Why Fired Coach Todd Haley Isn't Sole Reason for Chiefs' Terrible Year

Kansas City Chiefs coach Todd Haley was fired Monday following his team's 37-10 loss to the New York Jets that dropped the Chiefs to 5-8.

The Chiefs' official Twitter account tweeted the news this morning with a simple, to-the-point message:

"

HALEY RELIEVED OF DUTIES - http://goo.gl/P3fHB #chiefs

"

Haley will leave Kansas City with a 19-26 career mark and one AFC West championship, which he won last season. Judging by what you've seen in 2011, you'd be hard-pressed to say this was a division champion just nine months earlier. 

The Chiefs started the season 0-2, with losses of 41-7 and 48-3, then lost to the Chargers in Week 3 to fall to 0-3. Rumblings of Haley's firing started swirling.

A four-game winning streak that vaulted the Chiefs to the top of the AFC West seemed like enough to save Haley's job for this season. But then came Sunday's 37-10 beatdown at the hands of the Jets. It marked the sixth time this season that the Chiefs have lost by 25 or more points.

When you look at it in those terms, Haley's firing wasn't all that surprising.  

However, Haley isn't the sole reason for the Chiefs' disappointing 2011 season.

While injuries happen to every NFL team each season, the Chiefs have been ravaged in 2011.

Kansas City lost their best offensive weapon in Jamaal Charles in Week 2. Sure, you can argue that the Chiefs were blown out in both games that Charles was healthy for this season. But you can't deny how vastly important he was to the Chiefs offense.

For a team that was amongst the best running teams in the NFL in 2010, the Chiefs have fallen to No. 15 this season. That can be directly attributed to losing Charles so early in the season.

Matt Cassel going down after the Chiefs' Week 9 loss to the Broncos was a season-killer. At 4-5, the Chiefs still had hopes of getting back to the playoffs. Losing Cassel meant Tyler Palko assumed the starting role, and that gave the Chiefs almost zero chance of winning games with New England and Pittsburgh. 

Don't overlook the loss of safety Eric Berry, either. He was quickly emerging as one of the best safeties in the NFL in just his second season. Berry simply was a force in both the pass and run games. Without him, the Chiefs' defensive ranks have dropped off in 2011. 

So, while I don't think the Chiefs firing Haley was completely unexpected, many more factors went into the Chiefs' collapse this season than just poor head coaching. It definitely was a factor, especially in the several blowout losses the Chiefs have suffered this season, but you can't discount how much the injuries affected this team in 2011. Losing your most offensive weapon, quarterback and defensive leader are hard blows to sustain. The majority of teams in the NFL couldn't handle those kind of losses.

In the end, Haley couldn't avoid management's final knockout punch.