Kansas City Chiefs Fire Head Coach Romeo Crennel

The Kansas City Chiefs have decided to fire head coach Romeo Crennel, according to the team's official site. The move comes after weeks of speculation about Crennel's future. 

Last season, the longtime coach took over the Chiefs after the organization decided to let Todd Haley go with three weeks left in the regular season. The team went 2-1 down the stretch, and the players showed passion they hadn't illustrated throughout the first 13 games.

That was enough to earn Crennel a chance to build on the late-season momentum. The Chiefs entered the 2012 season with elevated expectations in a division filled with question marks but simply didn't live up to the hype and finished 2-14.

Kansas City lost its first two games by a combined 34 points and entered its Week 7 bye with a 1-5 record. Things didn't improve in the second half either, as the Chiefs were regularly outclassed, even losing by double digits to the Cleveland Browns (Crennel's former team) and Oakland Raiders.

It left the team with little choice but to begin making changes to the staff. Progress wasn't being made quickly enough to maintain the status quo.

While Crennel has taken the fall and deserves his fair share of blame for the team's struggles, at some point the Chiefs have to realize their roster isn't talented enough to compete for the playoffs right now.

Quarterbacks Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn were both dreadful throughout the season. When you can't get consistent play at football's most important position, it's tough to win games, let alone keep pace with a Denver Broncos team led by Peyton Manning.

The Chiefs finished 2012 near the bottom of the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense, a clear sign the talent level just isn't up to par on either side of the ball.

Ultimately, there's only so much a coach can do in a situation like that, but organizations want immediate results.

Crennel wasn't able to provide them, and now the Chiefs have let him go.