Mellinger: Cassel makes stand which pays off for Chiefs

[Deberg_1990]

heh, Cassel has "just enough" talent to win a few games and screw us out of a top pick. Sigh....




A full transcript from the moment of the Chiefs’ season so far is not available, which is just as well because the exact words could not be printed here anyway. Todd Haley screamed at Matt Cassel that he’s a sucker. Cassel yelled back that Haley is fussy.

Or something like that.

Television cameras caught most of it, including the part where Le’Ron McClain rushed over to separate teammate and coach. In that moment, this whole Chiefs season could’ve gone from worse to worst, but instead we saw something much more surprising than Haley screaming at a player.

The Chiefs won.

First time since the day after Christmas, even if you count preseason games, and so what if it took a home game against the winless Vikings for a 22-17 Chiefs victory?

The important part is the last word of that previous paragraph. That, and the fact that the quarterback previously known as the reason so many Chiefs fans are fantasizing about Andrew Luck maybe-just-possibly-perhaps getting his swagger back.

“I seem to respond well when I’m pushed,” Cassel says. “When my back is up against the wall.”

Few people in Kansas City are cussed more than Cassel. On Sunday, he cussed back.

Cassel doesn’t want to go through this every week, and admitted as much after the game, but for one day he responded well, and that’s why the conversation around town will be much different this week.

McClain said on Twitter last week that the Chiefs would be 5-3. Steve Breaston said this first win came because of confidence. Dwayne Bowe hinted that the confidence came from Cassel, who apparently followed his R-rated words at Haley with a halftime speech for the movies.

This is what Haley’s brand of unity looks like. Coaches will scream, players are encouraged to scream back, and they hug it out afterward as long as it works. Haley will sometimes call these “motivational speeches,” but not without laughing.

This is the only way Haley knows. He tells everyone around him to feel free to be the same way, because it doesn’t work if he’s the only one.

“Hey,” Haley says, “I love it.”

Coincidence or not, the Chiefs ran more aggressive plays after the televised screaming. And Cassel was mostly terrific. He completed 15 of 22 passes for 202 yards and a touchdown after the screaming.

Even if he didn’t see open receivers at times — near the goal line, for instance, he threw short to McClain when Leonard Pope was open in the end zone — he kept away from the kinds of mistakes that ended all hope against the Chargers last week.

For better or worse, this is the quarterback the Chiefs think they have. Soon enough they’ll decide whether it’s the quarterback they want to keep.

No interceptions. No fumbles. Safe passes, most of them short, the pattern broken up with throws downfield designed to highlight the receivers’ playmaking more than the quarterback’s.

When the offseason comes and the Chiefs know where they’ll draft, games like this will be weighed against games like last week’s in deciding whether to select a replacement for Cassel.

There are limitations in what he can do, obviously, but he also has some strengths, and this roster has plenty of other needs.

In other words, if you’re among those rooting for the Chiefs to lose and for Cassel to struggle in order for the team to draft Luck or one of college football’s other star quarterbacks, Sunday didn’t work out too well.

On a play created on the sideline, Cassel pump-faked an intermediate route and then threw deep to Bowe, who shoved two Vikings defensive backs aside in making it a 52-yard touchdown. Steve Breaston now has catches of 43, 42 and 28 yards the last two weeks.

Get Jamaal Charles and Tony Moeaki healthy, and maybe the Chiefs have enough playmakers to suit Cassel’s don’t-mess-it-up style of play.

There is a certain amount of fickleness here that we should all keep in mind. If Ryan Succop hadn’t hit five field goals, or if the Vikings would have finished their final drive, the conversation would be completely different this week. The argument between Haley and Cassel would be dissected more, the questions about Haley’s temper resurfacing.

As it stands, the offensive line, receivers and defense — particularly the line and linebackers — did enough to let Kansas City talk about what Cassel can do for the first time in at least a few weeks.

It still figures to be a long and difficult season with more criticism, but this is a nice change.

Against the Vikings, Cassel stood up and cussed back for the first time.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/02...#ixzz1ZiotjNtM