Anytime you've got a coach (or even a player) playing one of his former teams you wonder how much they know about them. For example, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley is going against the Arizona Cardinals, where he was a coordinator in 2007-08.
It makes sense that Haley would know pretty well what they were doing. But how much of that has changed since he was there? Not a whole lot, Haley says (video via KCChiefs.com).
You see a bunch of things you recognize and yet a bunch of things you don't recognize. Defensively they are still doing a lot of similar things that I've seen a bunch of, but there's also a bunch of new wrinkles. Same goes for offense. You'll see plays develop and you'll have a clear-cut vision of what it is and then other plays that are something new. It looks like they're doing a lot of the same things.
I think we overstate how much a connection like this really matters. Just because they're doing something you know doesn't mean you can/can't stop it. It's not like someone like Ryan Lilja can tell the Chiefs the secret behind Peyton Manning before they play the Colts, and I don't think Haley's connection to the Cardinals will mean a whole lot.
Besides, with the way things have gone for Cardinals QBs Derek Anderson and Max Hall, I'm not so sure the Chiefs defense will need any advantages against Haley's former team.