Every Kansas CIty Chiefs fan is well aware at this point in the season of Todd Haley's tendency to risk it on fourth down more so than other head coaches in the NFL. Haley has mentioned his study of statistics as one of the drivers of his fourth down attitude but there is one area where Haley doesn't seem to want to be taking risks right now: Replay challenges.
In the NFL this year, head coaches have thrown the red flag 81 times. Exactly one-third (27) of those challenges worked out in favor of those coaches. At the top of the challenge list are the Carolina Panthers, New York Jets and Seattle Seahawks who all have made nine challenges this season.
To find Todd Haley and the Chiefs, you have to go all the way to the bottom of the list. The Chiefs and Washington Redskins have both made the least amount of replay challenges this year: two. The average number of challenges per NFL team this year is just under 6.
Last year, the Chiefs ended up in the middle of the pack when it came to challenges. Haley threw the red flag 8 times in 2009. And just for conversation's sake, the plays that make up the vast majority of all challenges are pass completions, down by contact calls, fumble reviews and incomplete passes.
So, does anyone care to throw out a reason why Haley isn't as gung ho on replay challenges this year, while simultaneously being more risky with the play calling? Circumstance? Are those timeouts more important to the 2010 Chiefs than the 2009 Chiefs?
Do we really care how much our head coach throws the red flag?