Comparing Belichick to Haley, the Cassel Year(s)

by Chiefs_KC on Dec 16, 2011 4:32 PM CST

Most NFL fans, writers, etc. consider Bill Belichick to be one of the greatest head coaches of the past 20 years. He is considered a great mastermind in his ability to gameplan; taking advantage of his teams strengths while attacking his foe's weaknesses. What's the reason for his success? Most knowledgeable people would point to QB Tom Brady as the main catalyst. Football is considered a true team sport, as all players on the field must work together, so some would argue that the reason for the Patriots success isn't just because of Tom Brady. However, it should be noted that the Pats have only missed the play-offs once since 2003, and this was a season in which Tom Brady was injured in the first game of the season and missed the rest of the season.

On the other hand, the recently fired had coach of the Chiefs, Todd Haley, is considered by some people on AP as a terrible head coach. Questionable play-calling, too many losses by 20 points or more, can't get along with anyone, etc. Last year the Chiefs made the playoffs, just two years after finishing 2-14. Again, Haley's detractors will argue that this was due to a weak schedule, playing the NFC West, and the AFC West was a bad division. This year the Chiefs are 5-8, without the services of their starting TE, one of the best SS in the game, in Eric Berry, and the Chiefs offensive player of the year from last year, RB Jammal Charles. The lack of depth behind these guys became painfully obvious to us Chief fans, once their back-ups had to take the field. It's a realization that HC Todd Haley most likely saw in practices last year and would have liked addressed this past off-season since the team was somewhere in the $20- 32 million range below the salary cap and Clark Hunt and Scott Pioli have long said that they are determined to build a winning team. However, on Monday, December 12th, both Clark Hunt and Scott Pioli were holding a press conference announcing that Todd Haley had been fired and although Pioli had been giving his 100% effort, Clark Hunt said that Pioli would now double his effort, or work twice as hard or something to that effect. (Note to Clark, if you say Pioli will work twice as hard now, even though he had been giving it his all, then he obviously wasn’t giving 100% before, or didn’t know what he was doing so was concentrating his efforts in the wrong areas, or it was just lip service to the fans if you believe Pioli is the right GM Clark).

Before you stop reading and say you can’t compare Belichick to Haley, remember that Matt Cassel was Belichick’s starting QB for 2008 due to Brady’s injury. So for comparison’s sake and using the Patriot’s 2008 season, consider the following:

1) Matt Cassel is your starting QB;

2) In the season that Matt Cassel is your starting QB, you play against the NFC West and AFC West, resulting in two of the easiest strength of schedules in recent NFL history (NE 2008, KC 2010) H/T Steve_Chiefs in the Josh McDaniels poll article;

3) The number of 20 point or greater losses in that season = 3:

2008 Patriots = 3 ( MIA 13-38, @ SD 10-30, Pitt 10-33)

2010 Chiefs = 3 (@ Den 49-29, @SD, 0-31 (NOTE: Cassel out for this game, Croyle played, OAK 10-31)

4) Offensive weapons = 2. Pats = Moss, Welker. Chiefs = Bowe, Charles

This is where the similarities end, as Haley got the Chiefs into the playoffs at 10-6 in 2010 with Cassel as QB while in 2008 Belichick with the Cassel-led Pats finished 11-6 and missed the playoffs. Some may argue that the Pats won 11 games to the Chiefs 10, but then I’ll point to the fact that NE played the Cards in NE the last game of the season after the Cards had already clinched the NFC West title, played Leinart the second half of the game, and presumably sat most of their starters for atleast the last half. In addition, it was snowing so the Cards weren’t really playing to win the game, it was to get back on the plane without any injuries going into the playoffs.

From comparing the Pats season in 2008 with Matt Cassel at QB, they missed the playoffs, and were blown out 3 times by more than 20 points during the season… sound familiar? Well, it should, this is one of the complaints about Haley’s Chiefs teams. Fortunately for Belichick, Cassel was his back-up QB, and quickly traded him to KC after the season with his hall of fame QB Brady back from injury and they are back to being one of the best teams in the NFL. For Haley’s Chiefs on the other hand, Scott Pioli has installed Cassel as his starting QB and left the back-up roles to Palko (we all witnessed how bad that was), and a 5th rd draft pick from last year, Ricky Stanzi. I’ll admit that I wanted Stanzi to play as much as the next guy when Cassel went down. We don’t know if he’s going to fall flat on his face and look like Palko, or do OK and look like another 5th rd pick from last year for the Texans, TJ Yates. The saying goes that the most popular player on the team is the back-up QB when the team is losing and this is the case with the Chiefs right now. However, to say that Haley deserves to be fired for playing Palko over Stanzi isn’t justified. It’s just hoping that the unknown is going to be better than the known. That, and the fact the Chiefs need a franchise QB, and everyone’s praying it’s Stanzi.

In summary, even Belicheck got blown out by 20 plus points 3 times in a season with Cassel as his starting QB. (Note to Pioli, were you paying attention to this in 2008 with Cassel as the starting QB before trading for him, or too busy scouting for the 2009 draft? Never mind, I know the answer to that question already,neither). To win in the NFL these days, with all the protection the QB gets as far as the refs, no contact on receivers past 5 yds, pass interference penalties, etc (spare me the Ravens and Dilfer argument) you need a true franchise QB. With a top-tier QB you can get a lead on an opponent, giving your D more options and forcing the opposition to have to throw the ball, while also having the firepower to come from behind to win games on days when your defense doesn’t have it, give up a special teams TD, etc. Pioli deserves more of the blame for the state of this team than Haley, but never has an owner fired a GM and retained the head coach and that’s just how things work and Clark knew the fans were getting restless and there are still two home games left to ~~pay~~ I mean, play. If Pioli doesn’t do everything he can to draft a QB in the first round this year, it’s going to be mediocrity again next year at best, and I’m tired of it. Unless Pioli really doesn’t know how to be a GM and doesn’t come to this realization, he should atleast be intelligent enough to know that by selling Clark Kent on drafting a franchise QB buys himself a couple of years starting that QB to see if he can be the QB that is long overdue for the Chiefs.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.

Tweet Comment 7 comments | 1 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

to say that Haley deserves to be fired for playing Palko over Stanzi isn’t justified.

That’s unAmerican

by cpa913 on Dec 16, 2011 4:54 PM CST reply actions

Like many fans, I have mixed feelings about Haley's firing.

He infuriated me by not sitting Cassel when he wasn’t playing well, and by playing Palko too long, whenit was obvious that Palko was a terrible QB. But here’s the thing, there has been a lot of talk from the front office about how “the young players are coming along” and “we need to work on depth” and “we expect good things next year,” Of course, all that talk was about players—what about the coach? Pioli knew Haley had never been a head coach and was bound to have problems as he grew into the role. Consider Bellichik with the Browns, or Cowher with the Steelers, or Dungy with Tampa Bay. They all went through some ugly years before their teams got better (except the Browns, but Bill was fired before that could happen). Yes, Todd was eccentric, brash, even crude at times, but that’s part of the reason so many players love him. He tried to do his best while remaining true to himself. I actually thought the Chiefs were evolving into a much better team—despite the setbacks, blowouts and bickering. They were like a bunch of kids learning what they can do, and the flashes of brilliance we got to see when things slowed down for these young players gave me hope that it would all come together soon.
Now we’ll never know if Haley and the team would have brought it all together next year. Clark Hunt panicked when he heard the boos at Arrowhead and Pioli pulled the plug. It was the classic corporate move when things are going badly: Do something—even if it’s wrong. I strongly suspect it was wrong. Time will tell.

Ancora imparo.

by midcalchief on Dec 16, 2011 5:45 PM CST reply actions

did you find all this in the Daily Planet?

… by selling Clark Kent on drafting a franchise QB buys himself a couple of years …

Twisted Lord of AP Color Commentary (H/T - Loco)
Winner: 2009 Nostradamus of Arrowhead Pride Award
"I shall conquer untruth by truth" - Mahatma Gandhi
"It's always easier to sell 'em some shit than it is to give 'em the truth" - Shel Silverstein, The Perfect High
hi, Mo! 5 minutes!!!

by upamtn on Dec 16, 2011 7:56 PM CST reply actions

Heh.

would of ≠ would've

by hmills110 on Dec 16, 2011 10:15 PM CST up reply actions

dammit ups

making me feel geeky for getting this

"No power in the 'verse can stop me"

Without a past, we have no future.

by MarineChiefsFan on Dec 17, 2011 10:31 AM CST up reply actions

Rec'd for making a good comparison.

I’d go further and say that some of the playcalling in New England in 2008 looked spotty. In hindsight, it seems like it was more of doing what you could with an OLine that couldn’t run-block and a QB who couldn’t find anybody open in the time he had to make the decision.

In my book, Cassel graded out better than Thigpen in being able to make that right-before-he-crossed-the-line-of-scrimmage throw that all those broken plays produced. Cassel also had better targets in New England, but let’s not kid ourselves about what Randy Moss could bring. He was never going to be all that productive on the slants and crossers and it took a lot of chicanery to give Cassel enough time to make a really good throw down the field, assuming he had the arm when the time WAS there.

With Cassel and Palko I’ve seen a pretty clear inability to tell the difference between real and imagined threats to his person. I saw more and quicker developments from PALKO in that category, although nobody will ever believe that in a million years. Palko’s lack of size makes it pretty hard for him to shake an arm tackle, like an NFL QB needs to. He’d have to be Brees kind of special as a passer to up his percentages I remember really liking Rich Gannon, always discounting for lack of supporting cast, and watching how the Bucs made him look like Tyler Palko in the SB.

Personally, I don’t see how folks are so eager (and some really respected football heads) to throw Palko under the bus, when I watch what that OL is NOT giving him. I do NOT think every KC RB except Jamaal Charles sucks rocks. I think the top half of the league’s front 7s pretty much have their way with this KC OL, and a lot of decent QBs are going to look like road kill. And although Jamaal’s averages against the Ravens were STILL pretty good, they were inflated by the one HUGE TD run, on an otherwise ineffective offense, and it all started up front.

I think we kid ourselves a lot about QBs and RBs, and turn a blind eye to OL.

I’m not at all certain that 1st round QB is the answer for this ballclub. Every year I see good-looking QBs earn undeserved scorn from virtually everybody, because their teams suck. And I’ve seen GREAT QBs, like John Elway, fill the seats for a decade, but only earn their ring well after their skill set has diminished, because the front office finally gave him a running game and dominant (cheating?) OL.

I know everyone thinks it’s all about the franchise QB and I love great QBs. But I think recent history of team-elevating QBs is as much about defenses that either can’t or won’t bring an extra hat up and ATTACK that QB.

would of ≠ would've

by hmills110 on Dec 16, 2011 10:44 PM CST reply actions

WOW! What a difference a few days make. So much for that comparison for the Haley supporters!

RAC City here on out!

Todd Haley - Crennel just prove to the world that you're a f***ing Joke! Matt Cassel, Orton just showed us how 3 weeks of practice is enough to beat world champions. Yeah, Matt again has been proven to be a backup QB. Should never have been a starter in the NFL.

by 58 was my friend on Dec 18, 2011 6:58 PM CST reply actions