Monday, September 12, 2011

Berry's injury is another strike for Haley

It looks as if the worst news out of Arrowhead Stadium Sunday had nothing to do with the final score.

The Chiefs announced Monday that safety Eric Berry, who left the season-opener on two seperate occasions early on before heading to the locker room, is out for the season with a torn ACL.


And here's the kicker:  It may have been avoidable.

In the first quarter Sunday, Berry was hit low by Bills' wide receiver Stevie Johnson, and had to leave the game momentarily. You can see that video by clicking here.

Berry was seemingly OK. But three plays after re-entering the game, he went down while in pursuit of a ball-carrier without absorbing any contact to his knee. That's when the "tear" of the ACL presumably occured. You can see that video here.

It's likely Berry's ACL had only been sprained on the cut-block by Johnson (which, by the way, the Chiefs have told the NFL they felt was dirty). It's possible the training staff inexcusably allowed Berry to talk them into letting him back into the game, thus risking further damage to his knee.

Now, Berry is out for the year — or worse. ACL tears can sometimes be career-threatening.

Regardless of the circumstances, this is yet another strike for Todd Haley. He already has the Moeaki injury hanging over his head from the final preseason game. Oh, and of course, that 41-7 home loss to one of 2010's worst teams.

Suddenly, the coach who just last season turned a 4-12 loser into a division winner has allowed himself to become mostly hated by the hometown fans, and finds himself smack-dab on the hot seat.

Is it too early to for the Bill Cowher talk to begin?

8 comments:

  1. I heard Nick Wright sounding off on the Chiefs training staff for allowing Berry back into the game-- he was as irked as you.

    Don't tease me w/ the Bill Cowher talk. This looks like a disaster.

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  2. Cut blocks are not illegal, that was a routine play that happens dozens and dozens of time every Sunday.

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  3. This is silly. Haley's not on the hot seat after one game. It sucked to be sure but don't overreact.

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  4. Never said the cut block was illegal, nor do I think it was. Just simply stating Berry should have never been allowed back into the game after the block, and it may have cost him his season.

    As for Haley being on the hot seat, that's personal opinion. What we do know is his against-the-grain preseason tactics have completely backfired, and his team was nowhere near ready to play Sunday. It's a steep uphill battle from here.

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  5. I like Haley and Im a chiefs fan. so there!
    I feel really bad that hes getting all this crap from fans. Just because the Bills sucked last year down mean they will be one of the worst this year... The loss of Berry hurts but we will not be going 0-16. Anyone who says that is an idiot.
    Img with the guy before me. People are overreacting. (last year was NOT a fluke)

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  6. Last year was a fluke due to a soft schedule. We're toast I say, TOAST!

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  7. The Bills put a royal ass whooping on the Chiefs and your crying about that one block? I would expect some Chiefs to go down when they are taking such a thorough ass beating.

    I'm pretty sure if i asked you before the game, you would tell me how the 'Chiefs are gonna kill the Bills'. And that 'Eric Berry is gonna blow up one of your receivers'.

    Well, the opposite happened.... get over it.

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  8. To the last commenter--

    Still looking for the part where anyone was "crying about that one block". You are the second person to imply that I was trying to say Johnson's block was illegal. That wasn't the case at all. The point of the article (as explained in the title) is about whether or not Berry should have been allowed back into the game after the hit, and that the hit may have not put him out for the year had he not re-entered the game... and that Haley is responsible for it.

    Try actually reading the article next time.

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