Art Hains

We're at the quarter pole of Todd Haley's first season, and on the surface, there doesn't seem to be much change in the results. There is plenty of blame to go around for the Chiefs' 2-23 showing in the season and a half preceding Haley/Pioli's arrival. And Haley is having to learn on the job as a first-time head coach.

What is encouraging is that, while he has demanded "accountability" from the players from day one, he also appears to accept that for himself. In the Oakland post-game press conference, he took responsibility for the clock management fiasco at the end of the first half. Haley has shown self-awareness in admitting that he needs to reign in his emotions to be a successful NFL head coach. He has recently had some words of praise for some of the players, even in the face of an 0-4 start. Brian Waters, who memorably got off to such a bad start with the new regime, is an example of a player who has bought into the new ways and earned Haley's praise and respect.

Mitch talks about the "bricks", laying a foundation for the future. We'll know more about which bricks will be long-lasting by the end of the season, but the Brandons at the corners top the list. D-Bowe. Hopefully Branden Albert. Tamba Hali has had his moments playing OLB and Glenn Dorsey has shown signs of improvement. Matt Cassel had better be a brick. And speaking of which, and this point has been much made, his performance has obviously been affected by the offensive line. The great Marty teams of the 90s and the Vermeil teams of the early 00s were anchored by great O-lines. Without one, you can't do much offensively but a fire drill, as Tyler Thigpen executed last year. This certainly is going to have to be the major area to address in the off-season, both through the draft and free agency.

The schedule starts to get more reasonable soon. Dallas hasn't exactly been a world-beater, and Washington has eked out a pair of home wins against winless teams. The Chiefs certainly have been dominated in 3 of the first 4 games, but those were against 3 of the better teams in the league.

No one is officially using the dreaded "rebuilding" word, but that's obviously what's going on, for the second year in a row. The current pain could have been lessened had this started in 2007, but that's water under the bridge. This season is about improvement, trial and error, and hopefully some Chiefs Kingdom-celebrating wins before long.