Arrowheadlines: Chiefs News 12/16

via KansasCity.com

Good Morning AP! A blackout looms, the Chiefs have made a lot of mistakes lately, and some of us are pretty freaking cranky, but our boys have another one coming up. Let's hope the reurn ob #82 can give Cassel a hand up and give the offense a shot in the arm. Now your news.

"I thought our defense did a very good job overall, did a great job of creating turnovers, did a great job versus the passing game holding them to 73 yards," Haley said. "In the run game, we’ve got to be better."

Better? It’s hard to imagine the Chiefs run defense being any worse than what they’ve done the last two weeks. Denver had 245 rushing yards. Buffalo had 200 rushing yards. Two weeks in a row and the opponent averaged 223 yards rushing per game. No wonder the Chiefs are ranked 30th in the league when it comes to giving up yardage on the ground, with a 13-game average of 148.1 yards.

Running at Defense … Wednesday Cup O’Chiefs from Bob Gretz

The losses keep coming, and the questions have grown louder. But Haley reiterated during his weekly news conference that Cassel’s ability and long-term prospects are not among the Chiefs’ many shortcomings.

"I thought Matt did some real good things in that game," Haley said of Kansas City’s 16-10 loss to the Bills. "It’s easy to pile on the quarterback."

Cassel hasn’t done much to make it any less easy. Haley benched Cassel against the Broncos after he threw no touchdown passes with two interceptions and amassed a 14.6 quarterback rating. Cassel said he’d have to be better.

Haley doesn’t consider Cassel among Chiefs’ shortcomings from KC Star

Week-in and week-out, there are countless in-game puzzles that a head coach must figure out in order to provide his team a healthy chance for a victory. From deciding which players will dress, to the mix of the play-calling, the man in charge gets caught up in the always demanding task of trying to install some order in the never-ending chaos that is a football game. For a beginner, the recurring highs and lows makes this assignment a difficult one. But if he’s willing to learn from the shortcomings, he will eventually attain a composure that will lead him to push the right buttons at the right moments.

And clearly, Todd Haley is not there. Yet.

Out of Time from Bob Gretz (by Enrique Siu)

Last week, the Chiefs needed to sell 3,500 non-club seats to avoid a local television blackout of their game against the Buffalo Bills.

This week, the magic number is higher.

The Chiefs said Tuesday they need to sell 5,500 remaining tickets for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns by noon Thursday.

Chiefs need to sell 5,500 tickets to avoid blackout from KC Star

Offensive overview: Haley did not inspire confidence in his rookie season when he fired coordinator Chan Gailey in preseason because of a difference in philosophy. He changed the direction of the offense on the fly and leaned more on former Browns coordinator Maurice Carthon. Haley would like to copy the Cardinals' big-strike offense that he oversaw for two years, but the talent is obviously lacking.

Tony Grossi's Scouting Report: Kansas City Chiefs from The Cleveland Plain Dealer

 v. I said a couple weeks ago that I was pretty sure that the Chiefs didn't regret acquiring Matt Cassel, and he's proceeded to have the two worst games of his career the last two weeks.  His ability is very clear, so I still don't think they regret it, but he needs to step it up, and buy Todd Haley and Scott Pioli some cover.  Kansas City has an aggressive local sports media, led by Adam Teicher and Jason Whitlock.  Whitlock has already renamed Pioli as Scott Egoli, so it would be mighty helpful to this regime if they and Cassel could finish the season stronger than they've been showing, and feel like there's something to build on.

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations from Mile High Report