PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Steelers have named Todd Haley their new offensive co-ordinator.

Haley, 45, will replace Bruce Arians, now with the Indianapolis Colts, and will inherit an offence that scored 325 points last season en route to finishing 12-4.

Haley was fired by Kansas City on Dec. 13, after going 19-26 in two-plus seasons with the Chiefs, leading them to the 2010 AFC West title.

He spent 10 seasons as an assistant before being hired by Kansas City. He was offensive co-ordinator for Arizona in 2007-08, helping lead the Cardinals to their only Super Bowl appearance. And he is the son of Dick Haley, who spent 44 seasons in the NFL including serving as the Steelers’ director of player personnel from 1971-90.

The Steelers lost the AFC North title to Baltimore on a tiebreaker, and were eliminated from the post-season by Denver.

“I am excited about the opportunity to come back home and work for a tremendous organization,” Haley said. “It is an honour to work with the Rooney family and coach (Mike) Tomlin and continue the success that has become synonymous with the Steelers. My father has so many fond memories both from his playing days and his time in the personnel department with the team, and I look forward to helping bring more championships to Pittsburgh and to being a part of one of the storied franchises in the NFL.”

The Chiefs were 5-8 when Haley was dismissed. His last game was a tough one. Kansas City lost, 37-10, to the New York Jets at the Meadowlands, and it was their fifth loss in six games. Kansas City committed 11 penalties for 128 yards in the performance, including a 15-yarder on Haley for unsportsmanlike conduct that may have sealed his fate.

The next day, he was fired.

“Timing in these situations is always difficult. There never seems to be a right time,” Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said at the time. “We just felt the inconsistent play the team has experienced throughout the season, including yesterday’s game, made today the right day to do it.”

After three lopsided losses to start the season, Kansas City rattled off four straight wins and briefly pulled into a tie atop the AFC West. But that was followed by a home loss to previously winless Miami, the start of a disastrous six weeks in which the losses mounted.

“We’ve had one of those years where we’ve had injuries, and injuries to key players, but that’s typical in the National Football League,” Hunt said then. “As a team, you have to find a way to overcome that, and we just weren’t able to do that this year. Our play was up and down the entire season and at times it was up and down during a given game, and I think those contributed to our decision.”

Less than a year before he was fired, Haley led the Chiefs to the greatest single-season turnaround in franchise history, winning the division title by recording six more victories than in 2009.

Without a bye, the Steelers had to play a road game at Denver to open the post-season. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw for 289 yards and a touchdown, but the Steelers fell to the Broncos, 29-23, in overtime.

Under Arians, Pittsburgh had a good year offensively. Roethlisberger threw for 4,077 yards, Mike Wallace had 1,193 receiving yards, and Rashard Mendenhall had 928 rushing yards. Arians was the Colts’ quarterbacks coach during Peyton Manning’s first three seasons, and was Pittsburgh’s offensive co-ordinator the last five seasons.

Most NFL coaches don’t stay unemployed for long. The Associated Press reports former Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach Todd Haley, who was fired in mid-December, has interviewed for the offensive coordinator job with the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers finished 12th in the NFL in yards and 21st in points scored. The Chiefs were even worse on offense. They were 31st in points scored and 27th in total yards.

The Arizona Republic reported in mid-January that a return to Haley’s old staff with the Arizona Cardinals seemed doubtful. Head coach Ken Whisenhunt is happy with his offensive coordinator and Haley would have to start lower on the totem pole in Phoenix. He was the offensive coordinator in Arizona until he was hired by the Chiefs as a head coach.

The Haley saga continues. He lasted less than three seasons in Kansas City as a head coach. All of the head coaching positions are filled. Now he seems to be going around to different teams seeking a job on the offensive side of the ball.

Teams’ unwillingness to hire Haley may stem from several reasons. First is that new head coaches need a few weeks to settle in. Then the hiring process takes time to whittle down candidates from applicants to interviewees to finalists. Another reason may just be that Haley’s last team on offense was one of the NFL’s worst. Kansas City scored just 13.3 points per game and traveled just 310.8 yards per game.

Yet Haley’s dynamic may change when he’s back at being an offensive coordinator. He only has to worry about one side of the ball and not two as a head coach. There is only one unit Haley needs to rely upon instead of three (including special teams). Some coaches do just fine as lifetime coordinators and never make it to the head coaching ranks.

In short, Haley seems to have been given a valuable life lesson about knowing his limitations. He may eventually work his way into another NFL head coaching job, but only after he spends a few more years soul searching as an offensive coordinator.

There’s nothing wrong with that.

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.

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January 31, 2012

The Pittsburgh Steelers have interviewed former Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley for the team’s vacant offensive coordinator position.

Haley, fired by the Chiefs in December, met with Pittsburgh
coach Mike Tomlin on Tuesday.

The Steelers need to replace Bruce Arians, who was not retained.
Arians was hired to the same position by the Indianapolis Colts on
Monday. Pittsburgh finished 12th in the NFL in yards in 2011 but
just 21st in points scored.

The 45-year-old Haley went 19-26 in two-plus seasons with the
Chiefs, leading them to the 2010 AFC West title.

Haley spent 10 seasons as an assistant before being hired by
Kansas City. He was offensive coordinator for Arizona in 2007-08,
helping lead the Cardinals to their only Super Bowl appearance.

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers have interviewed former Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley for the team’s vacant offensive coordinator position.

Haley, fired by the Chiefs in December, met with Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin on Tuesday.

The Steelers need to replace Bruce Arians, who was not retained. Arians was hired to the same position by the Indianapolis Colts on Monday. Pittsburgh finished 12th in the NFL in yards in 2011 but just 21st in points scored.

The 45-year-old Haley went 19-26 in two-plus seasons with the Chiefs, leading them to the 2010 AFC West title.

Haley spent 10 seasons as an assistant before being hired by Kansas City. He was offensive coordinator for Arizona in 2007-08, helping lead the Cardinals to their only Super Bowl appearance.

PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Pittsburgh Steelers have interviewed former Kansas
City Chiefs coach Todd Haley for the team’s vacant offensive coordinator
position.

Haley, fired by the Chiefs in December, met with Pittsburgh coach Mike
Tomlin on Tuesday.

The Steelers need to replace Bruce Arians, who was not retained. Arians was
hired to the same position by the Indianapolis Colts on Monday. Pittsburgh
finished 12th in the NFL in yards in 2011 but just 21st in points scored.

The 45-year-old Haley went 19-26 in two-plus seasons with the Chiefs,
leading them to the 2010 AFC West title.

Haley spent 10 seasons as an assistant before being hired by Kansas City. He
was offensive coordinator for Arizona in 2007-08, helping lead the Cardinals to
their only Super Bowl appearance.

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Newly-hired Kansas City Chiefs’ head coach Romeo Crennel told the team’s official website his offseason has been busy. Recently, he noted all of the attention he was getting at the 2012 Senior Bowl. Many people were shaking his hand in congratulations when there were spare moments.

The reason for all the fuss? Crennel still has some coaching positions to fill.

Crennel stated on the day he was hired that he will keep his defensive staff intact, largely because Crennel himself was the defensive coordinator and will call the defensive plays in 2012. But the offense still needs some tweaking in the coaching department.

The defense was the pride of the Chiefs in 2011. The defensive side of the ball held the Pittsburgh Steelers to just 13 points in a losing cause. The Denver Broncos just got three points on the final day of the season in Colorado. On a good day when the offense came alive, the Chiefs were responsible for the only regular season loss of the Green Bay Packers.

The offense is in need of a few good men to make that unit better. A new offensive coordinator would be nice. An improving Matt Cassel or Kyle Oroton is also a must. Something that can be cured by the draft would be some great offensive linemen. The Chiefs will pick 11th in the 2012 NFL Draft to be held in late April.

While Crennel is in Mobile, Ala., for the Senior Bowl for a week. He’s been finalizing lists of candidates for the jobs he wants. The new head coach plans announcements sometime in the next week in order to keep fans abreast of any hires.

The Chiefs finished 7-9 in 2011. The team fired Todd Haley as head coach with three games before the end of the season. Kansas City was a streaky team losing three games, winning four, losing another four before alternating wins and losses the final five weeks of the season.

The Chiefs ended up one victory away from winning the AFC West title before faltering in the last two weeks. The next season should be an improvement as the Chiefs will have many players recovering from major injuries.

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.

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ESPN reports the Kansas City Chiefs are on the verge of hiring Romeo Crennel as the team’s next head coach. He has been in that position as an interim capacity ever since Todd Haley was relieved of coaching duties in mid-December after a disappointing loss to the New York Jets. Despite interviewing other candidates such as Jeff Fisher and Jack Del Rio, the Chiefs may have already had their man in-house.

Crennel would come into the job with previous head coaching experience. He helmed the Cleveland Browns from 2005 to 2008. He amassed 24-40 record in Cleveland, earning a 10-6 record in 2007, but Crennel failed to lead Cleveland to the playoffs.

He formerly held the job of defensive coordinator with the Chiefs. The defense was the cornerstone of Kansas City’s play this year as the offense sputtered. The unit held the Pittsburgh Steelers to just 13 points back on Nov. 27. They also kept the Green Bay Packers to just 14 points in their only loss of the season to this point.

Crennel is also well-liked. Players joked with him and were all smiles after the victory against the Packers. Had Kansas City won their game against the Oakland Raiders late in the season, they would be hosting the Steelers as opposed to the Denver Broncos.

Two other things helped. Both sides of the ball improved under Crennel’s leadership, not just the defense. The on-field intensity and enjoyment of playing the game of football was apparent when Kansas City took the field for Crennel. His 2-1 record also speaks volumes to general manager Scott Pioli. Positive attitudes are great, but when that translates to victories then the people that write paychecks take notice in professional sports.

Hiring Crennel is an excellent choice. He’s already familiar with the players and upper management. Clearly the defense liked playing with him as players stepped up to fill voids left by injuries.

Crennel’s time as head coach won’t be easy to start the season. He will have a potential quarterback controversy on his hands when Matt Cassel returns from his hand injury. Kyle Orton started the last three games of the year. He had a game of 299 yards passing and 300 yards passing, both of which were season-highs for the club.

Nothing is official as of yet. The Chiefs’ website states when the team is ready to announce a new head coach, a press conference will be scheduled. That press briefing will be broadcast live on the website.

Bring on the Crennel era. It should have happened a lot sooner.

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.

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ESPN reports interim head coach Romeo Crennel has picked up two endorsements for a permanent head coaching position with the Kansas City Chiefs. Offensive coordinator Bill Muir said that Crennel’s “demeanor” fits well with the players. Outside linebacker and sackmaster Tamba Hali said he would “love” to see Crennel’s game plan on a regular basis.

Crennel has been the head of the team since Todd Haley’s firing Dec. 12. The Chiefs responded with a convincing 19-14 win over the previously unbeaten Green Bay Packers.

The Kansas City Star quoted Muir saying the positive changes for the Chiefs were probably due to the new interim coach. The Chiefs are still in the hunt for the playoffs, but they need help.

Crennel’s certainly made a statement in his first game. He accomplished what 19 NFL teams before Dec. 18 couldn’t do, which was to defeat the Packers. If the Chiefs can win out and make the playoffs, I would wager the job is his for the taking.

The former defensive coordinator used to be the head coach for the Cleveland Browns where he amassed a 24-40 record. Crennel was also the defensive coordinator for the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick. After taking a year off in 2009, Crennel was brought on in 2010 as the Chiefs’ defensive coordinator.

Now is his chance at redemption. The years in Cleveland were bittersweet. Crennel’s lone winning season was 2007 when the Browns went 10-6 and tied for first in the NFC North but missed the playoffs thanks to losing both head-to-head matchups against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The 2007 Browns are one of just a few 10-6 NFL teams to miss the playoffs.

That’s good that the players and personnel around Crennel like him. It’s a good sign he might get the job after the season is over. Winning two more games, or at least giving the Chiefs a chance to win, will go a long way from the inconsistencies during the Haley era.

Should the Chiefs win the AFC West, fans will start asking “Todd who?” when referring to the 2011 season. Haley’s part of the struggle in 2011 needs to be forgotten in a hurry.

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.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs fired coach Todd Haley on Monday, less than a year after he led the team to the AFC West title, and appointed Romeo Crennel the interim coach.

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Todd Haley with the Cardinals

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The injury-ravaged Chiefs dropped to 5-8 after Sunday’s 37-10 loss the New York Jets in which they committed 11 penalties for 128 yards, including a 15-yarder on Haley for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“This was a difficult decision but one that we feel is best for the future of the Chiefs,” Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said in a statement. “Although there have been bright spots at different points this season, we have not made meaningful progress.”

Crennel, the former Cleveland Browns coach, served as Haley’s defensive coordinator. The Chiefs have called an afternoon news conference in which he’s expected to be available.

“We felt that it was necessary to make a change,” Hunt said. “We appreciate Todd’s contributions during his time with the club, and we wish him well in the future.”

There have been rumblings about Haley’s job status ever since training camp, when the NFL lockout caused him to take an unorthodox approach. Rather than going full speed throughout camp, Haley opted instead to spend the majority of the time on conditioning and strength training.

He hoped that would cut down on the risk of injuries given an abbreviated offseason.

Instead, the Chiefs lost starting linebacker Brandon Siler to a torn Achilles in camp, and tight end Tony Moeaki went down with a torn knee ligament in their preseason finale. Pro Bowl safety Eric Berry sustained the same injury in Week 1 against Buffalo, and All-Pro running back Jamaal Charles tore a ligament in his knee the following week at Detroit.

After three lopsided losses to start the season, Kansas City managed to rattle off four straight wins and pull into a tie atop the division. Haley was being applauded for keeping the team together despite such adversity, and there was a happy-go-lucky attitude at the practice facility.

That all changed when the Chiefs lost to previously winless Miami at home, the start of a dismal stretch in which they dropped four straight and five of their last six. Along the way, quarterback Matt Cassel broke his right hand and landed on injured reserve, and the lack of depth behind him forced Haley to start journeyman Tyler Palko the past four games.

Kansas City has managed only two touchdowns with Palko under center.

Besides the dismal performance on the field, it was not a secret within the walls of the team’s practice facility that there was friction between Haley and Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli.

Pioli said several weeks ago that he values consistency within an organization, and the former Patriots executive has used the Pittsburgh Steelers as the blueprint for rebuilding the Chiefs. But the decision to part with Haley is just the second in-season firing of a head coach in franchise history — Paul Wiggins was fired after seven games during the 1977 season.

“We believe change is important at this time,” Pioli said in a statement.

Haley leaves with a 19-27 record in nearly three years at his first NFL head coaching job. The Chiefs won the AFC West last season with a 10-6 record.

Previously, he was the offensive coordinator for Arizona when the Cardinals won the NFC title in 2008. He also was an assistant coach with Dallas, Chicago and the New York Jets.

Haley is the second coach fired this season; Jack Del Rio was dismissed by the Jacksonville Jaguars late last month.

“Todd helped this team in many valuable ways over the past three seasons, and I am thankful for his contributions,” Pioli said. “Unfortunately, we have not been able to establish the kind of consistency we need to continue building a strong foundation for the future.”

The Kansas City Chiefs put on another defensive show in Week 13, putting down a weak Chicago Bears offense in an important game. The Chiefs defense was owned in just 16 percent of all Yahoo! Fantasy Football leagues coming in to this week, and those owners were quite glad that they stuck with the team for another week.

The defenses of both teams were pretty good in this one, but it was the Chiefs that had the highest fantasy scoring defense of the early games. The Chiefs had 7 sacks and 3 interceptions to post 20 fantasy points; one more than the Pittsburgh Steelers had against the Cincinnati Bengals and two more than the San Francisco 49ers had against the St. Louis Rams.

This 10-3 win was unexpected by the Chiefs, but the Bears were in trouble without quarterback Jay Cutler(notes) and running back Matt Forte(notes). For the Chiefs, linebacker Justin Houston(notes) had 3 sacks (his first three of the season), and four other players posted one of their own. Safety Jon McGraw(notes) had a sack and an interception in the game, and the team really took it to Bears quarterback Caleb Hanie(notes). Hanie certainly didn’t look like a quarterback that could lead the Bears to the postseason, but that is what the franchise has tasked him with as the season draws to a close.

Though they didn’t receiver fantasy points for doing it, the Chiefs held Chicago to just 11 first downs and 181 total yards on the day as well. That’s an embarrassingly low number for the Bears, and included just 44 yards on the ground from lead running back Marion Barber(notes). It certainly didn’t help that the Bears lost 45 yards on the 7 sacks that the Chiefs had, but it could convince the front office in Chicago to find a free agent quarterback to try and finish out this year.

Coming into Week 13 of the NFL season, the Kansas City Chiefs defense had the fewest total points of any defense in the league. That caused quite a few owners to abandon the team heading into the fantasy football playoff weeks, but those owners are going to regret making that move (at least for one week).

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CBSSports.com wire reports
Nov. 27, 2011

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Ben Roethlisberger joked that the broken thumb on his throwing hand was “still attached” Sunday night. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin thought the injury was a non-issue, and perhaps it was given the way the former Pro Bowl quarterback played.

One thing is certain: The Chiefs sure wish it had been a bigger problem.

Roethlisberger threw a short touchdown pass to Weslye Saunders in the first half, and the Steelers took advantage of four turnovers by Chiefs quarterback Tyler Palko in a 13-9 victory that allowed them to keep pace with Baltimore atop the loaded AFC North.

“They’re a good football team, good defense,” Roethlisberger said. “It’s tough because it’s a mixed feeling type of thing: You’re happy to get the win, but you’re disappointed the way the offense played. I think that’s what team’s all about. The defense stepped up huge today.”

Roethlisberger finished 21 of 31 for 193 yards and an interception for the Steelers (8-3), whose defense lost All-Pro safety Troy Polamalu to a head injury in the first quarter yet still managed to keep the bumbling Chiefs (4-7) from scoring a touchdown.

Kansas City has reached the end zone only once since beating San Diego on Oct. 31.

The Chiefs nearly did on their final possession, marching across midfield to the 37. That’s when Palko dropped back and looked for Dwayne Bowe, but his throw was high and behind him, and Keenan Lewis hauled in the interception with 29 seconds left to seal the win.

“I just read the quarterback. I knew I had help underneath, so I could stay back and protect deep,” Lewis said. “When the ball came out of the quarterback’s hand, I saw that Bowe had already made his move. That’s when I knew I could make a play.”

Palko, making his second successive start in place of the injured Matt Cassel, also fumbled a snap and threw interceptions to Ike Taylor and Ryan Mundy on back-to-back passes in the first half.

Palko fared little better than he did last week against New England, when he tossed three picks in his first NFL start. He finished 18 of 28 for 167 yards in what was likely his last chance.

The Chiefs claimed former Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton off waivers Wednesday with the intention of having him compete with Palko for the starting job. Orton didn’t arrive in town until Friday, though, and he was inactive Sunday night after participating in only one practice.

“He’ll have a much better chance this week to compete,” Chiefs coach Todd Haley said, “and like I said, Tyler is the starter, but whatever position we say, if someone gives us a better chance to win, that’s the guideline we generally follow.”

Kansas City led 3-0 in the second quarter when Palko’s first interception, which Taylor returned to the Chiefs 8, resulted in a 21-yard field goal by the Steelers’ Shaun Suisham.

The second pick was returned by Mundy, who had taken over at safety for Polamalu, to the Kansas City 24. The defense appeared to hold Pittsburgh when Tamba Hali sacked Roethlisberger on third-and-7, but safety Jon McGraw was called for defensive holding to give the Steelers a first down.

Three plays later, Roethlisberger found Saunders in the back of the end zone.

“He was kind of one of the last options,” Roethlisberger said. “I saw Wes coming in the back of the end zone, he’s kind of a big target, so I just kind of threw it up to him.”

Ryan Succop added a 49-yard field goal later in the second quarter for Kansas City, his second of the game, but Suisham answered with his own 49-yarder on the final play of the first half.

Succop added a 40-yard field goal with 6:11 left in the fourth quarter.

Polamalu left the game in the first quarter when he tackled 290-pound Chiefs offensive tackle Steve Maneri, who had caught a pass in the flat after lining up in the backfield.

The reigning Defensive Player of the Year’s head hit Maneri’s knee and he crumpled to the turf, where he lay while trainers came out to check on him. Polamalu was a bit wobbly when he stood up and Tomlin said after the game that he was experiencing “concussion-like symptoms.”

Roethlisberger showed little evidence of the broken thumb that caused him to be somewhat limited in practice, hitting 10 different receivers. He got some help from Rashard Mendenhall, who ran for 57 yards, and a defense that kept giving the Pittsburgh offense prime field position.

The Steelers squandered a promising opportunity in the first quarter, driving inside the Chiefs 10-yard line. But backup running back Mewelde Moore had the ball poked out by Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali and it was recovered by Javier Arenas in the end zone for a touchback.

Kansas City gave the ball right back when Palko fumbled the snap moments later.

Pittsburgh also had a decent drive end midway through the scoreless third when Roethlisberger underthrew Antonio Brown down the sideline. Kansas City safety Travis Daniels swooped in to make the interception, but the Chiefs’ bumbling offense couldn’t capitalize.

That wound up being the story of the game.

“We’re excited about winning — and winning on the road — and making the necessary plays,” Tomlin said. “We produced turnovers tonight, and that was big for us.”

Notes

• Kansas native Martina McBride sang The Star-Spangled Banner. Modern Family‘s Eric Stonestreet, who attended Kansas State, threw the ceremonial first pass.
• Steelers C Maurkice Pouncey left in the first half with an illness.
• The Chiefs finished with 252 yards of total offense.

By BJ Kissel

– Staff Writer

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Nov 28, 2011 – The Kansas City Chiefs are right in the middle of a brutal part of their schedule that includes the final four teams in last seasons’ playoff picture. That’s not including last weeks’ game against the New England Patriots. After losing to the Steelers on Sunday night, the Chiefs can look forward to the Bears, Jets and Packers over the next three weeks. Most Chiefs fans knew coming into this season and taking a look at that schedule that we would truly learn how far this team has come along after this current stretch of games. Then the injuries happened. First it was Tony Moeaki, then Eric Berry, then Jamaal Charles and finally Matt Cassel.

It’s hard to get a read on how good of a team we actually had when everyone was healthy because we didn’t see it this year, and we still won’t see it. But this is the NFL and nobody was going to feel sorry for the Chiefs. I don’t see the Houston Texans struggling after losing Mario Williams, Arian Foster, Andre Johnson, Matt Schaub and now, Matt Leinart. Obviously some of those weren’t season-ending injuries, but all teams have to deal with injuries and while most teams around the NFL couldn’t bounce-back from the injuries the Chiefs have suffered this year, that doesn’t change the schedule laid out on front of them.

And for the Chiefs, that didn’t change from them playing back-to-back primetime games in front of the entire country. It’s one thing to be struggling and have to play good teams when you don’t have your star players healthy, it’s quite another to have to do it in front of the entire country against two of the best teams teams in the AFC, in primetime, in consecutive weeks. 

But it took a pretty special effort from the Kansas City Chiefs defense to go out there and perform the way that they did over the last two weeks. Especially considering the Chiefs offense gave away seven, yes SEVEN, turnovers in the last two games. So while the Chiefs offense was embarrassing itself and all Chiefs fans around the country, the defense gave all of us something we could hang our hat on at the end of the day. The Chiefs went to Foxboro and gave Tom Brady and the Patriots offense all they could handle for the first half of that game. The Eagles couldn’t do that at home with their “dream team” defensive backfield.

The Patriots may have won the game by a final score of 34-3, but anyone who watched that game will know that Tom Brady’s 15-27 performance for 234 yards and two touchdowns wasn’t very Brady-like. Only two other times this season was he held to fewer than 234 yards passing. Brady had 198 yards passing in a loss to the Steelers and 226 in a win against the Raiders. It was a couple of big plays in the second half that broke that game open, but it was obvious that the Chiefs had Brady struggling for a good portion of that game and not many teams around the NFL can say that, let alone do it on Monday night football in Foxboro. 

It was mentioned several times on the Sunday night broadcast how well the Chiefs defense was playing and keeping them in the game against the Steelers. I don’t think it can be stated enough how proud Chiefs fans should be of the defense right now. They held the Pittsburgh Steelers to 291 yards of total offense and just one touchdown, all while having the Chiefs offense hand them four turnovers. (The last was at the end of the game, but still) If it hadn’t of been for the defense against the Patriots and Steelers, I’d be struggling to look forward to the rest of the season.

But as it stands now, I know that former Broncos quarterback, Kyle Orton will have a full week of practice to get acclimated to this team and hopefully he picks up the offense quickly. Because with the way this defense has played over the last two weeks, there is reason to be optimistic if Orton can come in and at-worst, be average for the final five games of the season. So while playoff chances may be hanging on by a very small thread, I still find good reason to feel good about a particular part of the Chiefs team right now. I wasn’t sure that would have been the case a few weeks ago.

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These are the times that try Joe Posnanski’s soul. The Kansas City Chiefs lost 13-9 to the Pittsburgh Steelers last night. They had a drive to win the game that ended when their top receiver raised his hand to call for the ball then failed to raise his hands to catch that ball when it was thrown. This is a flawed team that I want to be proud of, but it’s just that mental mistakes and an anemic offense are slowly turning me into a remote-throwing, head-shaking, full-out-cussing-out-my-television-screen citizen of Kansas City.

Let’s just take it quarter by quarter because the game in its entirety is still a little hard to swallow.

Quarter One: It was 36 degrees at game time, and the crowd was roaring, perhaps loudest when Steelers’ safety Troy Polamalu wobbled off the field with what is now being called “concussion symptoms.” The Chiefs are sporting their playoff beards, although the playoffs are seemingly more and more unlikely. Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is looking more and more like Russell Crowe when he lets himself go for a movie role.

The defense has again started the game with purpose. Tamba Hali strips Mewelde Moore at the goal line to prevent a touchdown. The offense also appears to have a purpose, although sadly it appears to be helping the Steelers cover the spread. Tyler Palko muffs the snap on the ensuing Chiefs’ possession, setting up the tone for the night. The defense will shut down an elite offense, while the Chiefs’ offense will make an opposing defense look elite (even without one of its elite players). After another solid stop by the home team, Palko throws a pick on the next snap he takes.

Quarter Two: Three snaps, three turnovers. There may not be anything more frustrating in the world than watching an inept offense attempt to move the football. The screen shows the average starting position for the Steelers — it’s the Chiefs’ 37-yard line. It’s somehow 13-6 at the half.

Quarter Three: Steelers’ offensive lineman Max Starks is holding Tamba Hali like it’s the last slow dance in eighth grade. Meanwhile, Chiefs’ coach Todd Haley is starting to look like a calculated risk taker. A play after Javier Arenas is stoned in the wildcat formation, he runs for a first down on a fake punt with two minutes to go in the quarter. Rather than a no-huddle offense, this could be the most successful Chiefs’ offensive philosophy in the second half of the season — it’s always four-down territory.

Quarter Four: The Chiefs have put together an actual drive with the running and the passing. That is, until, Anthony Becht tackles Jackie Battle on third-and-short. The problem? Becht is a tight end for the Chiefs, and the two bump into each other behind the line. This is a plot device in Little Giants, not the way a pro offense should operate.

Haley opts for a field goal attempt with seven minutes to go and all three of his timeouts left. The lead is cut to four, and somewhere Jack Harry is having an aneurysm. The Chiefs do get the ball back and proceed to move down the field again in five-to-eight-yard chunks in a lurching, ground-churning drive. Palko has appeared to find his rhythm, right up until the moment when he throws this third interception of the night after Bowe fails to even extend his arms to make a potential catch.

The Chiefs have scored one touchdown on their last 45 drives, a span of four games. The defense is being left out on the field in situations bordering on ludicrous. And I’m starting to feel guilty for how often I maligned Haley for appearing angry on the sidelines. This is not Madden football; this is maddening football.