Haley Offers Excuses You’d Expect

Whenever my favorite sports team has a game like the Kansas City Chiefs had today, I am always interested to hear what the head coach has to say about the performance. I’m generally disappointed because, after a terrible game, what is the coach supposed to say?

He’ll say this:

“We weren’t ready to go.”

“It’s the head coach’s job to make sure the team is ready. We weren’t ready.”

“We need a better plan.”

“I believe in our guys. I believe we’ll come back here and go 1-1 in the first quarter of the season.”

“We’re gonna do everything we can to get back to 1-1 next week against Detroit.”

“You can’t pin it on any one group except for the head coach.”

“I gotta have our team more prepared to play football games”

-Chiefs head coach Todd Haley following the team’s 41-7 embarrassment to the Buffalo Bills.

My thoughts after the jump.

Haley said all the right things here. He took full responsibility for the way his team played, and he expressed confidence in the ability of his men.

Really, that is all Haley could do. I can fault him for not having his team ready to play, but I can’t fault him for the way he handled the loss. I know we all want a big explanation, something to make us feel better about what we witnessed today but the fact of the matter is, the explanation is simple:

The Chiefs weren’t ready and the Buffalo Bills were.

I think the Chiefs will improve as the season goes on. I really do. They have too much talent not to. Whether or not they will get things on track in time to make something of the season is anybody’s guess.

But if you are looking for someone to blame, look no farther than the head coach. Fair or not, when you are in charge, you are responsible. Haley got all the credit for last year’s success. He’ll also get the blame for this year’s failures.