The Kansas City Star reports Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley has decided Tyler Palko(notes) will be his starter Dec. 4 against the Chicago Bears. Yet he also told the publication that he will do whatever it takes to win the crucial game.

Haley also said that newly acquired Kyle Orton(notes) took about half of the snaps in practice this week in preparation for the next game. Despite his assertions, it appears Haley is having trouble deciding on which quarterback will be in the game against the Bears.

He may have a case of the Oakland Raiders on his hands. When Oakland lost Jason Campbell(notes) for the season due to a broken collarbone, the quarterback tandem of Carson Palmer(notes) and Kyle Boller(notes) managed six interceptions between them at home against the Chiefs. Palmer has since settled into the Raiders lineup after coming out of a self-imposed exile with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Palko will start for the third straight game. But Haley’s message is clear. Don’t be surprised if fans see Orton under center sometime against the Bears. It will be a matter of necessity and pragmatism for the Chiefs. If Orton can save the Chiefs’ season, so be it.

A loss means they may be out of an AFC West division title. With five games to go, Kansas City is behind Oakland by three games. Another loss, coupled with a win by the Raiders, will put them in a precarious position of being four games behind with four remaining on the schedule. Plus Kansas City also has the San Diego Chargers ahead of them in the standings. Overcoming a deficit to not one but two teams at this stage is going to take a turnaround of epic proportions.

The Haley plan for the the preseason failed in the first game. Then there was optimism when Kansas City won four games in a row. Then they returned to their losing ways with four straight defeats. A division title is not out of reach, but clearly more setbacks will make it more difficult.

How the Chiefs respond against the Bears, after coming so close to defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers a week earlier, will basically make or break the season. If Kansas City makes a game of it, at least fans can say the Chiefs improved on the year and did the best they could with so many injuries. If the Bears blowout KC, look for an interesting offseason full of changes.

William Browning is a fan of the Kansas City Chiefs after latching on to the team during the lean years of St. Louis football. Born in the gateway city, he is also a lifelong St. Louis Cardinals fan. He currently resides in Branson, Mo.

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.

By DAVE SKRETTA
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Todd Haley looked like a man who hasn’t gotten much sleep lately.

Sure, the Chiefs didn’t get home from a humbling 34-3 loss to New England until about 4 a.m. Tuesday, but that probably wasn’t the only reason he’s been awake at night. Kansas City has lost three straight in lopsided fashion, along with their starting quarterback for the season.

So it made sense that Haley’s eyes were a bit glazed over Tuesday afternoon, the strain of a 4-6 season evident in every syllable that came from his mouth.

“The game last night was disappointing,” Haley said after laboring through at least two reviews of the film. “The guys were let down. We went up there fully expecting to play our best and win the game, and get further back into this race, and it didn’t happen.”

Not by a long shot.

Behind the often unsteady guidance of Tyler Palko, who was pressed into his first NFL start after a hand injury to Matt Cassel, the Chiefs were unable to score a touchdown for the second time in the last three weeks. They yielded the final 34 points of the game to Tom Brady and the Patriots, despite hanging within 10-3 at halftime.

Everything unraveled in the second half, like it has so often this season. Julian Edelman returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown, Palko wound up throwing three interceptions — a couple were tipped — and Kansas City’s once-vaunted ground game again struggled.

Thomas Jones showed signs of emerging from his slump, carrying eight times for 48 yards, and Dexter McCluster and Jackie Battle also had bright moments. But without the game-changing ability of Jamaal Charles, one of several players lost for the season to injuries, the Chiefs were again unable to break the big play that turned into surprise touchdowns last season.

“It’s not a lot,” Haley said. “It’s just been little things that make a big difference.”

Things won’t get much easier for the Chiefs given their upcoming schedule. They host Pittsburgh on Sunday night before facing Chicago and the New York Jets in back-to-back weeks on the road. Then comes defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay, which could still be chasing perfection on Dec. 18.

Haley knows the schedule won’t be kind to Kansas City, and there’s nothing he can do about that. But he also knows he doesn’t have the luxury of thinking about anything besides beating the Steelers, a task that seems almost insurmountable given the way the last few weeks have gone.

“We’re in the mode of doing whatever we can to win games, and stay in this mix,” said Haley, whose team trails Oakland by two games in the AFC West. “We’re still in it if we can play consistently good football down the stretch, which we haven’t done the last three weeks.”

Haley said there were bright spots in reviewing the Patriots game, which he did twice on the plane ride home and likely a few more times once the team made it back to its training facility.

Offensive lineman Rodney Hudson, the Chiefs’ second-round draft pick, performed well in about 20 snaps that he played, and rookie defensive tackle Jerrell Powe was finally active for a game. Haley said there were times that he was disruptive up front, even if he struggled to finish plays.

Then there was the performance of Palko, the journeyman who was pressed into the most unenviable of debuts: Monday night on national television against the Patriots.

Palko wound up going 25 of 38 for 236 yards, and seemed to have a good grasp of what offensive coordinator Bill Muir was trying to accomplish. But he also threw three interceptions, which Haley went through in detail with Palko when they sat together on the plane ride home.

“I mean, you can’t run away from them. They’re interceptions,” Palko said after the game. “They were turnovers and you can’t run away from those things. You have to learn from them, but move forward as well. At the end of the day, you go back, watch the film, evaluate, and move forward. You can’t do anything about the past and obviously it was disappointing, but you can’t do anything about it.”

Haley said there’s a chance the Chiefs might bring in another quarterback soon, now that Cassel has officially been placed on injured reserve. But he maintained Tuesday that Palko is the starting quarterback, and that fifth-round draft pick Ricky Stanzi is still the No. 2.

“There’s been a bunch of discussions,” Haley said. “We feel good about where we are with Tyler and Ricky, but if there’s someone who can come in and help us, we’ll take a look.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 14 (UPI) — Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel’s hand injury is more serious than first thought and could end his season, Coach Todd Haley said Monday.

Cassel won’t be placed on the injured reserve list for now, but Haley said the injury was “significant” and could require surgery, The Kansas City Star reported.

Asked if Cassel was likely done for the year, the coach said, “I wouldn’t say it’s an absolute.”

The signal-caller hurt his throwing hand during Kansas City’s 17-10 loss to Denver Sunday, which dropped the Chiefs to 4-5.

Backup Tyler Palko, who has seen little action in his two years with the Chiefs, will take over behind center in Cassel’s absence.

“We feel good about Tyler, or he wouldn’t be here and he wouldn’t be our No. 2,” Haley told the Star. “In his case, there’s not a lot of regular season action to go on, but I feel like he’s done a great job while he’s been here of developing and getting better.”

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Good news for the Bears: Quarterback Matt Cassel of the Kansas City Chiefs, who visit Soldier Field on Dec. 4, could miss the remainder of the season after sustaining what coach Todd Haley is calling a “significant” injury to his throwing hand.

Haley refused to say Monday whether the team had discussed putting Cassel on injured reserve, but he did say “it’s a possibility” when asked whether Cassel would be done for the year.

“He will probably have to have surgery at some time,” Haley said. “The length of it, we’re not sure, but there’s some optimism. Each person it varies, but it’s a difficult injury.”

The Chiefs have already lost All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles, Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry, tight end Tony Moeaki and linebacker Brandon Siler to season-ending injuries.

Cassel hurt his right hand near the end of the Chiefs’ 17-10 loss to Denver on Sunday. The injury appeared to occur when Cassel was sacked by Elvis Dumervil and Von Miller, though Haley wasn’t sure if it was the hit or the way Cassel landed on the turf that caused it.

“This has been a fluid situation,” Haley said.

Tyler Palko played the final offensive series against Denver, leading the Chiefs to a field goal, even though Cassel said after the game that he wanted to play.

“I was a little banged up, so that’s what kept me out,” Cassel said, adding that he thought he’d be OK to play at New England next Monday night. “I wanted to go but I was told not to.”

The injury turned out to be more severe than anyone expected.

Palko was informed by quarterbacks coach Jim Zorn on Monday that he’ll likely get his first NFL start against the Patriots. Fifth-round draft choice Ricky Stanzi, who has been inactive all season, will become the backup, though Kansas City could sign a veteran free agent for some depth.

“I’m really close with Matt and we’ve been through a lot these last two years,” Palko said in the Chiefs’ mostly empty locker room Monday afternoon. “You hate to see anybody go down like this, but it’s football, and you just have to be ready.”

The Chiefs (4-5) are in a three-way tie with San Diego and Denver, all chasing the AFC West-leading Oakland Raiders (5-4). The Chiefs, however, have dropped two frustrating games in a row — 31-3 to the then-winless Dolphins and Sunday to the Broncos, both at Arrowhead Stadium.

It hasn’t helped that the Chiefs are missing several of their best players.

Siler went down in training camp with a torn Achilles tendon, not long after signing with Kansas City. Moeaki tore his left ACL in the Chiefs’ preseason finale, Berry sustained the same injury in the first quarter Week 1 against Buffalo, and Charles tore his left ACL early in Week 2 at Detroit.

“It’s crazy, man, just the game, the NFL, how the season is going,” fullback Le’Ron McClain said. “Whoever is next to step in has to step in and play, because the season’s going to continue.”

It’s not going to get any easier, either.

The Chiefs’ game at New England on Monday night starts perhaps the most grueling stretch any team will face this season. They return home to play Pittsburgh, and then visit Chicago and the New York Jets, before playing host to the Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers on Dec. 18.

It’s unclear whether Cassel will be available for any of those games.

Cassel, who signed a six-year, $63 million deal before the 2009 season, has struggled mightily all year, hurting his ribs early on and never quite playing up to the level he did last season.

He’s completing just 59.5 percent of his passes for 1,713 yards, with 10 touchdowns and nine interceptions. His quarterback rating of 76.6 is nearly 20 points below his rating last season, when he led the rebuilding Chiefs to a surprise AFC West championship.

Cassel was just 13 of 28 for 96 yards and a touchdown against Denver. He was sacked four times, one week after getting dropped five times, and spent most of the afternoon running away from the Broncos’ pass rush. Kansas City managed just 258 yards of total offense in the game.

A good chunk of that came when Palko came on for the Chiefs’ final series.

The journeyman quarterback signed with New Orleans as an undrafted free agent out of Pitt in 2007, and spent some time with the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers, along with playing in the CFL. He signed with the Chiefs last year and did enough to earn the backup job this season.

The son of a high school coach, Palko has only appeared in four regular-season NFL games.

“Tyler is the next in line, and he’s done a terrific job, like I said, of keeping himself ready,” Haley said. “That’s what the No. 2 quarterback has to do, because you don’t know. At a moment’s notice, you could be in there playing, just like any other position.”

For the record: Kansas City 4-4, three-way tie for first in AFC West; Denver 3-5, last in AFC West.

Sunday: The Chiefs’ four-game winning streak was snapped in embarrassing fashion with a 31-3 home loss to the previously winless Miami Dolphins.

Who’s hot: The Chiefs’ defensive back duo of corner Brandon Flowers and safety Kendrick Lewis has combined for seven interceptions this season. Flowers, who is tied for fourth in the NFL with four picks (three players are tied for first with five), had two against Oakland two weeks ago, while Lewis has had an interception in each of the Chiefs’ past three games.

Who’s not: Kansas City’s offensive line was shaky in Sunday’s loss to Miami, allowing the Dolphins to sack quarterback Matt Cassel five times. The Chiefs previously had allowed 13 sacks in seven games.

Key stat: The Chiefs have been blown out in three of their four losses. The combined score of those losses, to Buffalo, Detroit, San Diego and Miami, is 140-30.

FYI: The Broncos are 15-36 all time at Arrowhead Stadium. Denver’s last victory in Kansas City was on Dec. 6, 2009.

Coachspeak: “We’re a team that’s a work in progress in a number of different areas. All areas, really. There isn’t one area where we can say, ‘We’ve arrived and, boy, we don’t have to worry much about this.’ ” — Kansas City coach Todd Haley, to The Kansas City Star after his team’s 31-3 loss to Miami

Lindsay H. Jones, The Denver post

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)—The Kansas City Chiefs will never be confused with
the “Greatest Show on Turf,” not so long as Todd Haley is calling the shots.

The former wide receivers coach actually prefers a ground-based offense, as
evidenced by the way Kansas City led the league in rushing last season. But when
All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles(notes) went down with a season-ending injury, it
forced Haley to change his mentality ever so subtly.

With the emergence of rookie wide receiver Jonathan Baldwin(notes) over the past
two weeks, those subtle changes have become much more pronounced.

Baldwin hauled in a 39-yard touchdown catch in a 23-20 overtime win over San
Diego, and finished with five catches for 82 yards. It was only his second game
of 2011 after an altercation with a teammate during training camp resulted in a
thumb injury that had kept him out most of the season—but it was the first
sign that he may be exactly what Kansas City had hoped.

“I’m excited about Baldwin’s development,” Haley said this week. “I said
that even before he’d been out and had a chance to play, but again, a unique set
of circumstances and a position, for rookies, not always a slam dunk to come in
and be an easy go of it. A big stage Monday night—though he’s not perfect, he
has a lot of work to do—he showed some gumption in making some big plays.”

The Chiefs drafted Baldwin with the 26th overall selection in part because
they wanted a big target to complement Dwayne Bowe(notes), one of the breakout stars of
the league last season.

They added former Arizona Cardinals wide receiver Steve Breaston(notes) through
free agency, giving quarterback Matt Cassel(notes) a reliable threat down the middle of
the field. But when Charles went down with a season-ending injury, along with
pass-catching tight end Tony Moeaki(notes), the offense struggled to pick up first
downs—not to mention touchdowns—and the result was three straight losses.

Kansas City finally got on track against bottom-dwellers Minnesota and
Indianapolis, but Baldwin’s return coincided with the Chiefs going on the road
and beating Oakland a couple weeks ago.

He’s also a big reason the Chiefs knocked off San Diego on Monday night,
when Haley opened up the playbook and began taking some shots down field,
stretching the defense more than he has all season.

“The thing that you notice about Jonathan Baldwin is he’s so big. He’s a
big target and he’s a guy that can throw it up and go up and get it in different
areas,” Cassel said. “At the same time, he’s a guy that’s still learning this
offense and he’s still getting acclimated. This was only his second NFL game and
his first game was probably a little bit of shellshock.”

There are certainly moments when Baldwin looks like a rookie.

During the Chargers game, a pass from Cassel slipped right through his
fingers and into the hands of Eric Weddle(notes), one of his two interceptions. Baldwin
promptly told Cassel that he owed him one—a sure sign of maturity, Cassel
said.

“The main thing was just us getting the W. That was the main thing. We
played hard and to come up with the W, that was real big,” Baldwin said.
“That’s what everyone was focused on.”

It would have been easy for Baldwin to get left behind while his thumb was
in a cast. The former Pitt standout spent long days on an adjacent practice
field, toiling away on his own while the rest of the Chiefs went through
training camp. It was even more frustrating when the season began.

But Haley never gave Baldwin a chance to get down on himself. The
notoriously hard-to-please coach worked him as hard as anybody, and the results
have already shown up.

“He just wants the best out of everyone, you know? I respect that,”
Baldwin said. “He pushes his players because he wants to see everyone succeed.
You just have to take it like that.”

Baldwin has taken a team-first approach to answering any question about his
play this season, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The Chiefs have grown
together, he said, despite the bumps and bruises they’ve sustained along the way
this season.

With a victory over the winless Dolphins on Sunday, the Chiefs will be on
their longest winning streak in eight years, and remain at the very least tied
atop the AFC West.

“With how we began this year, you know, I think our guys at least
understand that we put ourselves in a hole that eliminated our margin for
error,” Haley said, “and we just have to continually talk about it and coach
better each and every day.”

KANSAS CITY — Todd Haley wouldn’t have changed the Kansas City Chiefs’ bye week for any other point this season. Not any sooner, not any later.He’ll find out in a hurry whether it truly came at the right time.The Chiefs were among the teams with an early bye for the second straight year, getting a week off after just five games. The first two were blowout losses to Buffalo and Detroit, but the Chiefs had shown encouraging signs in a narrow loss to San Diego and two straight wins.It was enough momentum for many to assume the Chiefs would just as soon keep playing, rather than sit around watching the Oakland Raiders, the team they’ll play next Sunday.“I do know from a number of guys that the bye came at the right time, as far as feeling a little better physically,” Haley said before a light walkthrough Monday. “I wouldn’t have pushed the bye to some other time if we were given the option.”The Chiefs carried a similar bit of positive feeling into last year’s week off, when they were riding high after three straight wins to start the season.Kansas City came back and lost 19-9 in a lackluster performance at Indianapolis, then lost 35-31 at Houston. The Chiefs also lost twice more in the next four weeks before figuring things out in time to rattle off three straight wins and eventually wrap up the AFC West title.Haley said the approach to the bye week changed slightly from last year, though he wouldn’t go into great detail. Some of that had to do with new rules in the collective bargaining agreement that requires teams to ensure players get four consecutive days off, two of which must be the weekend.After a light walkthrough Monday, Haley said the Chiefs would get back to their normal routine.“Last year we came out of the bye and went and played a real good Indianapolis team and felt like we had multiple opportunities to win that game,” Haley said. “I don’t know if the bye week had something to do with that. I felt very good about the way we prepared.”Like most teams, the biggest advantage of the bye week was a chance to get healthy.The Chiefs had been forced to adapt on the fly after losing tight end Tony Moeaki, Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry and All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles in successive weeks. Their respective replacements each bring a different set of skills to the field, so the coaching staff has been spending about as much time adapting to their own personnel as they’ve spent worrying about the other team.The week off gave the Chiefs a better chance to assess Jackie Battle at running back, Sabby Piscitelli and Jon McGraw at safety, and whether Leonard Pope and Jake O’Connell can give the Chiefs any kind of pass-catching ability out of the tight end position.“I feel like we know a lot more about our team, which is normal,” Haley said. “You have five games under your belt and we were able to do a bunch of research and study internally.”That’s what the coaches did. Most of the players skipped town, some heading to their alma maters to watch some college football and others simply heading home for the long weekend.“It’s always good to get away,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said, “get your head out of football a little bit. I was traveling back Sunday and didn’t see much football at all.”That was the case for cornerback Brandon Flowers, too.But both players acknowledged that the focus is back on the field, and that starts with Sunday’s game against the Raiders. It’s an important matchup against a division rival, one that could go a long way toward deciding the wide open AFC West.The Raiders will be without quarterback Jason Campbell, who broke his collarbone in the first half of their 24-17 victory over Cleveland on Sunday. Kyle Boller replaced him but struggled against the Browns, and the only other QB on their roster is Terrelle Pryor, who was officially activated Monday after a five-game suspension and one-week roster exemption.Flowers said none of that really matters.“This is a pivotal game for us,” he said. “We have to approach it as a pivotal game.”

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP)—Todd Haley wouldn’t have changed the Kansas City
Chiefs’ bye week for any other point this season. Not any sooner, not any later.

He’ll find out in a hurry whether it truly came at the right time.

The Chiefs were among the teams with an early bye for the second straight
year, getting a week off after just five games. The first two were blowout
losses to Buffalo and Detroit, but the Chiefs had shown encouraging signs in a
narrow loss to San Diego and two straight wins.

It was enough momentum for many to assume the Chiefs would just as soon keep
playing, rather than sit around watching the Oakland Raiders, the team they’ll
play next Sunday.

“I do know from a number of guys that the bye came at the right time, as
far as feeling a little better physically,” Haley said before a light
walkthrough Monday. “I wouldn’t have pushed the bye to some other time if we
were given the option.”

The Chiefs carried a similar bit of positive feeling into last year’s week
off, when they were riding high after three straight wins to start the season.

Kansas City came back and lost 19-9 in a lackluster performance at
Indianapolis, then lost 35-31 at Houston. The Chiefs also lost twice more in the
next four weeks before figuring things out in time to rattle off three straight
wins and eventually wrap up the AFC West title.

Haley said the approach to the bye week changed slightly from last year,
though he wouldn’t go into great detail. Some of that had to do with new rules
in the collective bargaining agreement that requires teams to ensure players get
four consecutive days off, two of which must be the weekend.

After a light walkthrough Monday, Haley said the Chiefs would get back to
their normal routine.

“Last year we came out of the bye and went and played a real good
Indianapolis team and felt like we had multiple opportunities to win that
game,” Haley said. “I don’t know if the bye week had something to do with
that. I felt very good about the way we prepared.”

Like most teams, the biggest advantage of the bye week was a chance to get
healthy.

The Chiefs had been forced to adapt on the fly after losing tight end Tony
Moeaki(notes), Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry(notes) and All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles(notes) in
successive weeks. Their respective replacements each bring a different set of
skills to the field, so the coaching staff has been spending about as much time
adapting to their own personnel as they’ve spent worrying about the other team.

The week off gave the Chiefs a better chance to assess Jackie Battle(notes) at
running back, Sabby Piscitelli(notes) and Jon McGraw(notes) at safety, and whether Leonard
Pope(notes) and Jake O’Connell(notes) can give the Chiefs any kind of pass-catching ability
out of the tight end position.

“I feel like we know a lot more about our team, which is normal,” Haley
said. “You have five games under your belt and we were able to do a bunch of
research and study internally.”

That’s what the coaches did. Most of the players skipped town, some heading
to their alma maters to watch some college football and others simply heading
home for the long weekend.

“It’s always good to get away,” linebacker Derrick Johnson said, “get
your head out of football a little bit. I was traveling back Sunday and didn’t
see much football at all.”

That was the case for cornerback Brandon Flowers(notes), too.

But both players acknowledged that the focus is back on the field, and that
starts with Sunday’s game against the Raiders. It’s an important matchup against
a division rival, one that could go a long way toward deciding the wide open AFC
West.

The Raiders will be without quarterback Jason Campbell(notes), who broke his
collarbone in the first half of their 24-17 victory over Cleveland on Sunday.
Kyle Boller(notes) replaced him but struggled against the Browns, and the only other QB
on their roster is Terrelle Pryor(notes), who was officially activated Monday after a
five-game suspension and one-week roster exemption.

Flowers said none of that really matters.

“This is a pivotal game for us,” he said. “We have to approach it as a
pivotal game.”

By Matt Conner

– Editor

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Oct 14, 2011 – For a team that’s supposed to be New England West, there sure are a lot of fires with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Books have been written about the tight-lipped Patriot Way in which sportswriters are shunned and there are no such things as “sources.” The Pats, under Bill Belichick’s thumb, can make moves like signing Chad Ochocinco or trading for Randy Moss, and they come as complete surprises. If someone’s a clubhouse cancer, even a Stage One variety, they’re quickly disposed of and the leadership culture in New England is enviable enough that numerous teams have lined up to pluck something — anything — from the Patriots tree. The moves don’t always work, but that doesn’t stop franchises from trying again and again to strike gold with one of Belichick’s disciples. 

But for every Charlie Weis, Romeo Crennel, Thomas Dimitroff or Josh McDaniels that leaves New England, it’s clear the ultimate catch was Scott Pioli. Numerous organizations tried year after year to even gain a platform to discuss a job offer and year after year those overtures were ignored or politely declined. After years of Carl Peterson’s reign in KC, everyone was suddenly high on Chiefs’ football and believed that if anyone would be successful away from NE, it would be Pioli.

From the beginning, it was clear that the buddy system of the past would be ignored and that a new disposition was in place in KC. Jason Whitlock quickly resorted to namecalling (Scott Egoli somehow seemed clever enough to repeat again and again) and reporters in general were shut out. The idea was to dispel both the good and the bad in the name of control. Pioli believed in a tight ship and, since it worked before, there was good reason to do so.

From the beginning, it was tested. Brian Waters came to Arrowhead Drive in the offseason and apparently demanded a trade after Pioli reportedly denied his request to meet with the new Chiefs GM. Pioli’s tenure also began with the firing of Herm Edwards (as expected) and his head coach of choice was Todd Haley, then offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl losing Arizona Cardinals. Immediately some drama began as former players discussed Haley’s emotional, passionate manner and questioned his maturity to handle the position.

Yet winning, as they say, solves everything and that became true in 2010 as the Chiefs wowed everyone to win a surprising AFC West crown and host their first playoff game in seven seasons. Haley was praised, Pioli was lauded and the Chiefs were suddenly a hot commodity with a dynamic, athletic young core of players bound for future glory. Pioli had truly succeeded in establishing New England West.

But this year has featured the complete opposite of last year. Just as winning solves everything, a team that’s losing makes everyone question every aspect of the program in place. The focus of the draft went from high character leaders to immature yet unquestionably talented problems. Those are, of course, gross generalizations of entire draft classes, but those headlines were common just five months ago after the 2011 NFL Draft.

Months later, those headlines served as ominous predictions when news broke about an alleged locker room fight between Jonathan Baldwin, the team’s first round choice out of Pitt, and veteran leader Thomas Jones. The Chiefs tried to keep it under the radar, labeling it “family issues,” but what was clear was that something was amiss — moving beyond typical training camp scuffles that come with intense competition and time together. Instead, it was a sign of things to come.

In between was rumors of familial fighting among coaches/coordinators with the exit of Charlie Weis and possible fights between offensive egos. There was also the handshake snub. In and of themselves, none of these issues — Waters’ complaining, Haley-Weis, Handshakegate — would be a big deal. Put together and they create a series of flash fires that won’t quite go away under Pioli’s rule. Simply put, the Chiefs have been unable to completely snuff out the drama.

The latest musings, however, are beyond anything the Kansas City Chiefs have seen so far and given the frustration with the season so far — even after two wins — it certainly shows that there’s likely a larger fire blazing behind any curtain the team would want to put over it. With the rumor today emerging from 610 Sports’ Nick Wright that Scott Pioli wanted to fire Todd Haley had he lost to the Colts, the drama has now engulfed the locker room. In other words, it’s larger than the winning at this point.

Positive momentum should dispel the rumors, but it’s clear something is at work here. Just a few weeks ago, Yahoo! Sports’ Mike Silver posted that the worst kept secret in Kansas City was the tension between the general manager and his head coach. It even led to some prognostication of “who’s next?” and some to wonder if Josh McDaniels would be coming soon. Haley defended himself at that point, but Pioli remained silent. Then after winning two games, the flames died down and the smoke went away.

But Wright’s rumor has sparked things again at a point in the Bye Week where everyone is looking for a story. Typically this me-first form of journalism could typically be ignored given its sensationalism, but credit goes to Wright for breaking the Baldwin-Jones fight earlier in the year and it’s clear there’s already been others pointing to the tension this season. It’s impossible to say what’s going on for certain given the level of drama surrounding the Chiefs, but there’s at least something going on there and that’s enough to make you wonder how they got here in the first place.

If anything, two conclusions can be drawn from this entire scenario as it unfolds. First, this is clearly not the atmosphere that Pioli envisioned when coming to Kansas City. Maybe that’s behind some of the Haley drama. Maybe not. But either way, it’s clear that the focus on anything but preparing for the next football game on the Chiefs schedule is antithetical to anything the team’s brass would like to see.

Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, it goes to show that even the Patriots Way is as fragile as any other philosophy about running a football team. In the NFL, it all comes down to winning and losing. And whether a team wants things controlled or loose, mechanical or laissez-faire, 3-4 or 4-3, it all comes down to a team’s record. Nothing else, not even the Patriot way, qualifies a team as successful or not.

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Todd Haley’s two-plus-year tenure in Kansas City has been nothing if not tumultuous. The Chiefs coach landed squarely on the hot season this season, after his defending AFC West champion team started 0-3.

And Haley nearly found himself on the unemployment line, according to a report by Nick Wright, who tweeted Wednesday that “Multiple Chiefs personnel told me Scott Pioli had decided to fire Todd Haley had the Chiefs lost to the Colts on Sunday.”

Wright’s the one who broke the news this preseason that rookie K.C. receiver Jonathan Baldwin had injured his wrist in a locker-room fight with Thomas Jones.

Kansas City trailed the winless Colts 17-7 before rallying to capture a 28-24 win.

Everything including Haley’s record has been topsy-turvy since he became the Chiefs’ head coach prior to the 2009 season. K.C. finished Haley’s first year 4-12, turned that to 10-6 and a division title last season, then struggled out of the gate in 2011.

The drama continued this preseason, with the fight between Jones and Baldwin, and Haley’s controversial decision to extend his starters’ playing time during the fourth and final preseason game — a move that resulted in a season-ending ACL injury for TE Tony Moeaki and a rib injury for QB Matt Cassel.

Haley and Cassel then appeared to get into an argument during Kansas City’s Week 4 game against Minnesota.

Neither Haley nor his team has been helped by a knee injury to star running back Jamaal Charles, which he suffered in an embarrassing 48-3 Week 2 loss in Detroit. The Chiefs also lost star safety Eric Berry to a knee injury, that one occurring during a 41-7 Week 1 loss to Buffalo.

Partially because of those injuries, the Chiefs have big problems — Kansas City is 30th in the league in points scored at 15.4 per game, a terrible number on its own, and doubly bad when you consider that no team in the NFL has allowed more points than the Chiefs (150).

If Kansas City was going to go in a different direction with its head coaching spot, this might have been the week to do it — the Chiefs have a Week 6 bye, and on the rare occasion a head coach is relieved of his duties in season, it often happens when a team has those extra days to prepare for its next game.

How long Haley lasts as the Chiefs’ head coach going forward could depend — especially in light of Wednesday’s report — on what Kansas City does in Week 7 and beyond.

The Chiefs have a chance to turn this up-turn into a streak, with a road game in Oakland, followed by three straight at home (San Diego, Miami and Denver). Even going 3-1 there would give Kansas City some hope of making a run again in the AFC West.

But is this team capable of a spurt like that? Only playing now 1-4 Minnesota and winless Indianapolis back-to-back kept the Chiefs from falling even further behind in the division. And neither of those wins came easy — the Chiefs had to fight off a late Vikings charge in Week 4, then come from behind in Week 5.

Whether or not that tiny bit of momentum is enough to carry Haley’s Chiefs through a bye week remains to be seen.

If it’s not, then Haley might find himself looking for a new gig come 2012.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Todd Haley’s team was floundering. The Kansas City Chiefs hadn’t won a game, and even though players insisted morale was fine, it was awfully hard to believe them.

Their head coach got to thinking about ways to loosen them up, something that might create some team unity. His mind drifted to summer vacations along the beach in Ocean City, Md., and a simple game played at just about every bar and honky-tonk along the boardwalk.

It’s called “cornhole,” or “bags,” depending on where you live.

The premise is simple: Two pieces of lumber are situated exactly 33 feet apart, with a hole drilled in each, and players try to lob four bean bags through the hole. You get three points for making it and one for landing the bag on the board, and the player with the most points wins.

“We bought one at an auction this summer for a kid who was in an accident, and it was just painted up really nice, it had the name of the place we go to eat all the time,” Haley said. “So when I started thinking about this, I called my wife. She called the people who owned the place and said, `Can we get one that says Chiefs?’ He had it here like, three days later.

“We’ve been trying to figure out ways to create some togetherness,” Haley said. “It’s been great, another way to keep guys hanging around and interacting with each other.”

Must be working, too.

Ever since the white playing boards with the Chiefs’ logo showed up in the locker room, on the carpet right smack in the middle of it, Kansas City hasn’t lost a game. True, the two wins were over struggling teams in Minnesota and Indianapolis, but that doesn’t change the fact that the mood has changed dramatically the last couple of weeks as the Chiefs head into their bye week.

Tension is gone. Chins are held higher. Smiles flow a little more freely.

The defending AFC West champions lost their first two games by a combined 89-10, one of the most dismal starts the league has ever seen. But despite losing a constellation of star players to season-ending injuries, the Chiefs are once again playing with some swagger.

It’s the same swagger that’s showing up in the locker room after ever practice.

That’s when the competitive juices really start flowing.

“When you want to beat the best, you come see me,” said defensive back Travis Daniels, who has quite the cornhole rivalry going with wide receiver Steve Breaston.

“It’s all in how you throw it. I sort of short-stroke it and it pops up there,” rookie wide receiver Jon Baldwin said. “We’ve been playing a few weeks now and we’re getting pretty good at it.”

Just how seriously do the Chiefs take their cornhole? There’s white athletic tape on the carpet to denote boundaries, the distance between the boards was measured exactly, and everything is done to the exact specifications of the American Cornhole Association – yes, it really does exist.

“We Googled it,” Haley said.

The third-year head coach said he can hold his own, and Daniels admitted he’s “pretty good.”

“But he can’t beat me,” Daniels added.

The consensus is that long snapper Thomas Gafford or kicker Ryan Succop is the best.

Must be something about those special teams guys, always over on the adjacent practice field, with all that extra time to kill while the rest of the guys are hard at work.

“I don’t know who’s the best,” linebacker Andy Studebaker said. “Don’t give it to Gafford. That’ll puff his head up too much. He’ll see your article and think he’s the best.

“Give it to Succop,” Studebaker said. “He’s pretty good.”

According to Succop, it’s all in the motion.

Safety Sabby Piscitelli throws the bags end-over-end, and they tend to hit hard and slide off the board. Others toss them like they’re shooting a jumpshot in basketball, and that makes it difficult to find some consistency. Still others throw them underhanded with sideways spin.

Succop takes a small step forward, drawing his arm back breezily, and then lets the bag fly with a gentle follow-through. It floats through the air with hardly any spin, and it falls with a thump on the board, sticking right where it lands.

“We’ve got some guys who are pretty good at it,” Haley said. “Gafford is good, Succop is pretty good. It’s been a lot of fun. I’m actually going to get two more. The lines get too big.”

Of course, the game won’t be considered such a novel, team-building diversion if the Chiefs start losing. Then it’ll be blamed for being a mindless distraction.

“Winning helps that,” Haley said with a smile. “Had we not been winning, I think they might be being used as firewood already.”

The Chiefs have won two straight games (one more and it’s a streak!), and although they weren’t against the NFL’s premier opposition, it’s pretty impressive given the way the season began. Even if it’s unfortunate for the “Suck for Luck” faction of Chiefs fans. So NFL.com asked the team what’s behind Kansas City’s turnaround. The team credited … cornhole.

For the uninitiated, cornhole is a yard game with two wooden ramps, each with a hole cut out, and teams of two players each attempt to toss beanbags through the hole, to land on the ramp or knock the opposition’s bags off the ramp. My Ohio-bred brother-in-law introduced my family to the game a couple of years ago. Although I admit to lacking coordination, it’s not as easy it sounds or looks. But it’s pretty freaking entertaining. Especially with beer.

The NFL reports that coach Todd Haley got the club hooked on playing the game in the locker room, and it has helped players gel. It sounds like an odd thing for a team of burly football players to bond over. But it sure beats getting the team to play dangerous army-ranger games together. That can end badly. It’s fine if Haley and his players want to credit a backyard party game for getting their season back on track, but they’ve been playing since just after week two, and lost in week three. They haven’t lost since the Haley-Matt Cassel sideline dust-up in week four. It’s clear. Screaming fixes everything.

By Matt Conner

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Oct 5, 2011 – Todd Haley has his fans. He also has his detractors. Given the current record of the Chiefs at 1-3, it’s natural for blame to be passed around and for fingers to start pointing. Unfortunately for Haley, many of the fingers have pointed at him as the cause for many of Kansas City’s issues one quarter of the way through a miserable season.

Mike Lombardi of the NFL Network is the latest to take a shot at Haley as he specifically comments on the coach’s emotional approach to the game. It was no secret that Haley would get in the face of his players, even as an assistant coach. But Lombardi thinks that Haley is ‘wearing thin’ on general manager Scott Pioli and says that Haley’s approach is the opposite of what Pioli wants.

He writes, “This is Haley’s third season as the Chiefs coach — you would think he would have learned to handle his emotions and realize that the opponent is not on his sideline, but rather across the field. The more Haley screams, especially on Sunday when it embarrasses the players, the faster he is going to lose their attention and their will to play hard. If that happens, he will lose his team.”

He also goes on to say that he feels bad for Pioli and that Haley acted like a “maniac” on Sunday in Haley’s confrontation on the sidelines with Matt Cassel, the Chiefs quarterback. Interestingly enough, the Kansas City Star’s Kent Babb wrote up a feature today saying that Haley’s in-your-face style brings out the best in players, like it or not, and has quotes from Kurt Warner attributing his late career success to Haley pushing him to be better — emotional or not.

There’s no formula here, despite what Lombardi says, and it’s easy to spin things one way or another. There’s only one thing that will push Todd Haley out of Kansas City and that’s if the Chiefs continue to win or lose. The emotions are a distraction to focus on, because if the Chiefs were 3-1, it would be because of their fiery coach.

Read More: Matt Cassel (QB – KAN), Kurt Warner (QB – ARI), Kansas City Chiefs

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Pope was given a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for taking his helmet off while still on the field. The defense ultimately held, giving Kansas City a chance to win in the closing minutes, but the mental mistake demonstrated a frustrating trend that developed in a 20-17 loss.

For the first time all season, the Chiefs did some things that gave coaches, players and fans reasons to be hopeful. And then they did something moments later to dash that optimism.

“Shooting ourselves in our foot,” fullback Le’Ron McClain said, repeating the old cliché that rings especially true for the defending AFC West champs, who are off to an 0-3 start.

It wasn’t just penalties, though there were certainly plenty of those. But injuries, missed field goals, defensive letdowns and an inability to punch the ball into the end zone after solid, sustained drives all conspired on several occasions to turn positives into negatives.

Kansas City didn’t manage a single first down in the first half against San Diego, gaining all of 34 yards, but came out of the break and held the Chargers to a three-and-out. It gave the Chiefs the ball across midfield and they managed to go the rest of the way for a touchdown.

Rather than make a stand on defense, though, the Chargers marched 80 yards in less than 4 minutes for an answering touchdown, negating any momentum Kansas City built.

On the Chiefs’ ensuing possession, they put together a 21-play drive — if you count penalties — that even impressed coach Todd Haley. But the drive ended when, on third-and-11 from the 18, a run by Thomas Jones up the middle gained just 3 yards and Ryan Succop had to trot onto the field for a field goal. It was a minor letdown after the offense had finally found its rhythm.

“I’ve never been a part of a 21-play drive,” Haley said, “and that was a very positive thing, despite the penalties and only getting three points out of it.”

The Chargers’ defense was worn down and the momentum was swinging back toward the Chiefs, but the defense again couldn’t make a stand. San Diego put together a drive of its own for a matching field goal, giving its own defense a chance to rest while restoring a 10-point lead.

“The defense is very aware after a drive like that, we have a chance to put our offense out against a defense that appeared tired, down on a knee and things like that, and our defense went out and fully intended to get that three-and-out and just pressed a bit,” Haley said.

The list of positives dulled by negatives goes on and on.

Kendrick Lewis picked off Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers in the first quarter to give Kansas City prime field position. Unable to move the ball, the Chiefs settled for a 38-year field goal try that Succop missed wide right.

“Everyone in the locker room is counting on those points,” Succop said.

Later in the half, Brandon Flowers picked off Rivers and returned the ball 43 yards to give Kansas City excellent field position. The young starting cornerback was slow to get up after the play, though, and Flowers didn’t return to the game — even though Haley said he tried.

Flowers said afterward he hurt his ankle on the return and that an injection didn’t do a whole lot to numb the pain. His status for next week’s game against Minnesota is in question.

“He made a big play for us and unfortunately couldn’t continue,” said Haley, who hopes to know whether Flowers will be available for the Vikings later in the week. “I had to drag him off the field once. Our trainers are over helping someone else and I had to drag him off the field.”

The fact Flowers wanted to play through the pain proves how much everyone on the sideline still cares, Haley said. The Chiefs may be winless through three weeks, including a pair of ugly losses to start the season, but there are signs of hope for the first time all year.

Even if most of them have been obscured by misfortune.

“We just need to get over the hump and play Chiefs football,” McClain said. “We’ll be OK.”

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