The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Wednesday that the club has been awarded QB Kyle Orton via waiver claim from Denver. The Chiefs also announced that they waived WR Keary Colbert.

Orton (6-4, 225) has played in 67 games (66 starts) with Chicago (2005-08) and Denver (2009-11), completing 1,225 of 2,107 passes for 13,753 yards with 79 TDs and 55 INTs. Orton also has 104 career rushes for 278 yards with three TDs.

Orton started the first five games of the 2011 season, completing 91 of 155 passes for 979 yards with eight TDs and seven INTs. He started 13 games for Denver in 2010.

He originally entered the NFL as a fourth-round draft pick (106th overall) of the Chicago Bears in 2005.

The Altoona, Iowa native was a three-year starter at Purdue University, where he finished third in school history in passing yards (9,337), touchdown passes (63) and completion percentage (58.8 – 786 of 1,336).

Colbert (6-1, 205) has played in 75 games (49 starts) with Carolina (2004-07), Denver (2008), Seattle (2008), Detroit (2008) and Kansas City (2011). He has caught 130 passes for 1,629 yards (12.5 avg.) with eight TDs. The Oxnard, Calif. native originally entered the NFL as a second-round selection (62nd overall) of Carolina in the 2004 NFL Draft.

— Chiefs Public Relations —

Rob Gronkowski somersaulted into the end zone, staggered to his feet and still managed to spike the ball.

“I was just fine,” the Patriots star tight end said. “I just got the wind knocked out of me a little bit.”

New England was more than fine after looking groggy on offense early in the game before finishing big with a 34-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night.

Tom Brady threw two touchdown passes to Gronkowski, who has five in his past three games. Julian Edelman returned a punt 72 yards for another score and Kyle Arrington had two of the Patriots three interceptions.

“We try to be a very opportunistic defense,” Arrington said, “and when plays like that present themselves, you’ve got to capitalize on them. And if I can get into the end zone one of these times, that would be good, too.”

The Patriots (7-3) didn’t need him to do that on Monday when they increased their AFC East lead to two games.

The Chiefs (4-6) weren’t expected to do much on offense behind untested quarterback Tyler Palko, who threw three interceptions in his first career start with Matt Cassel injured. And they didn’t, managing just a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Succop with 1:30 left in the first quarter for their only lead.

“Three interceptions is inexcusable,” Palko said. “The game is hard enough as it is without making mistakes.”

With Gronkowski collecting his ninth and 10th TD receptions of the season, the Patriots had their second straight dominant game after beating the New York Jets 37-16. The Chiefs lost their third straight.

The Patriots didn’t generate much of an attack during their first four series. There were three punts and a fumble by Brady that was recovered by Kansas City’s Allen Bailey on the first play of the second quarter. And on his next series, Brady was sacked twice.

“Obviously, the first half we didn’t do anything,” Brady said. “I don’t think it could have gotten much worse.”

But the protection improved and Brady, who had thrown for just 19 yards in the first quarter, took advantage, leading three consecutive scoring drives.

He connected with Gronkowski for a 52-yard score when the tight end caught the ball over the middle and scampered the last 35 yards, barely managing to remain inbounds on the right side as he neared the end zone.

“When I get the ball, you just don’t want to go down,” he said. “You’ve got to try and do something with the ball. That’s why you get it.”

Arrington, who leads the NFL with seven interceptions, got his first of the game on Kansas City’s next series and Stephen Gostkowski made it 10-3 at halftime with a 21-yard field goal.

“We were still fighting and we knew it was a close game going into halftime,” Chiefs safety Kendrick Lewis said. “They got a big play and a big score (Gronkowski’s second touchdown) in the second half and that started their rally.”

The Patriots got the ball to start the third quarter and went 85 yards on nine plays, scoring on Brady’s 19-yard pass to Gronkowski, who went head over heels, landing on his neck in the right corner of the end zone after being hit by Derrick Johnson.

“He’s a great football player,” Patriots guard Brian Waters said. “It doesn’t surprise me for him to be able to bounce up.”

Gronkowski has 20 touchdowns in 26 games, surpassing Mike Ditka’s mark of 31 for the fewest games needed by a tight end to reach 20 touchdowns. He also pulled within three of the single-season, tight end record of 13 touchdown receptions held by Antonio Gates of San Diego and Vernon Davis of San Francisco.

“Everyone’s doing their job and I just happen to be an open guy and Tom hits me in the end zone,” Gronkowski said.

Just 1:03 after his second touchdown, Edelman got his second punt return touchdown of his career as the Patriots jumped to a 24-3 lead with 9:24 left in the third quarter.

Edelman, a wide receiver, also played defensive back, a position hit hard by injuries.

“I do whatever I can to help the team,” he said.

Arrington picked off another pass on the Chiefs’ next possession, leading to a 19-yard field goal by Gostkowski.

And just when it looked as if Palko, who had thrown just 13 passes before Monday night, might direct his team to a touchdown, he threw an interception to Phillip Adams in the end zone with 10:50 left in the game.

“We did too many things that get you beat in this league too many times,” Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali said.

The Patriots finished the scoring on rookie Shane Vereen’s first NFL touchdown on a 4-yard run with 1:01 left.

In the previous meeting between the teams, Brady went down with a season-ending knee injury in the 2008 opener and was replaced by Cassel. But he injured his right throwing hand in the Chiefs’ last game, a 17-10 loss, and had season-ending surgery on Nov. 14.

Palko completed 25 of 38 passes for 236 yards and three interceptions. Brady was 15 of 27 for 234 yards and no interceptions.

“All in all, I felt pretty confident,” Palko said. “Obviously, there’s a few things I’d like to have back.”

— Associated Press —

Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel could be lost for the season with what his coach calls a significant injury to his throwing hand.

Coach Todd Haley refused to say Monday whether the team had discussed putting Cassel on injured reserve, but he did say “it’s a possibility” when asked whether Cassel would be done for the year.

“He will probably have to have surgery at some time,” Haley said. “The length of it, we’re not sure, but there’s some optimism. Each person it varies, but it’s a difficult injury.”

The Chiefs have already lost All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles, Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry, tight end Tony Moeaki and linebacker Brandon Siler to season-ending injuries.

Cassel hurt his right hand near the end of the Chiefs’ 17-10 loss to Denver on Sunday. The injury appeared to occur when Cassel was sacked by Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller, though Haley wasn’t sure if it was the hit or the way Cassel landed on the turf that caused it.

“This has been a fluid situation,” Haley said.

Tyler Palko played the final offensive series against Denver, leading the Chiefs to a field goal, even though Cassel said after the game that he wanted to play.

“I was a little banged up, so that’s what kept me out,” Cassel said, adding that he thought he’d be OK to play at New England next Monday night. “I wanted to go but I was told not to.”

The injury turned out to be more severe than anyone expected.

Palko was informed by quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn on Monday that he’ll likely get his first NFL start against the Patriots. Fifth-round draft choice Ricky Stanzi, who has been inactive all season, will become the backup, though Kansas City could sign a veteran free agent for some depth.

“I’m really close with Matt and we’ve been through a lot these last two years,” Palko said in the Chiefs’ mostly empty locker room Monday afternoon. “You hate to see anybody go down like this, but it’s football, and you just have to be ready.”

The Chiefs (4-5) are in a three-way tie with San Diego and Denver, all chasing the AFC West-leading Oakland Raiders (5-4). The Chiefs, however, have dropped two frustrating games in a row — 31-3 to the then-winless Dolphins and Sunday to the Broncos, both at Arrowhead Stadium.

It hasn’t helped that the Chiefs are missing several of their best players.

Siler went down in training camp with a torn Achilles tendon, not long after signing with Kansas City. Moeaki tore his left ACL in the Chiefs’ preseason finale, Berry sustained the same injury in the first quarter Week 1 against Buffalo, and Charles tore his left ACL early in Week 2 at Detroit.

“It’s crazy, man, just the game, the NFL, how the season is going,” fullback Le’Ron McClain said. “Whoever is next to step in has to step in and play, because the season’s going to continue.”

It’s not going to get any easier, either.

The Chiefs’ game at New England on Monday night starts perhaps the most grueling stretch any team will face this season. They return home to play Pittsburgh, and then visit Chicago and the New York Jets, before playing host to the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers on Dec. 18.

It’s unclear whether Cassel will be available for any of those games.

Cassel, who signed a six-year, $63 million deal before the 2009 season, has struggled mightily all year, hurting his ribs early on and never quite playing up to the level he did last season.

He’s completing just 59.5 percent of his passes for 1,713 yards, with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His quarterback rating of 76.6 is nearly 20 points below his rating last season, when he led the rebuilding Chiefs to a surprise AFC West championship.

Cassel was just 13 of 28 for 96 yards and a touchdown against Denver. He was sacked four times, one week after getting dropped five times, and spent most of the afternoon running away from the Broncos’ pass rush. Kansas City managed just 258 yards of total offense in the game.

A good chunk of that came when Palko came on for the Chiefs’ final series.

The journeyman quarterback signed with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent out of Pitt in 2007, and spent some time with the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers, along with playing in the CFL. He signed with the Chiefs last year and did enough to earn the backup job this season.

The son of a high school coach, Palko has only appeared in four regular-season NFL games.

“Tyler is the next in line, and he’s done a terrific job, like I said, of keeping himself ready,” Haley said. “That’s what the No. 2 quarterback has to do, because you don’t know. At a moment’s notice, you could be in there playing, just like any other position.”

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Chiefs knew what was coming, even after the Denver Broncos’ top two running backs went down with injuries. Their AFC West rivals were going to keep running behind Tim Tebow until the Chiefs proved they could stop them.

Just when it looked like they finally did, Tebow went to the air.

The former Heisman Trophy winner connected with Eric Decker on a 56-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter, helping the Broncos to a humbling — even humiliating — 17-10 defeat of Kansas City.

“It’s just a mindset. It’s a low-risk offense. It’s not an indictment on Tim Tebow or whoever our quarterback is,” Broncos coach John Fox said. “It’s just whatever is working for us. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. We tried to possess the ball and keep our defense fresh.”

Willis McGahee went down with a hamstring injury on the Broncos’ first offensive series, and Knowshon Moreno left later in the first quarter with a sprained knee. That left journeyman Lance Ball to tote the ball 30 times for 96 yards, churning up the Chiefs’ banged-up defense.

Tebow finished 2 of 8 for 69 yards, but added 44 yards and a score on the ground, as the Broncos (4-5) moved into a tie with Kansas City and San Diego behind AFC West-leading Oakland (5-4).

“I’m not trying to send a message,” said Tebow, who is 3-1 since taking over as the starter. “I’m just trying to be a football player. We can improve from what we did today and get better.”

Fox scrapped a large chunk of his playbook when he made Tebow the starter, trying to cater to his deft ability to run the read-option. And despite losing his best two running backs, Fox stuck with the ground game, content to wear down the Kansas City defense.

The Broncos made that clear when they ran eight straight times on their opening possession.

Moreno had the highlight carry when he hurdled the Chiefs’ Brandon Flowers on a 24-yard scamper, and Tebow finished off the drive when he scored up the middle from 7 yards out.

The way the Chiefs played, that nearly was enough.

“We knew that was going to be a great challenge coming into this game,” Kansas City coach Todd Haley said. “We had a Plan A, B and C for how we were going to stop the run, because it’s a numbers issue, and no plans ended up working like we needed it to.”

Nothing worked on offense, either.

Matt Cassel was 13 of 28 for 93 yards and a touchdown, and the Chiefs only managed 258 yards of total offense, a performance every bit as ugly as last week’s 31-3 loss to Miami.

“It was a tough game,” said Cassel, who didn’t go out for the Chiefs’ final series because the medical staff decided he was too banged up to continue. “We didn’t do enough offensively, we didn’t execute throughout the day, and we just need to execute better.”

Cassel said he hopes to play next Monday night against New England though the Kansas City Star reported that Cassel left the stadium with a cast on his right hand.

Rookie wide receiver Jon Baldwin tried to give Kansas City a spark when he hauled in an acrobatic 58-yard pass in the second quarter, reaching around safety Brian Dawkins to make the grab. Baldwin held onto the ball, still behind Dawkins’ back, as both players fell to the ground, but the play was called back because wide receiver Steve Breaston had lined up illegally.

Matt Prater’s 38-yard field goal gave Denver a 10-0 lead at halftime.

Tebow wound up missing all four of his pass attempts in the half, making Denver the first team to lead at the break without a completion since the Green Bay Packers led the Chicago Bears 14-0 on Oct. 31, 1994, according to STATS LLC. Brett Favre was 0 for 6 at halftime of that game.

Kansas City finally scored when Cassel hit Le’Ron McClain on a play-action pass from just outside the goal line midway through the third quarter. It was the first points scored by the Chiefs’ offense since 12:01 left in the fourth quarter against San Diego two weeks ago.

The Broncos snuffed out the comeback bid with 6:44 left in the game, when Tebow hit Decker with the long touchdown pass. Ryan Succop kicked a field goal with 7 seconds left for Kansas City, but the Broncos recovered the onside kick, sending the Chiefs to their second straight loss.

“We have to do a better job of playing on Sundays, because it doesn’t matter how practices go, how things look, you have to do it on Sunday,” Haley said. “The good thing is I know we can. We’ve done it against quality opponents, and we have some quality opponents coming up.”

— Associated Press —

It didn’t matter how big of a lead the Miami Dolphins built on the Kansas City Chiefs. It still wasn’t enough to keep them from feeling jittery.

One of two winless teams left in the NFL, the Dolphins came into Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday with the cloud of two second-half collapses still hovering. They were also facing a Chiefs team that had mastered the art of the comeback: 0-3 to 4-3 in four games.

So it made sense that nobody on the Dolphins sideline was celebrating until the final seconds ticked away, and coach Tony Sparano’s beleaguered team could finally enjoy a 31-3 victory.

“I’m just happy for the guys in our locker room,” Sparano said. “All I’ve wanted to do for seven weeks is see these guys smile.”

There was plenty to smile about.

Matt Moore threw for 244 yards and three touchdowns, the first three-TD performance by a Miami quarterback since Chad Pennington in 2008. Reggie Bush ran for 92 yards and another score, and tight end Anthony Fasano hauled in two touchdown passes in the first half.

Brandon Marshall finished with eight catches for 106 yards and another score, once again making for a miserable afternoon for the Chiefs. The former Broncos wide receiver has 52 catches for 689 yards and seven touchdowns in eight games against Kansas City in his career.

“We had a couple of big plays, which kind of lit the fire,” Moore said. “You make a couple of big plays early and there’s no telling what can happen.”

The virtuoso performance by the Miami offense helped brush away the spectre of an 0-7 start, which included a pair of disheartening losses the past two weeks: The Dolphins blew a 15-point lead in an overtime loss to Denver and a seven-point lead last week against the New York Giants.

“This is all about the players,” Sparano said. “These guys did a super job all week long of putting all the garbage behind them.”

Kansas City, meanwhile, looked more like the team that lost its first two games by a combined 89-10 than the one that rattled off four straight wins to climb into a tie atop the AFC West. The Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders remained tied for first place in the division after all three lost Sunday.

Matt Cassel was 20 of 39 for 253 yards despite facing a secondary missing cornerback Vontae Davis and had backup Nolan Carroll leave several times with a hamstring injury.

Of course, the defensive backfield didn’t have much to defend.

The Dolphins’ relentless front spent most of the afternoon in Cassel’s face, sacking him five times and forcing the slow-footed quarterback to scramble nine more times. The Chiefs came into the game having allowed 13 sacks all season, tied for sixth-best in the league.

“They executed and we didn’t,” Cassel said. “We were able to put together some drives, but we weren’t able to sustain those drives offensively. We have to do a better job of executing. It starts with me and all the way down the line.”

Things looked promising for Kansas City its opening possession, when it put together a grinding, 14-play, 53-yard drive that Ryan Succop finished off with a 43-yard field goal.

The Chiefs didn’t do much after that.

Miami answered with a touchdown later in the first quarter when nobody pick up Fasano off the line of scrimmage. Moore simply tossed a pass to him from 3 yards out, the first of 31 straight points scored by the Dolphins — more than they’d scored in any game this season.

On the Dolphins’ ensuing possession, Moore hit fullback Charles Clay for gains of 21 and 22 yards, and then found Fasano open down the sideline for a 35-yard touchdown completion and a 14-3 lead.

Fasano’s only other two-TD game also came against the Chiefs.

The Dolphins offense really hit the accelerator in the third quarter, when Moore found Marshall for a 14-yard touchdown pass, and Bush shook loose for a 28-yard scoring run, the former No. 2 overall draft pick’s first TD on the ground since Nov. 15, 2009.

Any chance of a comeback ended early in the fourth quarter, when Kansas City failed to convert on fourth down at the Dolphins 3. The Chiefs also couldn’t score on fourth-and-goal at the 5-yard line in the closing minutes of the game.

“This was not the kind of performance we expected or wanted,” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said stoically. “This was a very dangerous team that was playing a lot better than their record. It’s hard to win in the NFL and they just did a better job than us.”

Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers put it more succinctly.

“We got beat,” he said. “We got beat pretty bad by the Miami Dolphins. At home.”

— Associated Press —

Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt announced Friday that S Jon McGraw is the recipient of the club’s 2011 Ed Block Courage Award. Dating back to ’83, the Ed Block Courage Award has annually honored one player from every NFL team who exemplifies commitment to the principles of sportsmanship and courage.

Named in honor of longtime Colts athletic trainer Ed Block, recipients of the award are selected by a vote of their teammates. McGraw and the NFL’s other 31 Ed Block Courage Award winners will be honored at the 34th annual Courage Award Banquet in Baltimore on March 13, 2012.

McGraw has continually displayed toughness throughout his 10-year career, competing in 118 games (31 starts) and recording 298 tackles (216 solo), nine interceptions, 22 passes defensed, three forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries. He has also amassed 107 special teams tackles.

McGraw was an All-Big 12 selection as a free safety at Kansas State. A native of Riley, Kan., he was a first-team all-state quarterback at Riley County High School.

— Chiefs Public Relations —

The National Football League informed the Chiefs on Tuesday that LB Derrick Johnson has been named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts in a 23-20 overtime win vs. San Diego (10/31). He joins CB Brandon Flowers as the second Chiefs player to win the honor in as many weeks. It is the fourth Player of the Week honor of Johnson’s career.

Johnson (6-3, 242) produced 16 tackles (15 solo), a sack (-7.0 yards) and an interception vs. the Chargers on Monday Night Football. It marked the second consecutive week that Johnson registered 16 stops. In seven starts on the season, Johnson has 77 tackles (57 solo), four tackles for loss, a sack, an INT, three passes defensed and five QB pressures. During the Chiefs current four-game winning streak, Johnson has registered 55 tackles (42 solo) and has finished with double-digit tackles in each contest.

The University of Texas product has appeared in 97 games (84 starts) for Kansas City, registering 648 tackles (498 solo), 15.0 sacks (-108.0 yards), eight INTs with three TDs, 47 passes defensed, 15 forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and 29 QB pressures. His 648 career tackles rank ninth in Chiefs history.

— Chiefs Public Relations —

Up and down the sideline, the Kansas City Chiefs were telling each other the game wasn’t over. Didn’t matter that Philip Rivers was under center with less than a minute left, and that Nick Novak was poised to kick the winning field goal for San Diego.

The Chiefs have had their backs against the wall enough this season.

They certainly weren’t going to just quit.

With first down at the Kansas City 15, Rivers called for the snap — and the ball never got into his hands. It squirted loose on the field, bounced under a scrum, and finally emerged in the hands of Chiefs linebacker Andy Studebaker, who was running to the sideline in joy.

The game headed for overtime, and Ryan Succop eventually knocked through a 30-yard field goal to give the Chiefs a dramatic 23-20 victory over the Chargers on Monday night.

“Our guys were saying, ‘It ain’t over ’till it’s over. Keep playing, and digging,’ ” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said. “You never know what will happen.”

Kansas City (4-3) became the first team in NFL history to lose its first three games and share at least part of a division lead after four more. The Chiefs are also the first team since the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2000 to win four straight games after losing their first three.

Rivers could have prevented all of it from happening.

“I haven’t had one in years,” Rivers said of the fumbled snap. “It’s unfortunate. I dropped it. This one is rough. You blow it on a play that never should have happened.”

Kansas City had its own chance to win in regulation, but Matt Cassel overthrew his wide receiver in Chargers territory and Eric Weddle’s second interception sent the game to overtime.

San Diego won the toss but failed to pick up a first down, and Cassel calmly led Kansas City down field. Succop’s field goal with 5:16 remaining gave the Chiefs their fourth straight win and moved them into a tie with San Diego (4-3) and the idle Oakland Raiders (4-3) in the division.

“We were saying, ‘Don’t quit,’ ” Studebaker said. “You never quit, even if it looks ugly. If you quit every time something looks ugly, you miss an opportunity to do something special.”

Boy, was this one ever ugly.

Rivers wound up throwing for 369 yards, but he also had two interceptions and one big fumble.

The teams combined for eight turnovers, matching the most in an NFL game this season. The Chargers were called for 12 penalties worth 105 yards in a gruesome game on Halloween night.

One that looked pretty in the end to Kansas City.

The Chiefs got off to an abysmal start this season, losing their first two games by a combined 89-10 score and then dropping their third game on the road, at San Diego. Along the way, the Chiefs lost Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles, safety Eric Berry and tight end Tony Moeaki for the season.

They started moving in the right direction against division doormats Minnesota and Indianapolis, and then romped to a 28-0 win over Oakland last week.

Now, they are tied for the lead in the AFC West.

“It’s everybody,” Haley said. “And I hate to mention one without mentioning them all, because everybody fought their tail ends off to make that result what it was.”

The Chiefs had things going early, getting a 36-yard field goal from Succop in the first quarter and then capitalizing on Rivers’ second interception in the first few minutes.

With the ball at the Chargers 39, Cassel dropped back to pass and saw Jonathan Baldwin streaking for the end zone. The wide receiver out-jumped fellow rookie Marcus Gilchrist for his first career touchdown catch, giving the Chiefs a 10-0 lead.

Novak kicked a field goal midway through the second quarter for San Diego, but he missed another late in the second quarter, and Succop hit one with just a few ticks on the clock for a 13-3 halftime lead.

The Chargers’ defense kept them in the game in the third quarter, holding the Chiefs to two three-and-outs and picking off Cassel for the second time. Kansas City only managed 44 yards of offense in the second and third quarters combined.

Novak kicked three field goals in the third quarter, drawing the Chargers within 13-12, but their inability to get into the end zone cost them dearly.

Kansas City finally got its offense in gear, marching 74 yards in 10 plays early in the fourth quarter. Jackie Battle finished off the drive by leaping over the scrum from a yard out, giving the Chiefs a 20-12 lead with 12:01 left.

It sure didn’t last long.

Rivers completed four straight passes covering 74 yards — one for 27 yards to Vincent Jackson on third-and-13 — before Curtis Brinkley leaped in from 2 yards out for the Chargers’ first touchdown.

Going for the 2-point conversion and the tie, Rivers floated a pass to Brinkley in the flat and he was thrown back by cornerback Brandon Carr. The officials ruled that Brinkley nudged the ball over the goal line, though, and the decision was upheld by video review.

It was the fourth replay call that went against the Chiefs.

Rivers’ butterfingers made that a moot point.

“They had no timeouts. We were in position to go kick the game-winning field goal,” Chargers coach Norv Turner said. “It didn’t happen. It looked to me like Philip got a little anxious and came out early. That’s a very unusual way to not win a game.”

— Associated Press —