Tyler Palko has left a lot of people scratching their heads. It's obvious Dwayne Bowe didn't know what to make of the last throw that did the Chiefs in on Monday Night -- a throw that ended up in the hands of the Steelers for the third interception on Palko for the night. It was also the play that killed the potential game-winning drive. So goes the Chiefs with Palko under center.
Perhaps that's unfair, but everyone besides Todd Haley seems to see that Palko just isn't cut out to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. Comments on our own Twitter feed wonder whether the Chiefs head coach was watching the same game as the rest of us. Pro Football Focus was wondering the same thing, as they described Palko's performance on Sunday night as the type that leaves you "dumbfounded."
Sometimes a quarterback makes a throw so bad that you have to watch it over and over again to try and figure out what he’s doing. Then after telling yourself you’ve figured it out, you just watch it again dumbfounded. That was the Tyler Palko (-2.9) interception with 13:29 to go in Q2 that capped the impressive hat trick of three snaps, three turnovers. He got marginally better from there (because he couldn’t get any worse), though he did take a sack because he needless held onto the ball before throwing the game clinching interception.
The interesting thing about Palko is he’s the kind of player that can beat himself – you don’t need to get overly creative, just takeaway space on the field. All three of his interceptions came when the Steelers opted against blitzing, and two of them were when he faced no pressure at all. Needless to say he is not cut out to be a starting NFL QB.
This week, Kyle Orton should take the reins for good despite Haley's attempts to convince the media otherwise. He's simply much more talented than Palko and should get the chance to get the Chiefs offense moving.