In poll after poll, Chiefs fans have blamed Haley and the coaches for the last two weeks’ disastrous games. In addition to his hobo beard failing us, the Chiefs have come out flat on both sides of the ball, unable to stop defenses and too inept to get things going on offense – or at least nullifying their good work with penalties when lightning did strike.

However, if there is someone to blame, I don’t think it is Haley. Although he has undoubtedly made mistakes – the nursing-home-paced training camp, and a series of questionable play calls – I do still think he has mostly gotten the best out of what he has to work with.

Cassel has also gotten a lot of flak for his performance, and again, much of it is deserved. As it stands now, Cassel’s season stats are – and may end up permanently being – 10 TD, 9 INT, CMP% 59.5, RAT 76.6. He has had his moments, but essentially has shown that he can’t put the team on his shoulders when the run game is ineffective. I have long made my opinion known that he is a pretty much the definition of a mediocre quarterback. He can manage the game well with play-action passes and has the arm to hit a few strikes a game as long as the defense is biting on the run. But, if it’s all left to him, he will sputter. Still, he’s not the person to blame for our perpetual woes this season.

I’ll tell you who the culprit is after the jump: (more…)

“The few fans who were in Ramer Field at UW-River Falls on Monday watching the Chiefs go through their practice in pads got to see the future of the Chiefs defensive line.

For several plays during the workout the No. 1 defensive line looked like this, from left to right: Turk McBride, Tank Tyler, Glenn Dorsey and Tamba Hali.  That foursome had probably a half-dozen snaps, as the Chiefs were easing Dorsey back into full practice work coming off his knee injury.

But it’s a good bet that in coming practices and weeks that group will spend more and more time together.  It would be a fairly safe bet to pencil them in as the front four for the season opener in New England.”

I would suspect that this is a welcome development across AA-land. Now, Gun seems to really like Brian Johnston a lot as a pass rusher. How would you feel about pulling Tank Tyler out on some passing downs, sliding Glenn Dorsey and Tamba Hali over, and going with a pass rush line of Turk McBride, Dorsey, Tamba and Johnston?

- Merlin