As becoming the norm for a Todd Haley Chiefs team, the Chiefs are limping through their pre-season schedule. While I do not care about the win/loss record, there are a few areas I care about.
- The first team offense establishes a rhythm. This should result in some decent drives and points on the board. Did the Chiefs achieve this goal? Not even close. The offense was kept under wraps and was unable to establish any good rhythm, unless you count making sure Dustin Colquitt was ready.
- The first team defense show consistency and can shut teams down. This goal was partially satisfied. However, I would have liked to see more consistency. Depth on this team is mostly unproven and young.
- Key reserves on both sides of the ball look ready to play well. Here the Chiefs don’t have a lot of veteran depth, though some players like Cameron Sheffield looked good.
- Rookies start to get their feet wet. Here the Chiefs did fairly well. Several rookies got some good playing time. I like what I saw out of Powe and Houston. Hudson got some good playing time, but more at guard than center. That bears watching. Unfortunately, Baldwin wasn’t able to get much playing time.
Overall, the Chiefs pre-season was lackluster at best. It doesn’t do anything to make a Chiefs fan feel this team is ready be a solid playoff team. That assessment, however, pales compared to this anonymous assessment from ‘NFL insiders’ on Pro Football Weekly.
"• “(Chiefs head coach) Todd Haley knows his team stinks, that he is going to get blamed and it probably is his fault. He definitely has done nothing to help the offense, especially at the receiver position. It’s not difficult for anyone to connect the dots. Look at the guys they have brought in (during Haley’s tenure) —Jerheme Urban, Terrance Copper, Steve Breaston, Bobby Wade — they all played for Todd at Arizona, Dallas or Chicago. (Rookie first-round pickJonathan) Baldwin is already in trouble. You look at the offense as a whole. They have no center; the receivers are not that good; (Tony) Moeaki is hurt again, the right tackle (Barry Richardson) cannot block speed. Subtract Charlie Weis — how does the offense get any better? This will be Todd’s last year, and I think he knows it.”"
Outside of the folks at Walterfootball, that’s about as negative a view of the Chiefs as you are going to hear. It is very tempting to have a knee jerk reaction that this analysis is wrong. Let’s take a step back and go through the charges step by step.
- Haley hasn’t done enough to help the receivers. It’s a bit damning, but there is a lot of truth in it. Under Haley, Bowe had developed into a legitimate star. It’s too early to make a judgement on Baldwin. However, the Chiefs really haven’t found a second receiver to complement Bowe. Here, it seems like the family connections haven’t helped the Chiefs.
- The Chiefs have no center. Wiegmann is at the end of his career and Hudson is very unproven. Here I hope the Chiefs are right in their assessment of Hudson, though I have expressed concerns about him several times.
- Moeaki is hurt again. We all knew his injury history. However, he was hurt last pre-season and had a very good rookie campaign. Here, I side with the Chiefs and not PFW. However, Moeaki bears watching.
- Richardson can not block speed. Here I think PFW is dead on correct. I really like Barry Richardson. However, he is not starting tackle material. He is suited for a backup, swing tackle role.
- Subtract Charlie Weiss. Yes, Addicts, we really don’t want to hear it, but this one is going to hurt. Weiss and Chan Gailey are better offensive minds than Todd Haley. In many ways, it doesn’t matter who officially calls the plays for the Chiefs. Haley has veto power and is in charge.
- Haley knows it’s his last year. This one is based on speculation. If the team is as bad at the PFW thoughts make it, it may be Haley’s last year. If so, I’ll keep saying it. Romeo Crennel is the next head football coach of the Chiefs.