Does It Make Any Difference to Have Haley In Our Corner Vs. The Eagles?

by Matt Conner on Sep 26, 2009 5:12 PM CDT in 2009 Kansas City Chiefs Campaign

Just in case you've lost some perspective, allow me to remind you that our current head coach was the same offensive coordinator who deftly handled the well-known Eagles blitzing techniques to knock out the heavily favored Eagles on the road. In the process, the Cardinals marched straight into the Super Bowl - a move no one saw coming.

Now, that same offensive coordinator dons the same position - along with Head Coach - for the Chiefs. And the natural question is: does his experience make a difference this time around?

I'm personally of the opinion that every little bit of information helps. I also think that while it's a different defensive coordinator - with the loss of Jim Johnson and corresponding move to Sean McDermott - and a new year, many of the same techniques are still in place. Not to mention the Eagles have hardly been overwhelming any opponent so far into the new year.

I've waffled on my personal feelings regarding the outcome of the Chiefs v. Eagles game - believing one minute the Chiefs can pull something off and then next realizing that we've a long road ahead. It would make for an interesting story if Haley gets the momentum moving this time around against the very same team that earned him a Super Bowl appearance.

Poll

Do you think it makes any difference to have Haley's experience beating the Eagles last winter?

Yes

516 votes

No

180 votes

696 votes | Poll has closed

Tweet Comment 11 comments | 0 recs |

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Comments

i think it makes a difference

because both of our coordinators were on that same team that knocked them off. i don’t know if that means a win but i do think we’ll be ready

Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day.
Harry S. Truman

by kcguy on Sep 26, 2009 5:41 PM CDT reply actions

My same sentiments exactly

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by Scaryclouds on Sep 26, 2009 9:23 PM CDT up reply actions

I doubt it will help much, if any at all, because ...

1) vastly different personnel on Chiefs as opposed to Cardinals
2) Eagles have changed in the off-season, at least SOME (for better or worse)
3) doubt they’ll throw the exact same things at KC as they did vs AZ

other reasons it won’t help much, in no particular order: Warner, Boldin, KC’s OL

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisiton!

by upamtn on Sep 26, 2009 5:52 PM CDT reply actions

i guess my interpretation of the "will it make a difference" question

was “will it help that todd haley coached against the eagles twice last year?” and i don’t see how it can’t be useful to have some recent familiarity with a team. even if the schemes/personnel aren’t going to be the same. the eagles will still try to do pretty much the same stuff since their coaching is still in tact (save jj, of course) i don’t know if it will be enough to win since i’m not convinced we match up well with them and that’s really what it boils down to

Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day.
Harry S. Truman

by kcguy on Sep 26, 2009 5:58 PM CDT up reply actions

Did Eagles run a wildcat last year? (will they tomorrow?)

yeah, bottom line is how they play on the field … if we play top of our game and Eagles lose focus or play as they did last week, we could win, for sure

if we play as we did at Baltimore … well, you know

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisiton!

by upamtn on Sep 26, 2009 6:08 PM CDT up reply actions

Vick is the wild card and Garcia is the Ace for the Eagles..

Quite frankly, I’m thinking this is going to be too much for us to handle. We still lack credible pressure on the opposing QB from my perspective.

I’m hoping our offense can put together some drives much like they did against the Raiders, but this time put more points on the board.. DUH!!!

But for our defense, Vick can run the Wildcat and pull it down and run wild and gain some yardage. It could get ugly.

We have too soft a zone IMHO to against a good quality QB (See Week 1). If Russell was any resemblance of an NFL QB, he would have ripped us a new one last week.

This team still has a long way to go..

Rowdy

by KCRowdy on Sep 26, 2009 6:17 PM CDT reply actions

Are you kidding?

They utterly decimated the Panthers. They controlled them completely.

by EyePod on Sep 26, 2009 7:12 PM CDT reply actions

The Panthers are a shell of what they were last year.

Delhomme still hasn’t recovered from the pounding the Cards defense gave him last year.

by Chiefsfan1970 on Sep 26, 2009 9:01 PM CDT reply actions

Haley (and Clancy P.)

That’s a good point about Haley’s recent unanticipated dominance over Philly in a do or die situation on the road. Sure, the cast he brings are different, but his leadership is the same if not more significant as a Head Coach. It also doesn’t hurt that he has Clancy leading the “D”. I smell an UPSET Chiefs fans – you know were due.

by chiefsfan62 on Sep 27, 2009 1:01 AM CDT via mobile reply actions

First, the dominance you speak of was a one score victory at home, not on the road. When the Cardinals did go on the road against the Eagles last year they were blown out by 28 points.

Now, to the original point. It makes no difference at all. What Haley did against the Eagles’ defense last year was no different than what virtually any offensive coordinator tries to do. Utilize a short, quick passing game to negate the rush. It’s not about scheme. Carolina tried the same thing and failed miserably. The Saints did it and had great success. It’s about execution and talent.

In Arizona, Haley had a QB with a lighting fast release and two of the best WRs in football. That helps a lot. Can the talent he’s got in KC execute the same way? We’re going to find out in a few hours.

Now, I don’t want to totally discount scheme. Of course any coordinator can throw in wrinkles and change little things here and there that could help disrupt what the other team tries to do… but in general we already know what Todd Haley is going to try to do today. We already know what the Eagles defense is going to do. From the time last week ended until today Reid and Haley have probably watched every snap both teams have played this entire season. There won’t be that many surprises. They both know what they’ll do to attack the other and probably have a pretty good idea of what will be done against them. It’s all about executing now.

Haley’s success against the Eagles in January will have as much impact today as the Eagles success against him in November… none.

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by JasonB on Sep 27, 2009 3:18 AM CDT up reply actions