29-year old Matt Cassel missed a huge chunk of the season due to injury, but he didn’t play too well before he was injured.  Cassel played in 9 games (all starts) for the Chiefs last year and he completed 160 of 269 passes (59.5%) for 1,713 yards with 10 TD passes and 9 INTs (76.6 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 25 times for 99 yards (4.0 ypc) last season.  Cassel was 4-5 (44.4%) as the Chiefs’ starting QB this year.  Cassel has now played in 69 games (54 starts) in his NFL career so far and he has completed 1,042 of 1,767 passes (59%) for 11,699 yards with 76 TD passes and 45 INTs (82.5 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 193 times for 711 yards (3.7 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his NFL career.  Cassel has a 28-26 (51.9%) record as a starting QB during the regular season so far in his career.  The Chiefs are likely going to give Cassel some competition for his starting gig next training camp.

28-year old Tyler Palko was pathetic for the Chiefs last year.  He played in 6 games (4 starts) for the Chiefs last year and he completed 80 of 134 passes (59.7%) for 796 yards with 2 TD passes and 7 INTs (59.8 QB Rating).  Palko also carried the ball 5 times for 15 yards (3.0 ypc) last year for the Chiefs.  Palko was 1-3 (25%) as the starting QB for the Chiefs this year.  He has now played in 8 games (4 starts) in his NFL career so far and he has completed 84 of 140 passes (60%) for 831 yards with 2 TD passes and 7 INTs (60.7 QB Rating).  Palko has also carried the ball 7 times for 20 yards (2.9 ypc) so far in his NFL career.

29-year old Kyle Orton led the Chiefs to a 2-1 record in three late season starts.  He played in 9 games (8 starts) overall last year for the Broncos & Chiefs and he completed 150 of 252 passes (59.5%) for 1,758 yards with 9 TD passes and 9 INTs (77.8 QB Rating).  Orton also carried the ball 11 times for 13 yards (1.2 ypc) last year.  Orton was 3-5 (37.5%) overall as a starting QB last year.  Orton has now played in 71 games (69 starts) in his NFL career and he has completed 1,284 of 2,204 (58.3%) passes for 14,532 yards with 80 TD passes and 57 INTs (79.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 110 times for 274 yards (2.5 ypc) with 3 TD runs so far in his NFL career.  Orton is now 35-34 (50.7%) as a starting QB during the regular season in the NFL.

The first thing new head coach Romeo Crennel has done is bench 28-year old QB Tyler Palko.  Palko has played in six games for the Chiefs so far this year and he has completed 80 of 134 passes (59.7%) for 796 yards with 2 TD passes and 7 INTs (59.8 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 5 times for 15 yards (3.0 ypc) so far this year.  Crennel is going to go with 29-year old Kyle Orton (health permitting) or rookie 24-year old Ricky Stanzi at QB against the Packers this Sunday.  Orton has played in 6 games so far this year for the Chiefs & Broncos and he has completed 91 of 156 (58.3%) passes for 979 yards with 8 TD passes and 7 INTs (75.2 QB Rating).  Orton has also carried the ball 5 times for 17 yards (3.4 ypc) so far this year.  Ricky Stanzi was a fifth round pick out of Iowa in last April’s NFL Draft.  He has yet to make his NFL debut.

28-year old lefty throwing QB Tyler Palko proved last Monday Night that he’s not quite ready for prime time.  He was getting his first NFL start against a Patriots team that has the worst defense in the NFL and he could only muster 3 points.  Palko has now played in 3 games for the Chiefs so far this year and he completed 30 of 45 passes (66.7%) for 283 yards with 0 TD passes and 3 INTs (56.1 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 2 times for 2 yards (1.0 ypc) so far this year.  Tyler Palko has an extremely weak arm and according to my eyes, he doesn’t belong in the NFL, period!

Starting QB Matt Cassel is likely done for the season due to surgery on his throwing hand.  Cassel has played in 9 games for the Chiefs so far this year and he has completed 160 of 269 passes (59.5%) for 1,713 yards with 10 TD passes and 9 INTs (76.6 QB Rating).  He also has carried the ball 25 times for 99 yards (4.0 ypc) so far this year.  28-year old lefty slinging Tyler Palko will take over as the Chiefs’ starting QB for now.  He has played in 2 games for the Chiefs and he has completed 5 of 7 passes (71.4%) for 47 yards without a TD pass or interception (89.6 QB Rating).  Palko has also carried the ball 1 time for 8 yards so far this year for the Chiefs.  Palko has a weak throwing arm but he is accurate and he can move in the pocket or take off running.  If Palko falters, the Chiefs might turn to rookie Ricky Stanzi at QB.

44-year old head coach Todd Haley almost got fired after the Chiefs started this year 0-3.  It’s not that they got beat, it was how they got beat as they were outscored by a combined score of 109-27!  But, then the Chiefs ripped off a 4- game winning streak, before falling flat on their face with a 31-3 beatdown at home against the lowly Dolphins.  The Chiefs are now 18-22 (45%) in Haley’s first three years in charge.  Haley will need to get the offense amped up if he wants to keep his job as the Chiefs are only averaging 16.4 points per game and 312.8 yards on offense so far this year.

The Chiefs thought they were in good shape coming into this season at WR.  But the results have not been what the Chiefs were expecting so far this year.  Dwayne Bowe is leading the way for the Chiefs so far this year with 29 grabs for 496 yards (17.1 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Steve Breaston is just recently stepping up for the Chiefs.  He has now caught 19 passes for 293 yards (15.4 avg) with 2 TD grabs so far this year.  Jon Baldwin has only caught 1 pass for 14 yards so far this year.  That’s because he started the year late after getting in a fist fight in the locker room with RB Thomas Jones, in which he broke one of his thumbs.  The Chiefs have high hopes for Baldwin, who they took in the first round of the 2011 NFL Draft last April.  Keary Colbert (7 rec, 65 yards), Terrance Copper (1 rec, 9 yards) and Jerheme Urban (1 rec, 6 yards) have all been big disappointments for the Chiefs so far this year.  The Chiefs need more production out of this group.

28-year old WR Steve Breaston started showing signs of life for the Chiefs last week against the Vikings when he caught 4 passes for 91 yards (22.8 avg).  The Chiefs hope that Breaston can keep up the good work going forward, because the passing game needs him to be successful badly.  Breaston has played in all 4 games for the Chiefs so far this year and he has caught 10 passes for 179 yards (17.9 avg).

The Chiefs need 29-year old QB Matt Cassel to step up and soon!  Cassel has started both of the Chiefs’ games at QB so far this year and he has completed 37 of 58 passes (63.8%) for 252 yards with 1 TD pass and 4 INTs (50.4 QB Rating).  The Chiefs don’t really have many alternatives at QB as Tyler Palko and rookie Ricky Stanzi would likely both be overmatched right now.  Cassel needs to get back to the QB he was last season when he turned in a great year.

With Jamaal Charles out for the season, the Chiefs need 33-year old Thomas Jones and 23-year old Dexter McCluster to step up.  Jones will likely get about 2/3 of the carries in the running game going forward.  He has played in both of the Chiefs’ games so far and he has carried the ball 14 times for 43 yards (3.1 ypc).  Jones is a tough guy and he should do a solid job for the Chiefs.  Dexter McCluster doesn’t have the build to carry a heavy workload running the ball.  He has played in both of the Chiefs’ games so far and he has carried the ball 12 times for 93 yards (7.8 ypc).  He has also caught 9 passes for 23 yards (2.6 avg) this year.  Jones and McCluster are plenty capable of giving the Chiefs a solid running game going forward, but make no mistake…..they are going to miss Charles’ big play ability in the running game.

The Chiefs have promoted 23-year old safety Kendrick Lewis to the starting lineup to replace the injured Eric Berry.  Lewis replaced Berry in yesterday’s game with the Chiefs and he had 4 tackles.  Lewis played in 13 games as a rookie for the Chiefs last year and he had 30 tackles, 1 forced fumble, 7 passes defensed and 3 interceptions.  Lewis is more than capable of replacing Berry against the pass, but the Chiefs are going to miss him as a run thumper.