Dolphins at Chiefs - Week 9 - Record: 4-4

Ahh, it is actually a good feeling to know that things are back to the way they should be. Isn't it?

The Chiefs defense: vanilla pudding. The opponent's offense: a chain saw.

The Chiefs offense: a spitwad. The opponent's defense: a reinforced concrete wall.

The fun times could only last so long. Last Monday night we beat a poorly coached, injury-depleted Chargers team and then only barely when we just played tougher than they did and we got an extraordinarily timely fumble recovery.

The three wins before that were close games against a very bad Minnesota team, a very very bad Indianapolis team, and an Oakland team who found themselves very abruptly without a quarterback or their star running back.

This game showed us what kind of team we really are.

But don't be sad! Be glad! These kind of games are the truth clarifying events that will hopefully get things to happen for some kind of playoff contention activity to happen around, oh, say 2015 -- if we're lucky.

Since it is the halfway point for us, let's review quickly the five keys to the season I shared before the first game, and see where the Chiefs are for each.

No. 1: Todd Haley has to be a big-time big-game head coach. Many think that his work at getting the Chiefs to 4-3 after the 0-3 start is remarkable. Nah, I just think they've played weak teams and they've gotten breaks. Don't get me wrong, I've loved seeing them win. I always do no matter what.

But I haven't changed my mind. Todd Haley needs to get fired. Today we played an 0-7 team with a back-up quarterback and we simply did not know what the heck to do on both sides of the ball. It wasn't just a matter of us not having the players. We didn't execute plays, we didn't tackle, we didn't cover receivers, we didn't hit our marks. We yet again had too many stupid stupid stupid penalties, and we just plain looked stupid out there. The snap that Dustin Colquitt did not put down for Ryan Succop to kick the field goal was just a graphic reflection of what this team looked like. And I'm sorry, but the "But they were tired after playing on Monday Night" excuse just does not hold water for a second.

It is Todd Haley's doing.

He may be a great rah-rah guy, but this team is still a train wreck. Just wait until we play New England. Pittsburgh. New York. Green Bay. In fact the only team we play without a winning record the rest of the way is Denver.

Chance it'll happen: 75%. The 25% chance it didn't happen is pretty evident now.

No. 2: Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson really need to start playing like the top draft picks they were. This is another huge disappointment. That these guys have not played like they should've up to now is just too telling. It does not take this long for guys who should be better to show they can really do it.

Dorsey is just too slow for the NFL game, and Jackson can't see the field with the vision a D-lineman needs to have at this level. Far, far too often Dorsey just can't get enough of a push to disrupt the opponent's passing game, and far, far too often Jackson lets a runner slip past him when he should be coming off his block to make the hit.

Chance it'll happen: 55%. No surprise that the 45% it wouldn't happen has materialized. This is one of the more crushing situations because these guys were drafted so, so high. Yet again more highly drafted Chiefs D-linemen just turning into busts.

No. 3: We must absorb the loss of Brian Waters on the O-line. This is probably the one area I'd actually give to the Chiefs. Jon Asamoah has actually done decently, and the fact that Jackie Battle has been a wonderful surprise in replacing Jamaal Charles has been testament to that fact. Our O-line has actually been okay at supporting the run, and today's poor sack day I think was more Matt Cassel just not throwing the ball than the failure of the line.

Chance it'll happen: 80%. I don't think we're better, just about as good. We could be much better, and maybe we would with Waters. But I still think we've done pretty well considering.

No. 4: Matt Cassel has got to show Hall-of-Fame characteristics as a signal-caller. Not. Waaay not. Today was a classic example. Sorry, but the "He just had a bad day" excuse doesn't cut it. He just has too many of these days. Not all the time, I agree. Sometimes he's really good, I know.

But we will not win anything with him in there.

Today he showed that he just doesn't have enough confidence in himself to fire the ball in the creases and seams where it just needs to be thrown. Contending-team quarterbacks regularly throw the ball into those places only they can throw, amazing everyone. Matt Cassel just does not do that much. He's a gamer, he's a leader, he's a competitor -- all that, awesome, he has Pro Bowl qualities in those areas.

Today was an unmitigated disaster of a day for Cassel, but it just revealed that we have got to get ready to put the ball into someone else's hands.

Will that be the next best quarterback after Andrew Luck who we can snatch up in the draft? Will that be Ricky Stanzi whom a good QB-developing coach not-Todd-Haley will turn into a Hall-of-Famer? It definitely must be one of those two options if we hope to be a true contender within the next ten years.

Chance it'll happen: 30%. Definitely the right call here. Very little chance that it would happen, and it didn't.

No. 5: Wide receivers must step it up, a lot. This is definitely one area of success, big-time. Mostly just because of the Chiefs pick-up of Steve Breaston. What a find. The guy has been a stud out there. One of the brighest areas of otherwise woeful Chiefsitude this year.

A shout-out can also be made for Jonathan Baldwin, who looks like a fantastic player, although he really showed his rookie-ness out there today. On one play Cassel, to his credit, threw a strike to Baldwin in the endzone, but he simply turned the wrong way. Once he gets on track, he will be a fantastic target for our new QB next year.

And Bowe. He was simply awesome again today.

Chances it'll happen: 65%. This is definitely a happenin.' Breaston is a vet, but could he be around for a few more years when we gel with Bowe and Baldwin? Funny, I didn't know this, but he's been around the same number of years as Bowe, five. Can both these guys be around for a No. 1 QB pick or developed-Ricky-Stanzi Super Bowl run in a few years?

Oh that'd be sweet.

For now, brutal reality.
_