Todd Haley: KC Chiefs Coach Firmly on Hot Seat After Blowout Loss to Lions

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley is learning the hard way that the NFL is a Janet Jackson league.

No, I'm not suggesting that the Chiefs are suffering from "wardrobe malfunctions," but rather wholesale malfunctions on both sides of the ball that came to light late last season and have only worsened this summer.

All of which has landed Haley's behind firmly on the hot seat just two weeks into the 2011 season and less than a calendar year after leading his team to the top of the AFC West.

KC has dropped each of its last four games by three touchdowns or more dating back to January, with Sunday's 48-3 kowtow to the Detroit Lions as the latest, if not the most embarrassing, entry into that lackluster lineage. The streak began with a 31-10 home loss to the Oakland Raiders in the 2010 season finale. That futility spilled into the following week with another blowout at Arrowhead Stadium, 30-7 to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC wild card round.

Apparently, eight months wasn't long enough for the grounds crew in KC to exorcise those demons. The Chiefs opened up their 2011 schedule with their tails still stuck between their legs, suffering a 41-7 slaughter at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, marking the most lopsided home loss in franchise history.

There are a million ways to divide up the blame for the Chiefs' struggles, though Haley stands to catch most of the flack. Quarterback Matt Cassel deserves to shoulder some of that. Over those four games, Cassel has completed only 52.3 percent of his passes for 109.3 yards per game with one touchdown and nine interceptions.

This season's failures have been exacerbated by bad luck, from Cassel's achy ribs to the bum knees of safety Eric Berry, tight end Tony Moeaki and Pro Bowl running back Jamaal Charles. With so many key players either banged up or out for the season, Haley's Chiefs can hardly be counted on to turn things around from here, not with games against the Chargers, the Patriots, the Steelers, the Bears, the Jets and the Packers left on their schedule.

Frankly, with the way KC has played thus far, inhabiting the role of "loser" in the widest margin of victory in Lions franchise history, the Chiefs can hardly be favored against the Raiders, the Vikings, the Colts, the Broncos and the Dolphins. At this point, an 0-16 season isn't out of the question for the Chiefs.

Yes, folks, they are, in fact, that bad. 

But pleading the injury case won't be enough for Haley to save his job, not after foolishly playing his starters in the team's preseason finale and watching Moeaki head to IR as a result. Nor will holding up a division crown, not after going just 2-4 against AFC West opponents to "earn" it.

Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli needs only answer one question to determine that Haley, in just his third year on the job, isn't the right man for the job:

What have you done for me lately?

 The answer? Well, you already know that.

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