Todd Haley respects his adversaries. One listen to his latest press conference reveals the esteem that the Kansas City Chiefs head coach has for the San Diego Chargers, the team they face on Monday Night Football for the AFC West division lead in just a few days. In short, he loves just about everything about the team.
“This is a team that got us just a short time ago,” says Haley. “San Diego is a very good team, a very well-coached team with some premiere, premiere skill players throughout their roster. They’ve been one of the best teams in the NFL for a pretty good stretch of time. Offensively, obviously Rivers and Vincent Jackson play at a high level. It looks like they’ll have [Antonio] Gates back. Ryan Matthews and Tolbert and Hester do a good job up front. They keep people away from Rivers. So they’re a team that can hurt you in a number of ways — running the ball and throwing it.”
“Defensively, they’re an aggressive physical group that we saw up close and personal again out there in San Diego. I think their special teams are generally real good and they’re a team that’s won a lot of games. This will be a big, big test for our team. Like I said, this is a very skilled San Diego Chargers team. Obviously we’re thrilled to play at home, but it’s what I told the players that it will take our best game of the year to be competitive with this team and that’s what we’re trying to get done this week to be ready to go.”
He said everyone is thrilled to have a home game on Monday Night Football, so there’s no doubt that it will be a major factor as well as the Chiefs momentum coming in. However, San Diego is always a major force to deal with, so the Chiefs will have their hands full. Luckily, they’re well aware of what they are facing this weekend.