A message of Positivity, from Mr. Jason Whitlock
 

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/chi...y/1587222.html
The victory was just icing. The progress could be seen long before Matt Cassel shook off a critical fumble and began the process of rehabilitating his image.

The progress started with Kansas City’s rookie head coach, Todd Haley, who may have finally figured out what to do with his game-day emotions.

Rather than castigate his players, F-bomb his assistants and bicker with the refs, Haley spent his most productive Sunday as an NFL head coach fueling his players with positive energy. They responded with their most promising performance in two years.

Kansas City 27, Pittsburgh 24 in OT!

Yes, the Kansas City Chiefs, winners of five of their last 30 games, knocked off the defending Super Bowl champions at Arrowhead Stadium.

It wasn’t a fluke. The Steelers tried to win the game. They didn’t stumble into Arrowhead hung over from a night of being denied entrance into P&L nightclubs. The Chiefs played a good football game and took advantage of the Steelers’ errors.

Jamaal Charles returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. Tamba Hali led a Kansas City pass rush that harassed Big Ben Roethlisberger and eventually sidelined him with a knee to the head. Brandon Flowers manufactured the first of four Pittsburgh turnovers, poking the ball out of the arm of receiver Mike Wallace. KC safeties Mike Brown and Jon McGraw accepted the challenge of being physical against Pittsburgh’s running game. Linebacker Andy Studebaker intercepted Big Ben twice, returning one 94 yards, setting up a Kansas City field goal.

And, most important, the Chiefs’ $63 million acquisition, Cassel, showed some real courage down the stretch. I thought he was going to fold after his inexcusable 360-spin, I’m-afraid-of-a-pass-rush fumble that basically handed the Steelers a 24-17 advantage in the fourth quarter.

Cassel had been dreadful to that point, completing eight of 18 passes for 95 yards through a little more than three quarters of play.

“He was really down when he turned the ball over, but he bounced back and made some great plays,” Haley said of his quarterback.

Cassel may have saved his Kansas City career. He certainly bought himself some time.

On KC’s next possession, facing third and 9 from the Chiefs’ 10, Cassel laced a strike down the middle of the Pittsburgh defense to Lance Long for 30 yards. Cassel followed it up with a 47-yard bomb to Chris Chambers. Cassel drove the Chiefs 91 yards in eight plays, hitting Charles with a 2-yard TD pass.

In overtime, Cassel set up the Chiefs’ game-winning field goal with a 61-yard, third-and-5 connection to Chambers.

If you would like, you can crawl into the statistics — which were dominated by the Steelers — and craft an argument that the Chiefs got lucky.

Nope. This was Kansas City-created good fortune. No doubt the Steelers are the better team and would likely beat the Chiefs eight out of 10 games. But Haley’s Chiefs followed a proven blueprint on how to beat a superior football team: 1. win the turnover battle; 2. score on special teams; 3. get after the opposing quarterback; 4. make big plays that dramatically change field position.

Did Haley mismanage the clock at the end of both halves? Yes, he was too conservative before halftime. But that’s nitpicking.

Haley coached an excellent football game. He concentrated on play-calling and encouraging his players. He left the refs alone. He didn’t overreact to the mistakes made by his players.

Had the Chiefs lost the game, I would be writing the exact same thing. Haley is learning how to be a head coach. His players are noticing and appreciative of his change in demeanor.

“I’m a rookie head coach and am passionate about what I do,” Haley said. “I live and die every day on how it goes with this team — not just game day. When you care about something, there is going to be some emotion. It’s easy to be positive when good things are happening.”

Good things happen when you expect positive results, when you put your mind in a positive place, when you treat the people fighting with you like they have as much invested in the outcome as you do.

Haley’s transformation from coaching mad man to competent leader has been going on for several weeks. Sunday, he finally struck the right balance. His team reflected his new spirit. The players wanted to shock the Steelers as much as their coach, whose father played and worked for the Steelers.

Are things perfect between Haley and his players? No. But there’s been a lot of progress.

To reach Jason Whitlock, call 816-234-4869 or send e-mail to [email protected]. For previous columns, go to KansasCity.com.

Not to brag or anything, but...

http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...5&postcount=30

Props!

Jwhit can **** himself. die in a flaming bucket of aids.
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you know what's funny?

When it counted...especially defensively...WE looked like the defending Super Bowl Champs...not them.

We know the truth, Jason.

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the Mike Brown blitz...the Derrick Johnson circus catch...and then the Belcher 3rd and short stop in OT...wow...those were three very impressive, very clutch plays.

He would not have been writing the same column had the Chiefs lost.

I agree.

It's been interesting to listen to Haley's tone the last few weeks. I remember after the Chargers game, I was expecting him to go absolutely apeshit. The Chiefs played like shit. But during the Press Conference, he spoke a lot about how he was happy with the way they played and how they prepared for that game. Probably coachspeak, but it was a rapid departure from earlier in the year when he was continually disappointed in his team.

You could see a whole different personality in him against Pittsburgh. Much happier. Having a really good time. And I think it really rubbed off on the players.

We'll see if this is something permanent, or if he goes back to being an asshole again next week. Either way, I did enjoy his post-game comments where he was giddy like a school girl.

I don't think it's a coincidence that Haley had his best coaching effort and breakthrough game while his father was in town.

And before you jump to conclusions, I'm talking about his actual mother and father.

Many people perform at their highest level in front of their parents and Haley appears to be no exception.

Next week is going to be a big test to see how sustained the Chiefs progress since the bye week is. I'm not asking for the Chiefs to beat the Chargers in San Diego next Sunday, but I would like to see them be competitive throughout the game.

Same old Whitlock, blah, blah, blah.

Yeah, we get it. Ego.

[QUOTE=DaneMcCloud;6287026]I don't think it's a coincidence that Haley had his best coaching effort and breakthrough game while his father was in town.

And before you jump to conclusions, I'm talking about his actual mother and father.

Many people perform at their highest level in front of their parents and Haley appears to be no exception.[/QUOTE

his parents are more than welcome to the rest of the games then.

It's also possible that Haley had a LOT less to be pissed about.

His Chiefs played the best they absolutely could, with minimal dumb mistakes.

The what? They played the best they absolutely could? Wha?

Did you watch the first half? That was as bad of a half of football that we've witnessed all year.

If he stayed calm through that, it's definite improvement on Haley's part.

There's a difference between bad and stupid.

If bad's the best you can do because you're a bad player, screaming doesn't do much.

Haley's lost his shit over dumb things, at least from what I can tell on TV.

Haleys Chiefs are 3-2 in the last 5 ballgames

I know nobody in this thread will remember this, so I'll just ask that you use my reputation (not my rep, my actual reputation) built up over 3 years of posting here, and 17,000 posts as a guide here when I say the following:

I called this. I said the team would go 0-whatever, or 1-whatever before the bye, and would go .500 after the bye.

This team is being built the right way.

I don't think it was THAT bad. Not as good as it should have been, but it wasn't as bad a half as the Oakland game, by far.

I mean, the Steelers had WAY more penalties than we did. I think we had 2 the whole game.

**** that ask, hope for a wim
be satisfied with a competetive game

It was disastrous. We gave up approximately 300 yards of offense, while managing only about 50 ourselves. Cassel was wretched, and Haley looked lost to end the half, with all three timeouts in his pocket.

This is what made the second half all the more remarkable.

I'm not saying it wasn't bad. It was. But I don't think it was the worst half of the season. I thought our first half against the Eagles was definitely worse. We were down 24-7 at the half and just gave up. We weren't even trying by half-time.

I agree. That part seemed disingenuous. Otherwise the article was FAIR to all parties involved.

Dude, the Chiefs won! That's all that counts!

Leave the stats to the stats guys or whatever they're called.

The letter 'W' is better than any number in any stat column.

That fat mother****er such a ****ing joke.

Well I couldn't agree more. I'll use the best quote I ever heard from a coach regarding this very topic........."I don't have to yell as much when they don't do dumb things." Frank Martin

I can only speak for myself. It's not that the Chiefs won, it's that the Chiefs won against a legitimate team.
Now maybe the Steelers were a bit lacking in the mojo department due to the losses or because TP is such a massive player that makes said mojo happen( I'll take Eric Berry in the 1st please:D), but the Chiefs did what was considered by everyone under the sun to be impossible.

Hell, not only impossible, but unthinkable. That DOES count.

I know what this game means in the big picture; a fabulous win by a team that has MILES of work ahead. But God damn; if you're going to throw down the gauntlet as a team and say "I've had enough of this shit, and today you're going to hear about it", it was about as perfect and poetic a win as one could ask for.

I love how he said Haley has been developing over the last couple weeks.... funny.... I thought he just blasted him last Monday after a win. I doubt he would be writing the same article after a loss. It just so happens that he would have come off even less credible had he bashed Haley after winning a game against a much superior team.

"Haley’s transformation from coaching mad man to competent leader has been going on for several weeks"



Whitlock is an ass clown, and a liar.


one week ago, Whitlock wrote (after a win), that Haley has an out of control ego and no credibility as a coach...

two weeks ago, Whitlock wrote, that Haley was in over his head and "had no clue about leadership," he also claimed that Haley "stripped his players of emotion"...and wrote this of Haley ever becoming something but an egotistical, Brian Waters hating, failure:

"They [pioli/haley] remind me a little bit of legacy frat boys. Those guys never change."




then fat ass tries to jump on the bandwagon as if he has the first ****ing clue about anything Haley is doing....Clown Show

Well Big Ben and Troy Polamlu weren't on the field.....

Picture this. How pumped would Chiefs Nation be if the Chiefs ever went into San Diego and won their 3rd straight and 4th out of 6? People might cream.
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Broncos are collapsing like a Twin Tower
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Only two teams have ever started off 6-0 and then lost four straight. Can you name me one of those two teams?

The White Power & Light dig made me chuckle, but ultimately I agree with Can.

This.

Whitlock is nothing but 2 faced bitch. Always has been always will be.

Actually Ben was on the field 95% of the time it counted. He only missed half of 1 drive.

Chiefs 3-2

Donkeys 1-4

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY??

Good article. No sense in nitpicking on anything today. This is a feel good week for everybody connected with the Chiefs. Orginazation, team, fans, and even the media. Well deserved for all of us too!

:clap:

When it mattered most he wasn't on the field.


The Steelers beat themselves, KC didn't win.

I was watching the local sports at 10 PM last night on either Fox4 or NBC41. They had a bit of the press conference with Haley after the game, and it sure appeared/sounded like the members of the media gave Haley an ovation when he walked into the room. And Haley seemed very humbled and pleased with their welcome.

God, this town is so full of homers. ROFL

Because we knocked him out.

Whitlock is laying the groundwork for a graceful retreat from his character attacks against Haley. After being exposed for behaving petty and unprofessional he can't allow himself to be boxed in. That said, I applaud his attempt to be more objective, although he's more likely trying to give himself future wiggle room rather than acknowledge that his personal attacks were over the top and vindictive.

It struck me how those players standing next to Haley on the sidelines when the final whistle blew were giving him a lot of love. It doesn't appear to me that he's lost this team or that his players hate him. I think that reality is beginning to sink in with Whitlock forcing him to reevaluate his media campaign against Haley's character.

God you are so predictable.

With the exception of the Charger road game, then I could say the exact same about the Bronco 5 wins.

You couldn't beat that Steeler team in your backyard.

Sucks to be you, loser.

I don't get this. What is wrong with the local media giving Haley an ovation for a job well done? IMO, the media likes Haley and wants him to succeed. JW has even said as much. That was a huge win yesterday, and everybody knows it. It does not mean we will win another game the rest of the year, but it does put the chance of more wins on a higher plane than before.

How does that make the town full of homers?

It's cute and all...but come on. That only happens in Kansas City. You think that would happen in New York or Chicago?

I actually like it. It's good sports drama. But...it's kinda silly.

I don't think Whitlock's being a homer. I think he's backpeddling for self-serving reasons.

Don't know and don't care. But it makes me a bit proud of our media and coach. And yes I bash our media for their lack of creativitiy in asking questions of our HC, but I thought it was classy.

I dont think that is possible without someone getting seriously injured....

Go **** your sister, again.

And San Diego dismantled the Broncos. They didn't lose the game, they got their ass kicked.

He mailed that column in. It was a big yawn. He definitely got caught off guard. No way did he expect the Chiefs to beat the Steelers.

Double this. He never once gave Haley any kind of credit until they won yesterday.

Sour grapes from a bitch who hasn't won in 4 weeks. Excuse me, 5 weeks counting the bye.

Speaking of mail, Clayton: I eagerly anticipate a .gif extravaganza on yesterday's game.:D

These & those.

noticed an interesting dynamic on the sideline yesterday that was either a first, or just something I had never seen before.
While the D was on the field, and after the O-groups had met, I saw Waters and Bradley going over to where the defensive subs were (also where Haley was standing). Waters said something to Haley, and Haley turned around and responded... And I thought they were about to get into it. But Waters stood with the D (as well as Bradley) for the better part of the rest of the game, ostensibly rooting them on. I think that's the first real leadership I've seen from Waters all year.

there it is... "Haley won because he started taking my advice... credit me for this victory..."

Exactly! Fatlock isn't backpedaling: he's saying "I told you so".

Waters has been leading all year.

Haley has made positive strides. I write what I see and hear.

And I'm definitely not backpedaling. I like Haley. Want him to succeed. Glad he's taking a different approach. The guy is willing to evolve. Great sign.

Leading the team in penalties, you mean.

I'm Jason Whitlock and Windows 7 was MY idea.

You are such a joke.

Rewind the tape a week and you were all over both Pioli and Haley.

so 3 days ago Haley was a worthless sack of crap and now "you can see progress long before ..."

what's sad is that whitlock probably actually thinks he influenced something.




raging racist douche





.

nice


LMAO

JW. Are you going to the presser this afternoon? If so, give Haley a big :thumb: from the fans!

I think any first year coach is going to evolve. But I don't think that the character issues you took upon yourself to blow out of proportion were ever the issue you made them out to be. On that count I think you are writing that Haley is "changing" so that you don't have to admit you were reaching with personal attacks in your attempt to manufacture a false narrative about Haley and Pioli.

Now, you can just say that you're changing your tune because Haley is changing his. Realistically, if you were to carry on with your baseless personal attacks you would be exposed even more than you already are. Haley "changing" is your out when you have to drop the faux outrage. I credit you for having the foresight to see that coming.

Whitlock: "I was very instrumental in the creation of the, uh, internet"

Last week Whit wrote an article saying Haley was a Jamarcus pubic hair away from losing the team forever and this week Haley is a "great sign". I used to enjoy Whitlock, but this season he lost his burst as well as all credibility. Time for another reporter to step up.

also, the media did not give haley an ovation... the hunt family and friends attend the home press conferences. they cheered when haley walked in. haley deserved the ovation.

haley's problems in oakland (not kicking the field goal, f-bombing carthon) led to his new approach on sunday. he's been trying to control himself all year. the raiders game was a wake-up call. i'd bet either pioli or carthon or dick haley had an intervention with haley last week.

Cool. Didn't know they went to the press conference, so I figured it was you guys who gave the ovation. I heard you complimented Haley. Nice touch. :thumb:

sorry but i call bullshit on this, do you think the guy that was f-bombed could say much that would make a difference?

Do you follow the team at all?

Haley said in his Oakland postgame news conference that he relies on Carthon to call b.s. and that Carthon is his most trusted/valuable assistant. They go way back. I'd imagine Carthon had a long talk with Haley about his abusive sideline behavior. Carthon is a grown man. He's not going to be clowned on national TV.

Yes. Haley has admitted on multiple occasions that he looks to Mo for a lot of advice. He's praised Mo's experience and leadership. They have a very close relationship, despite the obscenities. Definitely not BS.

I think the team played better so it's easier to be less intense.

It's a lot less difficult for me to not yell at my kids when they're quietly coloring, or snuggling with me on the couch watching football, or playing nicely with each other. The next morning, they can be drawing on the refrigerator with markers or coloring on each other's faces, or smashing speak n spell's on one another and I'm back to the attempt to control my volume and word selection.


If the Chiefs play like crap or with iffy effort at Sandy-Eggo next week, we'll be able to lip read the Trucker's bible on TV.


That said, I know sometimes a person can realize they're doing something and work on improving those things.
I realized my kids were starting to yell at each other so I decided to try to curb my volume level so they wouldn't think
it was the appropriate response. Haley was coaching like shit, taking things too far on the sidelines like always had.....I hope he had a moment of Clarity, or Come to Jesus(Carthon) meeting and the switch flipped for him.

I'd be inclined to agree with you, had the first half not been a complete abortion, save the KO return.

Haley was calm, cool and collected the entire game, not just when we were playing well.