Don’t look now, but the woebegone Kansas City Chiefs are 3-2 in their last five games. How many teams in the NFL can make that claim?
For five weeks, the Chiefs looked as bad as any NFL team we’d seen since the Tampa Bay expansion days. Matt Cassel was barely upright because of the ineptness of the offensive line, Larry Johnson was a constant distraction not to mention being unproductive and we had to wonder if anybody would show up at Arrowhead Stadium the second half of the season.
Todd Haley was being barbecued by the Kansas City media and there were many who wanted him gone by midseason, as well as new general manager Scott Pioli.
Every week it seemed the Chiefs were pulling guys off the street on Wednesday and they’d be Kansas City’s best player on Sunday.
But this past Sunday, for a wonderful, wild 3 1/2 hours, the beleaguered Chiefs stared the defending Super Bowl champions squarely in the eye and made them blink. Pittsburgh beat the Chiefs all over the field, but Kansas City found a way to win, in overtime no less. Who’d ever thought when the OT session started -- and with Pittsburgh getting the ball first -- that Kansas City would be the team celebrating?
One game doesn’t make a season --- well, maybe it does for the Chiefs -- but the Fighting Haleys are starting to grow on us. Other than Johnson, sent packing to inflict his poison on the Bengals, you can’t deny how hard they’ve played. The offensive line is still a mess, but Jamaal Charles has added some zest to the running game and receiver Chris Chambers has proven to be a godsend off the scrap heap.
The defense was torched for big yards Sunday, but made enough plays to win. It’s still painful to watch the pass rush, though three sacks on Sunday must have seemed like 30 to a team that entered the game with only 10. Maybe these young, hungry and belittled players are using all the negativity hurled their way as motivation.
We’ll be the first to admit we said the Chiefs wouldn’t win more than two games. But now it appears they could win five or six. After a probable loss at San Diego this week, they have three straight at home. Denver suddenly looks pedestrian and then come Buffalo and Cleveland, both looking now to be highly winnable games. They close at Cincinnati and Denver, again teams that look average.
If Haley pulls six wins from what was a train wreck after five weeks, he could get some votes for Coach of the Year.
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Don’t look now, but the woebegone Kansas City Chiefs are 3-2 in their last five games. How many teams in the NFL can make that claim?
For five weeks, the Chiefs looked as bad as any NFL team we’d seen since the Tampa Bay expansion days. Matt Cassel was barely upright because of the ineptness of the offensive line, Larry Johnson was a constant distraction not to mention being unproductive and we had to wonder if anybody would show up at Arrowhead Stadium the second half of the season.
Todd Haley was being barbecued by the Kansas City media and there were many who wanted him gone by midseason, as well as new general manager Scott Pioli.
Every week it seemed the Chiefs were pulling guys off the street on Wednesday and they’d be Kansas City’s best player on Sunday.
But this past Sunday, for a wonderful, wild 3 1/2 hours, the beleaguered Chiefs stared the defending Super Bowl champions squarely in the eye and made them blink. Pittsburgh beat the Chiefs all over the field, but Kansas City found a way to win, in overtime no less. Who’d ever thought when the OT session started -- and with Pittsburgh getting the ball first -- that Kansas City would be the team celebrating?
One game doesn’t make a season --- well, maybe it does for the Chiefs -- but the Fighting Haleys are starting to grow on us. Other than Johnson, sent packing to inflict his poison on the Bengals, you can’t deny how hard they’ve played. The offensive line is still a mess, but Jamaal Charles has added some zest to the running game and receiver Chris Chambers has proven to be a godsend off the scrap heap.
The defense was torched for big yards Sunday, but made enough plays to win. It’s still painful to watch the pass rush, though three sacks on Sunday must have seemed like 30 to a team that entered the game with only 10. Maybe these young, hungry and belittled players are using all the negativity hurled their way as motivation.
We’ll be the first to admit we said the Chiefs wouldn’t win more than two games. But now it appears they could win five or six. After a probable loss at San Diego this week, they have three straight at home. Denver suddenly looks pedestrian and then come Buffalo and Cleveland, both looking now to be highly winnable games. They close at Cincinnati and Denver, again teams that look average.
If Haley pulls six wins from what was a train wreck after five weeks, he could get some votes for Coach of the Year.
