Todd Haley: Why the Kansas City Chiefs Coach Shouldn't Be Fired Immediately

Things are looking pretty bleak in Kansas City these days. The Chiefs were embarrassed by a Buffalo Bills team that few expected to make any noise this season in Week 1. This week, the Detroit Lions are in the process of handing them a beat down of similar proportions. 

So far this season, in two games, the Chiefs have been outscored 89-10 against less than stellar competition. Anytime a team meets lofty preseason expectations with a pair of DOA performances, the head coach is bound to start feeling some heat.

At this point, however, calls for Todd Haley’s head are premature. The Kansas City Chiefs are still a very young team with a good deal of talent. But young teams in the NFL are generally prone to stretches of inconsistency, and that is exactly what we are seeing right now. 

The injuries to Jamaal Charles and Eric Berry certainly don’t help their cause either, nor does starting the season with 2 tough road games in the first three weeks, with trips to the surging Detroit Lions and to tough divisional opponents the San Diego Chargers.

Simply put, Todd Haley deserves a little more time before his tenure in KC is judged (or terminated). Losing offensive coordinator Charlie Weis was a huge blow to their offense, especially to Matt Cassel, who has seriously regressed under Bill Muir. Especially with so many young players and the abbreviated offseason, it will take time to get the offense going again.

The real puzzle is the defense, which has followed up a strong 2010 campaign with two utterly dreadful performances in 2011. With Philip Rivers on the schedule next weekend, they had better figure out what’s wrong quickly, or they could be staring down a third straight huge game for the opposing offense. 

The passing defense has made Ryan Fitzpatrick and Matthew Stafford look like All-Pros so far this season, and suffice it to say that Rivers doesn’t need their help.

Todd Haley led the Chiefs to as many wins last season as they had in the previous three seasons combined. In some ways, last year’s 10 wins against a pillow-soft schedule probably led to over-inflated expectations this season, which will only increase the level of chatter among fans about Todd Haley’s future. 

Unless the Chiefs continue to be totally non-competitive, Haley should get a chance to continue last year’s progress with a young team. However, too many more 30-40 point shellackings will crank up the heat on Todd Haley, and do so quickly.