Tim Tebow threw for a touchdown among his eight pass attempts and ran for another as the Denver Broncos used their option offense to rush for 244 yards en route to a 17-10 victory over the host Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Denver (4-5), which won for the third time in four games since Tebow took over as starter, lost its top two running backs – Willis McGahee (hamstring) and Knowshon Moreno (knee) – on its first two drives.

Third-stringer Lance Ball, though, stepped in and rushed for a career-high 96 yards as the Broncos remained one game behind Oakland for first in the AFC West. Moreno had 52 yards on four carries.

Tebow was 2 for 8 for 69 yards and added 43 yards rushing, including a 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. He completed his first pass on his sixth attempt – a 13-yarder to Matt Willis with 3:45 left in the third quarter.

Tebow’s 56-yard scoring strike – the longest of his career – to Eric Decker with 6:44 remaining made it 17-7. Decker was tied for the AFC lead with six touchdown catches entering Sunday.

Tebow didn’t attempt a pass in the first quarter as the Broncos ran 14 times for 103 yards. He threw incomplete to Decker on the first play of the second quarter.

Matt Cassel’s 1-yard play-action pass to fullback Le’Ron McClain ended a string of 123 consecutive plays without a touchdown for the Chiefs and narrowed Denver’s lead to 10-7.

Cassel was 13 of 28 for only 93 yards as the Chiefs (4-5) lost their second straight game – both at home – after winning four straight to get back in the AFC West race.