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Haley’s coaching performance was embarrassing
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
Let’s hope Todd Haley spent Sunday night standing in front of a mirror, screaming at himself.
If he holds himself to the same standards as his players, he might be on the waiver wire this morning.
His coaching display Sunday afternoon against the Oakland Raiders was an embarrassment, as bad as anything I’ve seen in the NFL.
Losing at home to these Raiders on a day when JaMarcus Russell unseated Ryan Leaf as the most ill-prepared quarterback in league history required a special level of coaching incompetence — a combination of arrogance, flawed logic and lack of self-control rarely seen on network TV.
If 22 players off the street can win two NFL games, there were 70,000 people inside Arrowhead Stadium who could have done a better job than Scott Ego-li’s handpicked coach.
In a 13-10 loss, the Haley-led Chiefs squandered a chip-shot field-goal attempt in the final seconds of the first half with a no-timeouts-left, 1-yard pass in the flat to Dantrell Savage. Time expired before the refs could re-spot the ball for the next play.
In a 13-10 loss, the Haley-led Chiefs dropped back to pass on third and 1 in the final 43 seconds of the game and in possession of all three of their timeouts. The Raiders sacked Matt Cassel, setting up the game-deciding fourth-and-4 play the Chiefs would not convert.
In a 13-10 loss, the Haley-led Chiefs were flagged for nine penalties, including a critical late-hit infraction on Oakland’s game-winning TD drive. They turned the ball over twice and failed to down a perfect punt inside the 5 despite six Chiefs circling the ball.
The Chiefs melted down Sunday. They were a reflection of their head coach, who ranted and raved after every error — except his own.
“We’re going to have a smart team here,” Haley promised after the game. “Nine penalties and a couple of those things don’t reflect a smart team.”
Uh, Todd, did you coach smart on Sunday?
“How the half ended, I’d say no,” Haley acknowledged. “I’m the leader of this football team, and when you have the ball in an area where you can score points and you don’t get the points, it’s all going to fall on me. So, I’d say no.”
How about the end of the game, Todd — why not run for the first down and use one of your three timeouts?
“I won’t get into specifics, but the play called had a running back in a situation where, to me, it appeared to me as good as a run, a chance to get the ball into the running back’s hands.”
What game was Haley watching?
Based on what we saw from Cassel, there was no reason to have confidence in his decision-making. The ineptitude of Cassel’s play — two horrible interceptions and two horrible sacks — was only slightly masked by JaMarcus Russell’s Leaflike effort.
The truth is, Russell’s performance illustrates just how bad Haley’s Chiefs are. Russell and the Raiders picked up the victory completing seven of 24 passes for 109 yards, racking up 11 first downs and 166 total yards.
The Raiders played dead, and won.
How?
Many of you don’t understand why the tone of my columns about the Chiefs has been so negative after I initially campaigned for Scott Pioli’s hiring and identified Haley as Pioli’s likely head coach.
The amount of arrogance from Pioli directed toward the media and the unwarranted, know-it-all arrogance Haley directs toward his players make King Carl Peterson look as humble and down-to-earth as Lamar Hunt.
The arrogance is toxic and counterproductive to winning. It’s not confidence. It’s a couple of blowhards drunk on their newfound power.
They’re so caught up in establishing all the little “intangibles” they think create a winning environment that they’ve lost sight of the fact that players win football games — not head coaches or general managers.
Do you realize how arrogant you have to be to hold a brutal offseason program and training camp, play a game and then sign Bobby Wade off the street on Tuesday and make him your go-to receiver on Sunday because you’re trying to prove a point to Dwayne Bowe and Mark Bradley?
Bobby Wade isn’t emotionally or physically invested in the Chiefs and the program Ego-li and Haley allegedly implemented. But Wade was KC’s leading receiver and punt-return man on Sunday. Bradley rode the bench, I can only assume, because he failed to pick up a first down last week in Baltimore.
Will Haley sit down next week?
His lack of composure and suspect play-calling cost the Chiefs a game against the worst team in football.
By JASON WHITLOCK
The Kansas City Star
Let’s hope Todd Haley spent Sunday night standing in front of a mirror, screaming at himself.
If he holds himself to the same standards as his players, he might be on the waiver wire this morning.
His coaching display Sunday afternoon against the Oakland Raiders was an embarrassment, as bad as anything I’ve seen in the NFL.
Losing at home to these Raiders on a day when JaMarcus Russell unseated Ryan Leaf as the most ill-prepared quarterback in league history required a special level of coaching incompetence — a combination of arrogance, flawed logic and lack of self-control rarely seen on network TV.
If 22 players off the street can win two NFL games, there were 70,000 people inside Arrowhead Stadium who could have done a better job than Scott Ego-li’s handpicked coach.
In a 13-10 loss, the Haley-led Chiefs squandered a chip-shot field-goal attempt in the final seconds of the first half with a no-timeouts-left, 1-yard pass in the flat to Dantrell Savage. Time expired before the refs could re-spot the ball for the next play.
In a 13-10 loss, the Haley-led Chiefs dropped back to pass on third and 1 in the final 43 seconds of the game and in possession of all three of their timeouts. The Raiders sacked Matt Cassel, setting up the game-deciding fourth-and-4 play the Chiefs would not convert.
In a 13-10 loss, the Haley-led Chiefs were flagged for nine penalties, including a critical late-hit infraction on Oakland’s game-winning TD drive. They turned the ball over twice and failed to down a perfect punt inside the 5 despite six Chiefs circling the ball.
The Chiefs melted down Sunday. They were a reflection of their head coach, who ranted and raved after every error — except his own.
“We’re going to have a smart team here,” Haley promised after the game. “Nine penalties and a couple of those things don’t reflect a smart team.”
Uh, Todd, did you coach smart on Sunday?
“How the half ended, I’d say no,” Haley acknowledged. “I’m the leader of this football team, and when you have the ball in an area where you can score points and you don’t get the points, it’s all going to fall on me. So, I’d say no.”
How about the end of the game, Todd — why not run for the first down and use one of your three timeouts?
“I won’t get into specifics, but the play called had a running back in a situation where, to me, it appeared to me as good as a run, a chance to get the ball into the running back’s hands.”
What game was Haley watching?
Based on what we saw from Cassel, there was no reason to have confidence in his decision-making. The ineptitude of Cassel’s play — two horrible interceptions and two horrible sacks — was only slightly masked by JaMarcus Russell’s Leaflike effort.
The truth is, Russell’s performance illustrates just how bad Haley’s Chiefs are. Russell and the Raiders picked up the victory completing seven of 24 passes for 109 yards, racking up 11 first downs and 166 total yards.
The Raiders played dead, and won.
How?
Many of you don’t understand why the tone of my columns about the Chiefs has been so negative after I initially campaigned for Scott Pioli’s hiring and identified Haley as Pioli’s likely head coach.
The amount of arrogance from Pioli directed toward the media and the unwarranted, know-it-all arrogance Haley directs toward his players make King Carl Peterson look as humble and down-to-earth as Lamar Hunt.
The arrogance is toxic and counterproductive to winning. It’s not confidence. It’s a couple of blowhards drunk on their newfound power.
They’re so caught up in establishing all the little “intangibles” they think create a winning environment that they’ve lost sight of the fact that players win football games — not head coaches or general managers.
Do you realize how arrogant you have to be to hold a brutal offseason program and training camp, play a game and then sign Bobby Wade off the street on Tuesday and make him your go-to receiver on Sunday because you’re trying to prove a point to Dwayne Bowe and Mark Bradley?
Bobby Wade isn’t emotionally or physically invested in the Chiefs and the program Ego-li and Haley allegedly implemented. But Wade was KC’s leading receiver and punt-return man on Sunday. Bradley rode the bench, I can only assume, because he failed to pick up a first down last week in Baltimore.
Will Haley sit down next week?
His lack of composure and suspect play-calling cost the Chiefs a game against the worst team in football.
