Following the Broncos’ 49-29 dismantling of the Chiefs on Sunday, Kansas City coach Todd Haley went to midfield and instead of shaking Josh McDaniels’ hand, he angrily pointed his figure at McDaniels and stormed off.
Just so you know I didn’t concoct this story on my own, here’s the video:
The Broncos led 35-10 at halftime and scored just once more in each of the final two quarters, but apparently Haley thought Denver should have taken a knee at the start of the third quarter.
Some will say that it wasn’t very sportsmanlike of the Broncos to keep throwing in the fourth quarter, but it’s not like the Chiefs were completely inept offensively. Matt Cassel threw for over 400 yards and four touchdowns, so clearly Kansas City wasn’t content to take a loss and get out of dodge as quickly as possible. Nor should they have been.
Football games last 60 minutes. There was no give up in the Chiefs and Haley shouldn’t have expected his opponents to give up either. Just because Kansas City had the better record and was in first place at the start of the day doesn’t mean Denver should have laid down for them.
There’s an unwritten rule in baseball that I absolutely loathe. Teams that are up “big” late in games aren’t supposed to steal as a courtesy to their opponent. But if a team doesn’t want to get run on when its getting its ass kicked, then it should try throwing runners out.
I’ll offer the same advice to Haley. The last time I checked, the Chiefs were playing with 11 players on defense. They weren’t at a disadvantage so if they wanted McDaniels and company to stop scoring, then they should have stopped the Broncos. It’s that simple.
