Midway through the third quarter of the Chiefs’ humiliating loss to the New York Jets I decided I no longer wanted Todd Haley to be the head coach of my beloved Kansas City Chiefs.
Haley’s refusal to use Ricky Stanzi in yesterday’s blowout loss was absolutely irresponsible. The Jets have a very good defense and Haley was dealt a bad hand with injuries to Matt Cassel, Jamaal Charles and Tony Moeaki but the Chiefs had four total yards at halftime yesterday. Four.
This, for me, was a moment of truth for Haley. I said as much in the AA Radio mini-cast I recorded at halftime. What Haley needed to do in the second half of that game was crystal clear. He needed to send Ricky Stanzi into the game to see if the rookie could spark the offense.
The score was 28-3. The team’s playoff hopes were hanging in the balance. This was Todd Haley’s last chance to do something drastic to save the season.
And what did he do?
He sent Tyler Palko trotting back onto the football field while Ricky Stanzi stood on the sideline with a bewildered look on his face. In fact, every time I see Stanzi these days he has a bewildered look on his face.
Who can blame him?
Would Stanzi have played any better than Palko? Would he have led the Chiefs to an amazing comeback victory?
Maybe, maybe not. Thanks to Haley, we’ll never know.
Sure,the odds were long. The team was on the road. Stanzi’s a rookie. The Jets are pretty good.
Then again, maybe Stanzi’s presence sparks the offense. Maybe the Chiefs score a TD on his first drive and suddenly the game is 28-10. Maybe that makes the defense feel a little less hopeless. Maybe Brandon Flowers intercepts a Mark Sanchez pass and suddenly we have a 28-17 game midway through the third quarter. Maybe.
When Todd Haley stuck with Tyler Palko he flushed the team’s season down the toilet.
So what does Haley have to say for himself?
“We just felt that the way the game was, we didn’t think that would be a good position to put Ricky in,” Haley told reporters after the game.
“In a game like today where the score gets to where it was, I just don’t think that’s the best position to give someone their first action in the NFL on the road.”
Spare us, Todd.
Ricky Stanzi is a grown man getting paid lots of money to play in the NFL. He isn’t a china doll with a fragile psyche. There is never going to be an ideal time to put a rookie QB picked in the 5th round into the game. This is the NFL. Home, away, Jets or Jaguars, it’s hard to play QB. If Ricky Stanzi is made of such soft stuff that his entire career was going to be ruined by coming into the game on the road against the Jets, down 25, then he isn’t a guy KC fans want hanging around anyway.
Can you imagine how Stanzi must feel hearing crap like that from Todd Haley? What about the rest of the team? Do you think the players aren’t smart enough to look around the league to see a host of rookie QBs, including T.J. Yates, playing well in tough situations?
No. Haley’s reasoning was a crap answer and a poor attempt to try to glaze over a crap decision. It’s that simple.
I’m tired of Haley’s lack of common sense. I’m tired of his stubbornness. He started Corey Mays for a year over Derrick Johnson. He gave Thomas Jones more carries than Jamaal Charles. He failed to prepare his team for the 2011 NFL season. He cut Jared Gaither and keeps starting Barry Richardson.
And now he insists on starting a QB that clearly has no business being on an NFL roster.
Haley’s been given plenty of time and plenty of chances. If Tyler Palko trots out on the field on Sunday, the calls for Haley’s head are only going to get louder. Chiefs fans deserve better.
Not a soul that shows up to Arrowhead Stadium Sunday should be subjected to one more snap of Tyler Palko football.
Or another season of Todd Haley shenanigans.