On the local NBC News tonight, Jack Harry said he received emails from two different fans this weekend reporting that Todd Haley flipped them off while leaving the field and entering the tunnel. According to Harry, the fan yelled out that Todd Haley deserved to be fired and Haley looked up and flipped him off.  The fan says he has been a season ticket holder for two years longer than Haley has been alive.

You can watch a video of Jack Harry describing it with more detail on the link below. Frankly, I don't think the story of two unknown fans makes a credible enough source to report it on the news, but I guess it will get people's attention.

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/sports/story/Chiefs-Fan-Says-Todd-Haley-Gave-Him-the-Finger/3Yjs6g7FgEyiD8_lJMg6YA.cspx

I'll start thinking more about the Chiefs potential win over Buffalo tomorrow, but after games like today's it's fun to daydream a bit about the next year and potential off-season moves.

What is one thing that is on your off-season wish list? A particular coordinator? A certain draft pick? Free agent signing?

The performance by today's defense was hard to swallow, even though Tamba Hali was a bright spot. The defense needs some solid direction. I am going to go ahead and say that landing Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator is at the top of my wish list for next year.

The Chiefs waited a while before officially naming their defensive coordinator even after hiring most of the staff. I buy into the idea that they waiting on word from Crennel about whether or not he was planning to return to coaching in 2009. Following the announcement of Pendergast as DC, there was a lot of speculation on Arrowhead Pride following about whether or not Crennel would join the Chiefs' staff in 2010.

I think he'll be coordinating the D in 2010. It's on my wish list at least.

From a fan's perspective all the way at the top of rainy section 341, it is hard to tell if the Chiefs 1-6 start to the season is the fault of the talent that coach Haley inherited or issues with coaching - or both. Until now, I've sided heavily toward the argument that Haley is the real deal and it's just going to be a process. There are many positives to like about him. No one can deny that he gives tireless efforts and demands the very best from his players. I like his mindset about conditioning because of its advantages in terms of athleticism and preventing injuries, but am disappointed with him and Pioli in that Cassell cannot stay on his feet. This season is going to put a lot of wear and tear on our hopefully franchise QB.

I usually only read Whitlock for a good laugh and don't give serious consideration to what he says. In this weeks public letter he wrote to Haley, however, he seems to hit spot-on what may be some of Haley's major issues as a head coach: emotion and immaturity. He suggests that Haley has potential to be a good head coach but is not making the most of his opportunity. .

I am going to remain undecided until the end of the season, and hope that Haley shapes up to be the real deal that I think he could be. What do you think?

Kent Babb's article from today's Kansas City Star is suggesting that Todd Haley may be inclined to experience with a no-huddle offense. The article suggests that because the Chiefs moved the ball well during the two-minute drill against Dallas on Sunday, the coach may be open to considering using it more often. 

Here is a link to the article: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chiefs/story/1507349.html

Babb quotes Haley: 

“If it’s something that gives us a better chance,” Haley said, “I would be for that. It’s something I’ve had a lot of experience with. Anything that will give us a chance to play good on either side of the ball, we need to do.”

There seems, of course, to be plusses and minuses to this argument. On the one hand, I know that I was frustrated that during overtime, we weren't able to move the ball as well as we had on the drive before. On the other hand, Babb brings up a good point in that Cassell has done a good job protecting the ball so far in the offense we've been running. Would the reward pay off for the possibility of more mistakes? 

One benefit of a no-huddle offense seems to be that the opposing defense can face fatigue and confusion. That, of course, is if it's done right and we're not throwing interceptions and helping them.

The article does point out that Haley would not be inclined to run the ball a whole lot less if they moved to the no huddle. 

What do you all think? Could the Chiefs be productive with the no-huddle and win games? 

Would it keep Matt Cassell on his feet more often? 

Would it make any difference at all? 

On ESPN First Take this afternoon Skip Bayless was arguing that Floyd Mayweather is an overrated boxer, saying "Mayweather has no knockout punch. I see less offense than the Kansas City Chiefs have right now, seriously."

Of course, jabs like this one are to be expected when we can't win any football games. I am one, however, that thinks Todd Haley's Chiefs, in time, will be a successful regime. It is tempting to make comparisons between he and Herm Edwards since we have started the season 0-2. I think what Haley offers over Edwards did is an ability to evaluate what is not working, admit it when it is a coaching issue, and address the problem.

The Chiefs will probably win some upsets against higher ranked teams this year because of coaching, athleticism, and preparation. Hopefully this can begin against the NFC East. It must be very important for them as a team to taste victory, and they could build on that once it happens.

Of course, nothing will happen over night and we will lose games that we should have won like we did yesterday.

P.S. - My voice is still a bit hoarse from yelling during the game yesterday.

I would like to see the Chiefs make a BIG move to acquire a SOLID O-lineman for the right side this week. I know that we need to be frugile with our draft choices, but it would not bother me a bit to see Pioli trade one of our two 2nd round draft choices for a SOLID right tackle or right guard.

I may even be ok with seeing him trade next year’s 1st round draft pick for someone among the league’s top that we can keep over there for several years. I don’t know if that’s his style, but we have to protect Cassel once he is back and give LJ and J. Charles a chance to gain some momentum. Sending away early draft picks may not be part of Pioli's history, but we have to bet that seeing #1 QB go down on Saturday is making him at least consider some options.

Do you agree that we should trade an early draft pick to help the o-line? Who do you think we could get for a 1st rounder or for a 2nd rounder? Do you think Pioli would do it?

Maybe Thigphen could be packaged with a middle rounder for a solid o-lineman.

The recent episode with the hanging screens at the new Cowboys' stadium makes me all the more grateful for the open air above the field at Arrowhead in Kansas City. Jerry Jones seemingly wants to leave the screens in place to create a sort of obstacle for the punting team to work around. One ESPN writer compared Jones' vision for the hazard to a miniature golf course. Jones' motive for leaving the screens as is bothers me because no other stadium in the NFL presents an obstacle requiring teams to adjust the mechanics of their game around.

Jones knows the issue will draw all types of publicity, but my opinion is that it makes the Cowboys’ stadium a sub-NFL caliber stadium. Jones thinks he is adding to an attraction, but he is actually decreasing the level of competitiveness within the stadium.

This, all the more, makes me hope that the Cowboys lose more games at home this year than they win. Most importantly, I hope the Chiefs show up in October and beat the Cowboys at Arrowhead, a real stadium where NFL players can play football and not punt around a TV screen.

Here's an article explaining that the NFL will allow the screens to remain as is for the 2009 season: http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d81234987&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true

Scott Pioli has given the Chiefs a shot of maturity by adding a handfull a players with many years of NFL experience this off season. What veteran off-season addition from the Pioli/Haley regime are you most excited about? I think they'll all offer good leadership and help us be productive.

I thought this would be an interesting discussion because there seem to be many different takes out there. Kent Babb from the KC Star believes that Montey Biesel may be the best pickup. Jason Whitlock wrote an article about how much he likes Mike Brown if he is able to stay healthy. Bob Gretz would probably not choose a favorite, but I think I remember him saying a lot of good things about Mike Goff. Pioli himself implied that a lot of people may look past what a big help Bobby Engram will be. Haley shared a lot about the example Zach Thomas sets for the rest of the defense, especially Derrick Johnson.

I am really most excited about the mindset that the group brings us a whole, but I thought it would be fun to do the poll anyways.

Feel free to write someone in under the comment space if a player is not listed in the poll.

Kansas City's lack of pass rushing ability has been emphasized a lot this season. I thought it would be fun to learn who we all foresee leading the Chiefs in sacks this season. If you want to vote for someone not on the poll, add it in the comment space. I'm excited to see how certain players will adapt/develop within a new hybrid system. It'll be especially interesting to see how Hali does playing from the linebacker position. He could show some flash. A few years ago he had more sacks than Jared Allen. Also, it seems that a hand full of people are looking for Glenn Dorsey to showcase his talent this year and do well with the new defensive scheme. I'm looking forward to seeing if Derrick Johnson finally has his breakout year as well, not that it would necessarily entail being the sack leader.

It's late June, and I have football fever. Now that Carl Peterson has moved on and the Chiefs have landed a hire with Scott Pioli who was arguably the most sought-after GM prospect in the league, the upcoming season actually offers real promise that has been M.I.A in KC since Herm Edwards began his rebuilding project. Chiefs nation is now standing with its chest out in anticipation of real improvement rather than predictable embarrassment.

Although I could list more and hopefully will in a future post, here are five promising elements about the 2009 CHIEFS! All of the items listed below are thanks to insights from websites arrowheadpride, bobgretz, etc. Thanks for the great off season reading!

1. The new coaching staff. We have a coaching staff that is going to play to the strength of the talent on the roster. Herm Edwards had a philosophy and the players had to adapt to schemes that probably worked great with another group of people once upon a time. How many times did we feel that, under Edwards, if we wouldn't have waited until late in the 4th quarter to begin adjusting our approach, we could have stolen a win? The example that comes directly to mind is the 2006 playoff game in Indianapolis. It seemed that Herm had an idea of what was supposed to work, and was dumbfounded if it did not. Thankfully offensive coordinator Chan Gailey joined us last year, hijacked control of the offense, and gave Chiefs fans something to watch in Tyler Thigphen during a 2-14 season.

I will be the first to say that I, like many others, appreciate Herm Edwards as a person. He would be a great neighbor to share a backyard with and have over and cook on the grill, but part of being an NFL head coach is recognizing the strengths of a coaching staff, and he pulled one of the best offensive line coaches (Mike Solari) off of his post and made him an underachieving offensive coordinator.

Todd Haley's coaching staff, however, promises to win as many games as possible by approaching each week with the idea that they're going to use the team's weapons that give them the best chance to win. They're not going to come to a water balloon fight armed with indoor Nerf guns. And if their punching tactic isn't working, they will adjust their scheme and add in some kicking. Herm lacked creativity in his approach to the game plan, which is one of the strengths that has seemingly carried Todd Haley into a head coaching position.

2. Player development under the new staff.

The new coaching staff is one that aspires develop and teach players. A great example of that is Todd Haley's description of our Special Teams coach Steve Hoffman, saying that he is one of few NFL coaches in that position that actually understands the perspective of kickers/punters and can work with them on their mechanics. Bob Gretz has a couple great articles from this weekend about him: one about the special teams in general and one that describes punter Dustin Colquitt's perspective on his role and his new position coach. One of the most interesting insights from this article is that when Colquitt was originally drafted by the Chiefs under Dick Vermeil, the coaching staff brought in Steve Hoffman (who wasn't with an NFL team at the time) to work with him for a few days on his mechanics.

It has been disappointed during the off season that we have not landed a big acquisition such as Anquan Boldin, Braylon Edwards, etc. That could still happen of course, but one thing Scott Piloli has been clear about is that the Chiefs will be a strong, fast, athletic, tough, disciplined football team. I won't say that Pioli doesn't like flash because the players in New England show it, but he and Hayley seem to have a knack of finding flash in likely and unlikely places.

3. The Chiefs' athleticism.

The new regime's emphasis on conditioning should pay off big time in all phases of the game, especially in the fourth quarter and in relation to the injury list. Coach Hayley is obviously proud of the team's off season dedication to the program, disclosing the team's achievement of losing 338 pounds. Bob Gretz mentioned that in a normal off season, the average team will lose 120 pounds!
I loved reading the story from the LA times which described Branden Albert's conditioning achievements and the tactics Scott Pioli used to encourage him - tapping a picture of Albert from over a year ago at the NFL combine in close to peak condition on Albert's locker. It's implied in the article that Albert is in better shape now than he is in the photo!

Our athleticism will pay off on special teams as well. The article from Bob Gretz hyperlinked above hints that the starters will be contributors on special teams this year more so than in years past. Colquitt explained that under coach Edwards, the defense and the offense were filled up and special teams players were the guys leftover. Our kickers, punters, and returners will most likely have the best support cast this year that the roster can offer.

In years to come the Chiefs are going to be on of those teams that will be known for their phyiscality and will take advantage of that in the fourth quarter.

4. Dwayne Bowe.

I am hoping that the Matt Cassel to Dwayne Bowe connection is something that Chiefs fans become very familiar with over the next several seasons.

Todd Haley has been a successful WR's coach in the past, and this is Dwayne Bowe's third year pro. I wouldn't be surprised if Bowe has more ESPN highlights and less dropped passes this year. Also, I think Hayley's staff will bring out the best in the rest of the receivers, hopefully to the extent that the opposing defense cannot all flock around Bowe. If they don't see that potential now, hopefully they will deal for another before training camp.

5. Chan Gailey has been retained.

I won't have to do a lot of writing here, because last season's off season turnaround speaks for itself. Granted, it didn't help us win many games. I'm curious to see what creative things the offense will come with under the Gailey and Haley match up. Furthermore, while I bet Cassel will win the starting job at QB, I think Thigphen will have a role in the offense. Even if it's obscure, I think it will be creative enough to help us win some games.

I had the chance last year, because the tickets were so inexpensive, to attend more games than usual and Thigphen's reception from WR Mark Bradley (on a reverse from a direct snap to RB Jamaal Charles) in the endzone was the most exciting play to witness in person from last season.