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INJURY REPORT: FINAL GAME STATUS DESIGNATIONS
September 25th – 2:21 PM

Chiefs

Questionable - WR Dwayne Bowe, LB Derrick Johnson, TE Jake O’Connell, G Brian Waters

Probable - QB Matt Cassel, CB Brandon Flowers

Eagles
Out - G Todd Herremans, CB Dimitri Patterson

Doubtful - S Quintin Demps, WR Kevin Curtis, QB Donovan McNabb

Questionable - WR DeSean Jackson, RB Brian Westbrook

Probable - DE Victor Abiamiri, LB Omar Gaither, G Max jean-Gilles, T Winston Justice, LB Joe Mays, CB Asante Samuel

ONE-ON-ONE WITH CLANCY PENDERGAST
September 25th – 1:45 PM

Today kcchiefs.com conducted an exclusive one-on-one interview with new Chiefs defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast. Fans haven’t heard a lot from Pendergast since his hiring in March. The video of the interview, in full, will be featured on kcchiefs.com shortly.

One of the questions that I asked Pendergast revolved around preparing for the unknown this weekend. The Eagles are a tough team to prepare for with the Wildcat formation, unorthodox offensive sets and the return of QB Mike Vick. Just how do you prepare for a team/scheme when you aren’t quite sure how an opponent will execute offensively.

To Pendergast, preparing for the team like the Eagles is all about taking care of the 11 guys you can control.

“We have to just go out and run our defense,” Pendergast explained. “Like I mentioned to our guys earlier, the most important thing is getting lined up and playing with good technique. Then let the rules of the defense carry out the call from there.”

JIM JOHNSON LEGACY LIVES ON
September 25th – 1:20 PM

As we’ve discussed throughout the week, the Eagles possess one of the most complex blitz packages in all of professional football. The foundation of their scheme was laid by the late Jim Johnson and has continued through the first two games of 2009 despite Sean McDermott taking over the reins of the Eagles defense.

”Looks like they’re carrying over a lot of the same stuff to me,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. “I would say that it’s hard to see a lot of difference now. Coach (Jim) Johnson was the best as far as the timing and instincts, when he did and didn’t bring (pressure) and staying ahead of the curve, so that’ll be on the new guy to pick up from there. But it doesn’t look like a lot is different. I can’t give enough credit. To me, going against anybody in the league, Coach Johnson was the one.“

Johnson and Haley squared off a year ago when the Eagles and Cardinals met to decide the NFC champion. Johnson’s blitzing schemes got to QB Kurt Warner on two occasions, but Haley’s offense averaged 6.3 yards per game that day and ultimately represented the NFC in the Super Bowl following that 32-25 victory.

”There are a lot of different ways that you can try to combat it,” Haley said today. “We try to watch a lot of tape together as a group, everybody in the same room. Which I think when you’re playing like this, that communication helps as you watch tape together, whether it’s practice or tape of the Eagles defense. You have everybody in there at once and you try not to leave a lot of gray area amongst yourselves.”

FRIDAY PRACTICE REPORT
September 25th – 11:05 AM

The artificial crowd noise is blaring at Arrowhead today. One of the players with a question mark by his name for this weekend in Philly is WR Dwayne Bowe. Bowe looked to be limited, but was on the practice field this morning with a wrap on his right leg.

LB Derrick Johnson was the only player on the Chiefs active-53 working out on the sidelines in the “rehab zone.” Johnson ruled himself out against Philly yesterday after practice.

CULTURE SHIFT
September 25th – 5:55 AM

There are four quarters in a football game, so why would anyone expect an NFL head coach to think of his 16-game NFL schedule any other way. The Chiefs are 1/8 of the way finished with the 2009 football season. Or, in football terms, the Chiefs are finished with half of the first quarter.

“We’re 0-2 in the first quarter of the season now,” Chiefs head coach Todd Haley said. “I just fight the urge to fall into the trap that we’re 0-and-anything other than two. We’ve had a chance to win both games and we didn’t. Like I said earlier in the week, we could be 2-0 right now or we could be 1-1 and 0-2 and we’re 0-2. Obviously, every week that you get ready to go is a must win.”

That’s the way it is under Arrowhead’s new leadership. Every game is a must win. It doesn’t matter who the Chiefs are playing, how the team is playing, who is injured or what the club’s record is. Each week presents a new opportunity to do one thing: WIN.

“That’s our job,” Haley said. “That’s what everybody is getting paid and coach for: to win games. If you’re thinking its okay to turn one in you probably won’t be around for long. We’ve got to find ways to win a game.”

Winning is a powerful thing. Finding ways to win is the critical factor. That’s something that this team still needs to learn how to do. Just as winning is contagious, losing is contagious as well. After winning just six games over two-plus seasons, this organization was in need of a culture shift. That’s just what is happening now.

As soon as this team can get over the hump and close out a football game, that 1,000-pound gorilla sitting on the front steps of Arrowhead will get a bit lighter. This team has been so close on so many occasions over the past two seasons, but they haven’t been able to shut the door on opponents for a number of different reasons.

After losing so many games over the past two years, a new culture was needed. A maturity process is critical for a young football team. That’s where the culture shift comes in – lead by Todd Haley and Scott Pioli, and by proven veteran winners like LB Mike Vrabel or S Mike Brown.

“Like I said, we had opportunities to win both games and didn’t get it done for whatever reason,” Haley said. “This is our game that we’re worried about right now and we’re not worried about anything else – not anything outside of this building, this practice field and once we get on the plane and field in Philadelphia that’s where the focus and concern will be.”

So the million dollar question becomes, how can you tell when the culture beings to shift? Are wins a direct correlation to the status of an organization’s culture? Do back-to-back seasons of 10-plus wins mean that the culture has swung the way Arrowhead’s brass would like? Well…yeah, wins are a great sign. But becoming a consistent winner is much easier said than done. These things don’t happen magically. It’s takes a foundation.

“As we go forward here we’ve got to make sure we find out who we got and who we don’t, who we can count on and who, maybe we can’t,” Haley said. “That’s the process we’re in and that’s the process of winning. That’s the way that I know it.

“(We’re watching) everything: preparation, how they take care of their bodies, film study, are they doing the minimum or the maximum basically, how they then come out to practice, what’s their energy level like,” Haley continued. “Is it one guy trying to drag guys behind him, or is it 10, 12 or 14 guys out in the front saying this is a critical day for us. It’s the whole package and we’re watching all the time.”

Haley knows what it takes to shift an organization’s culture. He’s been through the beginning stages, the losses, the hardships and everything in between. But Haley’s also saw the end result of a turnaround Arizona. One that consisted of the glory that is was a conference championship and representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.

A winning culture starts with an administration and eventually that attitude shifts throughout the crevices of an organization from top to bottom. But, ultimately, everything goes back to one thing: The Players.

“When you have guys that ‘get it,’ you have a chance,” Haley finished.

Haley is evaluating this team every single day. Each practice, each game, each meeting and each workout; none of it goes unnoticed. The culture of the Chiefs organization is beginning to shift.