If any team over the last 20 years has written the book on playing dumb football it would be Al Davis and his band of silver and black from Oakland.  For 10 years, Marty Schottenheimer told his Chiefs that all they had to do was play hard and tough and then wait for the Raiders to screw up.  And, they always did.

Now, the Chiefs are playing like the Raiders and they did against Oakland, helping the visitors to a 13-10 victory that is the most unexpected gift that the silver and black have received in some time.

The Chiefs margin of error is a slim one.  They do not have enough talent to be able to make mistakes and expect to win games.  Haley says they will go back to work on being a smart team on Monday.  Something has to change, because the idea of being a smart team is not getting through to these guys.

Smart doesn’t guarantee victory.

But dumb will lock up defeat every time.

I’ve been trying to find the perfect mix of optimism when talking about the direction of the team with the reality of how difficult the 2009 season will be for the Chiefs.  It’s the games like yesterday’s that make it hard to keep any of the optimism around.  But unlike some people, I will not dub the new regime a failure two games into their first season.

Speaking of which…

As a surprise to no one, Jason Whitlock’s weekly Todd Haley-bashing column was out shortly after the game at Arrowhead ended.

Let’s hope Todd Haley spent Sunday night standing in front of a mirror, screaming at himself.

If he holds himself to the same standards as his players, he might be on the waiver wire this morning.

His coaching display Sunday afternoon against the Oakland Raiders was an embarrassment, as bad as anything I’ve seen in the NFL.

Losing at home to these Raiders on a day when JaMarcus Russell unseated Ryan Leaf as the most ill-prepared quarterback in league history required a special level of coaching incompetence — a combination of arrogance, flawed logic and lack of self-control rarely seen on network TV.

If 22 players off the street can win two NFL games, there were 70,000 people inside Arrowhead Stadium who could have done a better job than Scott Ego-li’s handpicked coach.

I’m not here to defend Todd Haley, but “as bad as anything I’ve seen in the NFL”?  C’mon, Jason.  You’re better than that.  I understand you will never like anything Scott Pioli and Haley ever do.  The Chiefs could be celebrating a Super Bowl victory and you will be the one complaining about a 3rd and 4 call in the second quarter.

Haley was not good yesterday, but neither way his quarterback.  Where’s the Cassel-bashing?  Or how about the defense rolling over on that final drive?  There was plenty to dislike.  So maybe next week you can write some original material.

Former Chiefs defensive lineman Alfonso Boone could be playing in the AFC West this season after all, according to Brad Biggs at National Football Post.

The San Diego Chargers are not wasting time in their search for a replacement for nose tackle Jamal Williams, who was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a torn triceps.  Alfonso Boone is en route to San Diego now and could sign with the team as soon as Monday.

The nine-year veteran doesn’t have experience in the 3-4, but he has played for Chargers defensive coordinator Ron Rivers and defensive line coach Don Johnson previously with the Chicago Bears.  Boone made a visit to Oakland at the start of the month but a contract offer did not materialize after the Raiders traded for Richard Seymour.

The Chargers’ run defense allowed Baltimore to gain 130 yards on 32 rushes in the Ravens’ victory.  Although the Ravens didn’t break a run longer than 13 yards, they got consistent production.

Boone will be working with a more talented unit in San Deigo, but I still don’t think he’ll be a great fit in the 3-4.  Kansas City will get a first hand look at Boone with his new team week 7 right before the Chiefs’ bye week.

The Chiefs released Amani Toomer, Alfonso Boone and Cameron Goldberg.  The team also placed Devard Darling on the Reserve/Injured List and Kolby Smith on the Reserve/Physically-Unable-to-Perform List.

Toomer was signed during training camp and saw limited action while with the team.

Boone was entering his 9th season in the league and was transitioning from defensive tackle to end in the new 3-4 defense.  He played in 15 games last season with 4 starts while registering 14 tackles and 1 sack.

Goldberg was a rookie free agent out of Duke.

Darling suffered a reported torn ACL during last week’s preseason game and is expected to spend the year recovering from surgery.

Kolby Smith is still trying to recover from a knee injury he suffered last season.  Being placed on the PUP list makes him ineligible for the first 6 games of the season.

No huge surprises here.

Boone is the only one that really jumps out since he was not only a starter for portions of the last two seasons, but had spent time with the first team in training camp.

I’ve already received emails from people upset that Toomer was let go and while I thought Haley would want as many veteran receivers on the roster, the coach feels Bobby Engram is all the veteran leadership the corps needs.  I think he showed enough in his short time to get a sniff elsewhere this year.

Goldberg was a long shot from the jump and might have a chance at the practice squad.  Darling and Smith were expected moves due to their injuries.

(photo via Rich Sugg)

The Kansas City Chiefs resumed their voluntary OTAs today and Bob Gretz was there to get the scoop.

There were 81 of the 85 roster players on the field for the OTA.   Missing were LB Brian Waters and OLB Mike Vrabel, thus keeping intact their string of not taking part in anything this off-season that hasn’t been mandatory.  Also missing was the recently married TE Tony Curtis and rookie CB Donald Washington who is expected later this week once classes are over at Ohio State.

The players rehabbing remained the same: Brodie Croyle, Kolby Smith, Glenn Dorsey and Ron Edwards.

Along the defensive line, the guy who is leading that group right now is veteran Alfonso Boone.  During a team passing segment of practice he broke up a screen pass for Tyler Thigpen to Dantrell Savage in the backfield.

Matt Cassel got the most work among the quarterbacks and was 15 of 18 in the portions of practice where he threw against a defense.  He did have one pass picked off by Derrick Johnson when he jumped an inside route by Brad Cottam for what would likely have been a pick six.  It was hard to tell if it was a great play by Johnson or a bad route by Cottam.

The quarterbacks were on the move today as both Cassel and Thigpen had multiple throws on short bootlegs to the left and right.  Thigpen and WR Rodney Wright combined on a nice throw and catch.

New OLB Tamba Hali read a running play in the teamwork portion of practice and almost grabbed the hand off from Cassel to Jackie Battle.  It was one of the better defensive plays of the offseason.  Also on defense, Jon McGraw, DaJuan Morgan and rookie LB Jovan Belcher all knocked down passes in coverage.

In the teamwork session, Larry Johnson had a nice run off right guard, hitting the hole quickly and accelerating to the second level of the defense.

Well, at least Vrabel and Waters are consistent.  I don’t want to go crazy, but it’s still disappointing to me that every player isn’t involved in these sessions.  As for the players that did show up, it’s good to see Derrick Johnson pick off Cassel for what would have been a pick six.  For all the additions this season at linebacker, Johnson is the key for me if they are going to be successful as a unit.  And speaking of linebackers, Hali reading a play from his new position and busting it up is a good sign for him as they move towards training camp.  Some great notes in there as Bob Gretz continues his stellar reporting, so jump over to his site for the full story.