General manager Scott Pioli Home field Arrowhead Stadium Division place 4th AFC West | Owner The Hunt family Record 7–9 | |
Head coach Todd Haley (fired on December 12, 5–8 record)
Romeo Crennel (Interim; 2–1 record) | ||
The 2011 Kansas City Chiefs season was the franchise's 42nd season in the National Football League, the 52nd overall and the third under the head coach/general manager tandem of Todd Haley and Scott Pioli. The Chiefs failed to improve on their 10–6 record in 2010.
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On July 25, the NFLPA and the NFL owners agreed on a new collective bargaining agreement. The Chiefs training camp began on July 29 in St. Joseph, MO. The Chiefs played their first preseason game on August 12 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. On September 11, the Chiefs opened their regular season against the Buffalo Bills.
Despite entering the season with high expectations, even with their tough schedule, they did not earn their first win until Week 4 against the Minnesota Vikings and finished the first quarter of the season with a disappointing 1–3 record. After starting the season 5–8, head coach Todd Haley was fired after a 37–10 loss to the New York Jets and replaced by defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel on an interim basis for the remainder of the season.
2011 draft board
^[a] The Chiefs traded their original first-round selection (#21) to the Cleveland Browns in exchange for the first-round selection (#27) which the Browns had previously acquired from Atlanta, and Cleveland's third-round selection (#70 overall). ^[b] The Baltimore Ravens originally held the 26th pick, but they did not submit their pick in the allotted ten minutes which allowed Kansas City to pick ahead of them. ^[c] The Chiefs traded their original sixth-round selection (#187 overall) and DT Alex Magee to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for the fifth-round selection which the Buccaneers had previously acquired from Denver. ^[d] The Chiefs swapped fifth-round selections with the Detroit Lions (the Chiefs originally held the #154 overall selection), after the Lions were found guilty of tampering with Chiefs' players. ^[e] Compensatory selection.Week 12: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Hoping to snap a three-game losing streak, the Chiefs went home for a Week 12 Sunday night duel with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Kansas City delivered the game's first punch in the opening quarter with a 41-yard field goal from kicker Ryan Succop. The Steelers would answer in the second quarter with kicker Shaun Suisham getting a 21-yard field goal, followed by quarterback Ben Roethlisberger completing a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Weslye Saunders. The Chiefs would reply with a 49-yard field goal from Succop, but Pittsburgh would close out the half with Suisham booting a 49-yard field goal. After a scoreless third quarter, Kansas City began to chip away at their deficit in the fourth quarter with a 40-yard field goal from Succop. However, the Steelers' defense held on to preserve the win.
With the loss, the Chiefs fell to 4–7.
Week 15: vs. Green Bay Packers
In one of the biggest upsets of the year, the Chiefs beat the heavily favored Green Bay Packers, ending their hopes of a perfect season, and held Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers to worse game, statistically, of the season holding him to 235 yards 48.6 completion percentage and his only game of the season without multiple passing touchdowns. This was the last home victory for Kansas City until Week 13 of the 2012 season when they defeated the Carolina Panthers one day after the Jovan Belcher tragedy.