Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley joined Mitch Holthus on the Chiefs Kingdom radio show on 810 WHB Monday night and touched on a number of topics, namely the Matt Cassel injury.
Haley didn't have any new information but he did talk about something Danny Parkins brought up with me on 610 Sports yesterday -- why do the Chiefs play better when their backs are against the wall?
NFL Films caught Haley saying to Romeo Crennel on the sidelines last week, "We just gotta learn how to do it when our back's not against the wall because we're pretty good when our backs are against the wall."
Danny and I both basically agreed that the Chiefs' inability to handle any semblance of success has to be laid at the feet of the coaching staff. On Chiefs Kingdom last night, Haley talked about the idea of handling success and also said the Chiefs aren't the only team feeling down this week.
"These guys have been at their best when their back is the hardest against the wall," Haley said. "That's what we talked about today. I don't doubt our ability to respond and bounce back and play well in a big game, a game we that have to have.
"What's important is that when we have positive things happen that we are then able to handle prosperity equally as well because right now it seems to be that adversity gets these guys to their best level of performance. That's again all part of a team growing, and becoming a good team and right now we're obviously not there yet. I know we can be.
"I know it's important to also understand that we're not the only team that feels this way today. You can ask the Baltimore Ravens, who probably thought they had everything figured out, the Buffalo Bills, who everyone thought were the world beaters. There are a bunch of teams that feel the way we do.
"The important thing is how we respond, what we do to get better and where we go from here. It'll be wasted energy in my opinion to worry about the past other than to learn from those mistakes and get better."