It's only week three but Chiefs are looking up from the bottom of the barrel

When you look back at the Chiefs loss to the Eagles, it’s easy to say that Kansas City isn’t nearly as talented as Philly is.  That was obvious, even with Donovan McNabb and Brian Westbrook missing from the Eagles lineup.

The offensive line was manhandled and committed costly penalties.  The wide receiver corps was without Dwayne Bowe, but it really didn’t matter much.  The running game offers little get excited about, although Jamaal Charles had a couple of nice runs called back on penalties, including a touchdown run.

The Chiefs defense showed gaping holes over the middle in their pass defense for the second week in a row.  That’s players still not understanding where they should be on the field.  The defense committed some costly penalties in bad situations as well and didn’t apply any pressure on Kevin Kolb.

For most fans there was little to cling to and coach Todd Haley admitted as much after the game.  Monday when meeting with the media, he reiterated his quote of two weeks ago that the Chiefs margin of error is not great and he didn’t know that it would change much this season.  He included coaching in that analysis.

Haley said he thought his team was prepared a week ago and disappointed with the way they responded in the game, but he won’t change his approach and will continue to preach discipline.  He said the team can’t let anything slide.

Offensively, the Chiefs repeatedly put themselves in deep holes, something they can’t do.  Two first and 20 situations, six, 2nd and 12 plus plays and 0-11 on third down conversions.  Despite those numbers, Haley said after watching tape four times since the games conclusion, the game should have been competitive. 

The conservative second half ground game, while trailing by 20, seemed to have two objectives.  First, to simplify the game plan from all the information overload that seemed to be confusing some of the players.  Second, show the players that there are times you have to impose your will on an opponent and run no matter what.

Rookie linebacker Jovan Belcher saw some time with the defense in the second half and Haley said he expects he’ll see more as the staff has been impressed with this effort.  Haley also said changes will continue.  It’s not gonna stay the same when these are the results.  That won’t be accepted.