I know the topic of putting blame on Pioli and Haley has been non-stop, if you are tired with it I completely understand and you don't have to read this.  I wanted to make a new post to organize my counter-points for various aspects of criticism floating around AP blaming Pioli and Haley for the Chiefs dismay these last three weeks.

"The team is under the cap, Pioli should have dished out more cash in the offseason"

Ok.  It is very easy to say: "if we had TJ Housmanzatta, Chris Canty, Bart Scott, and Jason Brown on this team we would be 2-1 or 3-0."  Yeah our team would be a lot better with these players.  However, your premise makes the assumption that these players had the Chiefs on their radar.  The key word in free agent is "free".  You don't go to the NFL player store and just buy up all the goodies you want.  Players go to franchises that do three things.  One, they have a possibility to be a winner in the immediate future.  Two, they have a strong personal connection to either the city or a coach for the team.  Three, the team vastly overpays for the player.  Canty went to NY to win a superbowl.  Hous and Scott went to their respected teams because of personal connections.  And Brown was made the highest paid center in the league.  Brown is talented, but I find it funny that he isn't quite the player in St. Louis that he was in Baltimore.  Seems he lost some motivation.  We have to build this team through the draft whether you like it or not.  Marquis free agents are coming no where near KC thanks to what the previous regime did to the image of this franchise.  Once our foundation is in place look for some bigger names to be signed or possibly some guys that Pioli or Haley have a previous relationship with.

"You can't blame Herm and Carl anymore!  This is all on Haley and Pioli now!"

Yes, it is true that Herm and Carl's responsibilites are gone from this team.  But, that doesn't mean their fingers aren't still all over this roster.  Do you know how hard it is to turn over a 53 man roster in one offseason?  They inherited a mess.  The only non-first rounders to show any promise on this team have been DBs (except Pollard).  Thanks Herm, you weren't completely inept.  These players are mediocre to god awful.  You have to give these guys more than one offseason to get their pieces in place and to build a foundation. 

"Haley is going off the edge, he is always foaming at the mouth and he made a rash decision in firing Chan."

The first point I will make concerns Haley's coaching style.  Some people think the drill sargent routine leads to players not respecting the coach and it makes the team on edge all the time.  Do you think players liked playing with Bill Parcels?  Hell no, he is as cold and abrasive as they come.  But, he turns around programs fast and he does it by putting everyone on the same page by knocking them down a notch.  Haley is obviously a Parcels disciple.  It is who he is, why should he be anything different.  Every coach is different, and I'm not here saying the boot in your ass style is the best way to go.  That being said, I think it is exactly what the team needs at this point in time.  Mainly, due to its youth and experience.  These players are grown men, but grown men can behave like children too.  You have to motivate these guys and make sure you don't have any rouge parts.  It only takes one out of the eleven to blow the plan.

There are two things people point to concerning the Chan Gailey firing.  One: it is stupid to fire your offensive coordinatoor in the freaking pre-season and take on the load of OC and HC all by yourself.  Remember, Haley was hired late because he was in the superbowl.  All of the assistants were gobbled up long before he was named HC.  He obviously believed Chan wasn't doing it the way he wanted.  If thats the case then I completely agree with the decision.  He was stuck with Chan from the start.  If he thought he was going to spend an entire season moving this offense in the wrong direction than it was better to fire him in the pre-season than the off-season.  And Haley can handle the two positions just fine.  Once he gets his guy in place and is comfortable with where the offense is at he will delegate the responsibilty.  A lot of head coaches have done this including Haley's former Boss Wisenhunt.  Two: Gailey was a brillant OC and took a mediocre offense and put points on the board last year.  Yeah, we scored some points last year.  However, it was a gimmick offense that was created out of desparation because two of our QBs went down.  The arrowspread is not an offense for the long haul!  Your QB is never under center and it makes you one dimensional.  It is not an offense that won us very many games and it wouldn't of lead to a superbowl.  We have stick with what we are going to do come next year when a more solid foundation is in place. 

Closing Points

I'm not a kool-aid drinker.  I'm not saying I no Haley is going to bring a trophy to KC.  I'm basicly just saying that Rome wasn't built in a day.  Pioli and Haley are just digging a hole to put a foundation in.  I believe the foundation will be put in place come next season.  Then, we can really look to point the finger at these guys.  For this season we have to have love for the game.  Enjoy watching players develop and seeing how the team progresses as the season moves forward.  I hate losing!  I freaking hate it!  I want a superbowl bad!  I believe in Pioli and trust him.  He has three rings and is obviously a hardworking and very intelligent person.  He wants a superbowl bad as well.  That is why I trust his faith in Todd and in Cassel for that matter.  Lets not play the blame game this year.  Except on the players, they deserve it more than anyone.