Field Goal Explosion Ends In KC Victory

The Kansas City Chiefs’ first win of 2009 was ugly, but a win is a win. Sunday, Haley’s Bunch found a way to beat an awful Redskins team, but the 14-6 victory is a stepping stone to improvement.

It was a boring game the Chiefs could easily have lost, but head coach Todd Haley looked calm on the sidelines today. At times he got in his players’ faces, but Haley had a different swagger Sunday.

He must have had an inkling this week that with some changes on the coaching staff – not to mention the fact his team had to win a game eventually - his team would play well against the Redskins. Part of that optimism was likely because Washington hasn’t lit it up offensively all season long. At halftime, embattled Redskins’ head coach Jim Zorn benched his ineffective starting quarterback, Jason Campbell, in favor of perennial backup and former Chief Todd Collins.

Neither did much damage as Campbell and Collins combined for only 164 passing yards and no touchdowns. The Chiefs allowed only seven first downs the entire afternoon en route to their best defensive effort since 2006.

Will this win catapult the Chiefs towards a division championship? No, but it gets the monkey off their back. Hopefully the players and who were pressing will relax, and perhaps the head coach will join them.

Haley has been under much criticism and wasn’t exactly gaining much support from his players. He has to earn that and winning consecutive games might get their attention. Right now it’s all wait and see.

We should be impressed that the Chiefs rebounded from a tough loss by winning on the road. It was an upset for sure, and with so many road teams winning Sunday something was in the air this weekend.

Whatever it was the Chiefs caught it. Larry Johnson ran well and Matt Cassel spread the ball to seven different receivers despite the fact he took an absolute beating from the Redskins’ front four.

The hero of the day was Mr. Irrelevant, kicker Ryan Succop. He’s been almost perfect all season long and by far is the most productive rookie. The rest of KC’s 2009 draft class has struggled.

The way the Chiefs had been playing this year you might have thought they could match the Detroit Lions’ 0-16 record from a year ago. Not only would that have been ugly, some heads would have rolled at Arrowhead.

That may still happen, especially if Sunday turns out to be KC’s last win, but none of that matters now. The Chiefs stand 1-5 and host the San Diego Chargers next Sunday. The Chargers swept Kansas City last year.

The Chiefs have a chance to make a statement. If they can win two in a row, some of the doubters won’t have any choice but to offer up kudos.