Whitlock: Chiefs are going the wrong direction

[Tribal Warfare]

Chiefs are going the wrong direction
JASON WHITLOCK COMMENTARY

It’s not working, the “process,” the “Patriots Way,” the musical wide receivers, the $63 million quarterback, the yelling and screaming.

Sunday, the Chiefs darn near made your eyes bleed.

The Denver Broncos took the baton from the San Diego Chargers and obliterated the last pieces of progress left over from the Chiefs’ thought-to-be shocking-at-the-time victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

A week ago, I spared you the final score. This week I will not shield you from the unfiltered truth:

Denver 44, Kansas City 13.

This thing is headed the wrong direction. Not only was the Pittsburgh victory a total fluke, but it’s lost all of its glitter, thanks to the Steelers’ four-game losing streak, including a loss to the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.

You can’t shine this up. For the first time since 1983, John Mackovic’s first season as head coach, the Chiefs surrendered 40-plus points in back-to-back games.

That’s right. This is starting to smell like the 1980s on the field and in the stands. Arrowhead Stadium was just a touch more than half-filled on Sunday, and Broncos fans comprised a good 30 percent of the spectators.

The only thing missing was Bill Kenney. Unfortunately, Matt Cassel wishes he played at a level as high as Kenney.

Todd Haley benched The Sixty Million Dollar Man after Scott Pioli’s prize acquisition completed 10 of 29 passes for 84 yards and two interceptions through three quarters of play. Haley denied Cassel the opportunity to get angry, fling the ball with confidence and authority and put up some meaningless stats.

Cassel’s 14.6 QB rating for the afternoon wasn’t all his fault. His receivers, particularly Bobby Wade, dropped numerous passes, failed to complete routes and generally conducted themselves as if they had little interest in risking a Brian Dawkins mouth shot.

So much for the myth that this Haley-coached team never quits. His players don’t care that he yells and screams anymore, if they ever did. He’s getting tuned out. In the first quarter, Wade shouted back at his coach and had to be restrained by his teammates.

The scare-and-intimidation tactics by Haley and Pioli aren’t a viable long-term plan. This “process” is immature. You can see it in the players’ uneven performance and demeanor. Even a proud, distinguished veteran like Mike Vrabel is beginning to crack.

When the Broncos converted a fourth-and-inches into a fourth-quarter touchdown, Vrabel flipped his middle finger to the Denver bench as he walked off the field.

“I was frustrated,” said Vrabel, the former Patriots star. “I’ve been on the other end of one of those (blowout victory) and it’s a lot of fun. Well, now I’ve been on the other side, and it’s not good.”

None of this is good. The Chiefs aren’t getting better. They have a lone bright spot — linebacker/defensive end Tamba Hali, who recorded three sacks on Sunday and has 6 1/2 for the season. He’s drawn several holding penalties this year and has been a consistent defensive force.

No disrespect to Hali, but let me ask this question: Is this the emergence of a true pass-rush force or the second coming of Eric Hicks?

You remember Hicks’ 2000 season. He put up 14 sacks in a disappointing 7-9 season. For a season, Hicks looked like a building block, a foundational block for a bright defensive future.

Over the next six seasons, Hicks recorded 26 1/2 sacks. He was a solid NFL player. He never had another double-digit sack season.

You could argue that if Kansas City had a second playmaker along its front four, Hali would get 10-plus sacks this season. Someone else might argue that Hali is simply doing what he did his first two seasons when he was playing opposite Jared Allen, and Hali’s 6 1/2 sacks look awesome solely because no one else on the Chiefs gets a whiff of the opposing quarterback.

Hali had eight sacks his rookie year and 7 1/2 sacks in year two. He had three sacks last season.

I’m sorry. I can’t pinpoint a legitimate bright spot. Running back Jamaal Charles can’t hold onto the football. He’s fumbled three times. Chris Chambers? He’s likely to fall off the same cliff as the other off-the-street receivers Haley showcases for a week or two.

This season is a disaster. You can’t blame these back-to-back blowout losses to AFC West foes on Carl Peterson and Herm Edwards.

When they took over, Marty and Carl didn’t blame Frank Gansz and Jim Schaaf.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Haley denied Cassel the opportunity to get angry, fling the ball with confidence and authority and put up some meaningless stats.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Like many of us said, it's great to be a dictator when you win, but if you don't, your players will turn on you damned quick.

[OnTheWarpath15]

They have a lone bright spot — linebacker/defensive end Tamba Hali, who recorded three sacks on Sunday and has 6 1/2 for the season. He’s drawn several holding penalties this year and has been a consistent defensive force.

Uh, Brandon Flowers would like to have a word with you Jason.

[DeezNutz]

And the solution? A way to turn this thing in the right direction?

[Hammock Parties]

The only thing missing was Bill Kenney

Great minds think alike.

[DBOSHO]

We wouldve won the game if cassel took a little bit of hot sauce off of that long ball to wade.

[BossChief]

With the difficulties getting a new CBA together and the discontinuing of revenue sharing, we could be farther from being a good team again than many realize. Hopefully, this coming offseason is managed correctly to properly improve our team in areas that have options for improvement.

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by DBOSHO

We wouldve won the game if cassel took a little bit of hot sauce off of that long ball to wade.

umm it may have made a difference in the score, but really... we lost 44-13.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by BossChief

umm it may have made a difference in the score, but really... we lost 44-13.

Exactly.

That throw to Wade doesn't change the fact that our defense gave up TWO HUNDRED AND FORTY FIVE rushing yards.

[cdcox]

Looks like Teichner's headline writer got assigned JW's column tonight.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by OnTheWarpath58

Uh, Brandon Flowers would like to have a word with you Jason.

True.

But that's where the flaw wagon starts and stops with this JWit article. Hali is still, by and large, an unproven commodity at OLB though he played very well today.
I think he could be a poor mans Neil Smith at best, but that's not a bad place to be while we try to get this roster straightened out, and he may end up being more than a poor man's version when all is said and done.
If success were measured by work ethic alone, he'd be there already. I really hope he succeeds because he works his ass off, and he's weathered the last three years with MUCH grace and humility.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Matt Cassel should be held accountable for his ineptness and Todd Haley for his stupidity, but ultimately, there was only one person responsible for their hiring, and it was that scungili-eating mother****er who put the facilities on lockdown while trying to ventriloquize the Patriots organization.

[Hammock Parties]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

Matt Cassel should be held accountable for his ineptness and Todd Haley for his stupidity, but ultimately, there was only one person responsible for their hiring, and it was that scungili-eating mother****er who put the facilities on lockdown while trying to ventriloquize the Patriots organization.

You light up my life.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

I still think that Pioli is the Jim Clemons to Belichick's Phil Jackson.