Haley gets the MVP's dander up

[LaChapelle]

At Least They Can Punt … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs
October 7, 2009 - Bob Gretz | Comments (32)


Last Sunday was a tough afternoon for Dustin Colquitt.

The Chiefs punter is one of the most overworked members of the 53-man roster, given his 26 punts in four games. That’s the second most punts in the league at the quarter pole; only San Francisco’s Andy Lee with 30 has more kicks.

And at this point Colquitt and the Chiefs are the No. 1 team in the NFL in net punting average, at 44.5 yards. That includes Colquitt’s day against the Giants, when he kicked seven times and averaged 48.4 yards per punt, with a net average of 45.7 yards.

Nice numbers. So why were Colquitt and Todd Haley snapping at each other on the sidelines after one of his punts late in the third quarter? When Colquitt came off the field, Haley said something to him, and the punter made a bee-line to his head coach to give his two cents worth on the situation. This went back and forth for a few seconds before Haley moved on and one of the folks on the Chiefs sideline walked Colquitt in the other direction.

“I thought that was a private conversation,” Haley said when asked what was going on. “I guess I was probably too loud.”

He was definitely loud enough for Colquitt to hear.

“Yeah, we had a discussion,” Colquitt said. “It happens. Sometimes you walk away, and sometimes you have to make your point.”

Haley was unhappy with how his punter picked up those very good numbers last week. Colquitt was not at his best and shanked two punts. But because of friendly rolls once they hit the Arrowhead Stadium turf, they turned into acceptable plays when it came to field position.

“He needs to be better too,” Haley said. “A couple of those weren’t so pretty.”

Colquitt wouldn’t argue that point.

“I got some good rolls,” he said. “I looked at tape today and it’s mechanical. It’s fixable. That’s what I’ll be working on this week.”

Punting a football has many correlations to swinging a golf club. If you played with a duffer like me, you would often see me not keep my head and torso stable. I’d come through on the down swing and start raising my upper body. That would make hitting the ball squarely – the way the game is supposed to be played – physically impossible; instead it would fly short and to the right.

That’s what Colquitt was doing. The Giants put a big rush on him several times and that pressure coming up the middle had the punter raising his upper body too quickly and not hitting the ball square. Throughout the game, he picked up some 40-45 yards from the punter’s best friend, the roll.

Even with that, it was a good day for Colquitt because the Giants punt return was non-existent. New York’s Sinorce Moss returned just three of the seven punts for a total of 19 yards.

“I know what was happening,” Colquitt said. “You look at the tape and it’s obvious and you’re like ‘you idiot.’ We’ll get it taken care of.”

After four games, Colquitt’s performance is the best on the Chiefs roster; he ranks 11th in the league in gross punting average and No. 1 in net average. Nine of his punts had the opponent’s offense starting inside their 20-yard line. He’s only had one touchback, and that one was the punt where several Chiefs had the opportunity to down the ball before it bounced into the end zone but couldn’t get it done.

The AFC West is the league’s most competitive punting division. Colquitt leads the NFL in net average, just a hair ahead of Oakland’s Shane Lechler and they are almost two yards ahead of Mike Scifres of San Diego who ranks third.

SIGNINGS, INJURIES & MOVEMENT AROUND THE LEAGUE


NFC – named Packers QB Brett Favre offensive player of the week; named Saints safety Darren Sharper defensive player of the week.
BROWNS – WR Braylon Edwards is under investigation by the NFL over an incident that happened early Monday morning in Cleveland where he allegedly punched a friend of basketball star LeBron James.
COLTS – released LB Jordan Senn; signed RB Chad Simpson.
REDSKINS – have brought in Sherman Lewis as an offensive assistant coach.
TEXANS – placed LB Khary Campbell on the injured-reserve list (knee); promoted DE Tim Jamison from the practice squad.
FROM THE PAGES OF CHIEFS HISTORY


On October 7, 1962, the Dallas Texans lost 32-28 to the Chargers at Balboa Stadium in San Diego. The Texans 3-0 start came to a halt when they were unable to slow down the Chargers offense. Dallas got touchdowns on a one-yard run by Frank Jackson and three TD passes by QB Len Dawson, with two going to RB Abner Haynes for 14 and 46 yards. The other scoring throw was Dawson to WR Chris Burford for 12 yards. Overall, Dawson was 12 of 24 for 156 yards, three TDs, but two interceptions. Haynes had five catches for 92 yards. The star of the Chargers was QB John Hadl, who threw a pair of TD passes and scored another on a four-yard run.

On October 7, 1973, the Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos 15-14 in front of 71,414 fans at Arrowhead Stadium. The winning points came on a Jan Stenerud 39-yard field goal with just over 6 minutes, 30 seconds to play. Stenerud had kicked field goals earlier in the game of 30 and 40 yards. Kansas City’s only TD was a 20-yard pass from QB Len Dawson to WR Otis Taylor. Chiefs RB Ed Podolak had 72 yards rushing on 16 carries and 84 yards receiving on 12 catches.

On October 7, 1984, the Chiefs lost to the New York Jets 17-16 in front of a crowd of 51,843 at Arrowhead Stadium. The toe of K Nick Lowery provided the first nine points of the game. Then the Jets scored the next 17 points before the Chiefs wrapped it up with a late touchdown in a failed comeback attempt. KC’s only TD was a one-yard pass from QB Todd Blackledge to TE Willie Scott. On the day, Blackledge was 15 of 25 for 150 yards. RB Theotis Brown had 90 yards rushing on 13 carries. Rookie CB Kevin Ross had an interception for the Chiefs defense.

SAY HAPPY BIRTHDAY …


Born on October 7, 1973 in Ft. Smith, Arkansas was RB Priest Holmes. He joined the Chiefs in 2001 as an unrestricted free agent from the Baltimore Ravens. Holmes spent six seasons playing for the Chiefs (2001-05, 2007), appearing in 65 games with 63 starts. He finished his career with the club as the team’s leading all-time rusher with 6,070 yards on 1,321 carries and 76 rushing TDs. Holmes also caught 251 passes for 2,377 yards and seven touchdowns. Over his 10 seasons in the NFL, Holmes ran for 8,172 yards, caught passes for 2,963 yards and scored 94 touchdowns.

Born on October 7, 1968 in Long Beach, California was LB Erick Anderson. He was a seventh-round selection in the 1992 NFL Draft out of Michigan. Anderson spent that rookie season on the team’s injured reserve list with an ankle injury. He played one season with the Chiefs (1993), appearing in eight games with one start and 10 total tackles. He also had seven special teams tackles, plus five more in the ‘93 playoffs. The next season Anderson played two games with the Washington Redskins.

Born on October 7, 1971 in Torrance, California was WR Johnnie Morton. He joined the Chiefs in 2002 as an unrestricted free agent from the Lions where he played eight seasons. Morton spent three years with the Chiefs (2001-04), appearing in 43 games with 42 starts. He caught 134 passes for 1,932 yards and eight Tds in a KC uniform. He also ran 25 times for 261 yards. Morton wrapped up his 12-season NFL career with 13 games in San Francisco in ‘05. Overall, he played in 182 games, caught 624 passes for 8,710 yards and 43 TD catches.