgers, of course – played one series but couldn’t move the ball behind Young, eventually settling for Crosby’s 48-yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.

Ryan Succop’s two field goals and another by Crosby left the score 6-6 when the Chiefs got the ball with less than 2 minutes remaining in the first half. Bray guided them 50 yards in seven plays, and his pass to Hemingway for a touchdown gave Kansas City a 13-6 lead at the break.

The Chiefs put the game away on Bellamy’s touchdown grab in the third quarter.

”We played great as a team so I think everyone’s confidence is up right now,” Bray said. ”It was good to get some reps because I’m probably not going to get many down the road here.”

— Associated Press —