The 0-3 start to begin the 2011 Kansas City Chiefs season has got to be one of the worst in franchise history. While the Chiefs were not expected to be 10-6 again in 2011, they were expected to compete in the AFC West.

Injuries have contributed to the 0-3 start as Kansas City has been hit hard by the injury bug in 2011.  The Chiefs have lost tight end Tony Moeaki, Pro-Bowl safety Eric Berry and Pro-Bowl running back Jamaal Charles to season-ending injuries. First-round draft pick Jonathan Baldwin has not played all year because he broke his hand this preseason in a locker-room fight with veteran running back Thomas Jones.

While losing three, young, up-and-coming players to injury will put any team in a hole, these injuries have not been the main reason for the Chiefs start in 2011.   I will address the true reasons for this awful start after the jump.

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So let me start by giving the KC defense their just due for a great game yesterday. The secondary was already without Eric Berry and then lost starters Brandon Flowers and Jon McGraw. Despite that, they held one of the best passing games in the NFL in check for most of the day. Rivers was clearly frustrated by the KC defense that picked him off a couple of times and knocked him around a lot. That was a very good sign, especially on the road and coming off back to back games where they gave up over 40 points. Needless to say, the defense was not at fault for the loss to San Diego.

That brings me to the offense.

At the risk of over-simplifying things, I think there were three clear problems yesterday (and this season in general).

1. Matt Cassel: Yes the game sealing interception was a brutal and idiotic failure of epic proportions. The real problem is that for most of this season he has refused to throw the ball down the field and has resorted to “dinking and dunking” almost every play.

2. Thomas Jones: He has looked terrible as the feature runner since Jamaal Charles went down.

3. The play calling: At times the play calling has been dumbfounding and completely ineffective. In addition to the plays being called, the actual process that they are using involving Muir, Haley, and Zorn all being involved in calling the play and getting them to Cassel has resulted in wasted time outs that really hurt KC versus the Chargers.

Now each of these things on their own are a problem, but are not fatal. However, the mixture of these three things make a lethal combination. It’s like a perfect storm of offensive futility.

I’ll explain more and give my possible solutions to the problem after the break.

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I was reaching a detailed report of practice over at bobgretz.com this morning and Bob told of a story that was pretty interesting.

Yesterday in practice, former NFL QB and Chiefs QB coach Jim Zorn was taking Matt Cassel, Tyler Palko Falko Calabaloo and Ricky Stanzi through an accuracy drill. The drill was simple. Zorn placed two garbage cans on top of each other in the back corner of the end zone. He then had the Qb’s stand between the 10 and 20-yardlines. The task was to try to put the ball in the can.

A drill like this requires a certain touch. Unfortunately, none of KC’s QB’s were up to the task.

But their coach was.

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The 2011 NFL season will be Cassel’s third with the Chiefs since coming over from the New England Patriots. After a rough first season with the Chiefs in 2009 where Cassel had a quarterback rating of 69.9, second worst in the AFC west only behind JeMarcus Russell, he bounced back with a great overall performance in 2010.

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Another Friday evening.  Another week coming to an end.  Another week closer to Chiefs games.  We hope.  For us Addicts, this is how we tell time.  The long wait for the snow to melt, summer to come and pass,  and the leaves to grow and start to turn an array of brilliant colors.  We fill our time with the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament, the NBA playoffs, NASCAR, and Major League Baseball, but these are merely time killers for a lot of us.  We wait for these sports to come to an end like months on a Chiefs Calendar just as we waited for our birthdays when we were young.  Another marker passed, another upcoming, that much closer to seeing the Red and Gold take the field.  Another day closer.

In the meantime we spend our time speculating about how the new management of our team will handle players, and get angry about the CBA negotiations to the point we start making demands of our own.  We assure ourselves and others that if the season does not happen we will still make it through, no matter how ridiculous of measures we have to take.  We look at what improvements we can make in the upcoming year through free agency and the draft, and quiz ourselves over players and teams of old to see how deep our knowledge and passion run.  We do all of this in anticipation of that treasured moment when the coin flips, our team lines up, the ball is kicked, and we can start the cycle anew.  This is what we do as fans.

I left out discussion on purpose.  Just like keeping the memory of someone alive when they move away by speaking of them often, we talk about the Chiefs and this keeps the NFL alive in our thoughts while the players and coaches restructure through the off season to try and put together a championship organization.  This is the night to talk about whatever you want to keep the discussion going.  What do you think of having an ex-head coach brought in to aid Matt Cassel?  How much money should the Chiefs consider paying Tamba Hali?  Will Todd Haley ever cut his hair?  The great thing is, there is always a lot to talk about.  I hope you all have a great night, and Patrick will be at it again early tomorrow with your morning fix!

The Kansas City Chiefs announced today that they have hired Jim Zorn to be their QB’s coach. Zorn will be the first coach to hold the title of QB’s Coach since Todd Haley took over as head coach in 2009.

Here is what Haley had to say about the Zorn hiring in a press release released by the team:

“We are excited to finalize our coaching staff today with the addition of Jim Zorn,” Haley said. “As a former head coach with more than two decades of experience playing and coaching the quarterback position in the NFL, Jim has a tremendous working knowledge of the game, and he will play a big role in the continued development of our football team.”

Zorn and Haley have no other prior connection which I think is a good thing for the Chiefs. Most of the Kansas City staff is connected in some way via coaching and organizational trees so it could be nice for some new blood to get in on the action at Arrowhead.

Haley will take the podium at 12:00 PM (CST) to talk about the Zorn hire and you can watch the press conference live over at KCChiefs.com.

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Zorn, a former NFL QB was the QB’s coach for the Seattle Seahwaks in 2007 before being hired by the Washington Redskins to become their head coach in 2008. Zorn was fired by the Redskins in January of 2010 and was subsequently hired by the Baltimore Ravens to be their QB coach. Zorn was then released from the Ravens in January of this year.

Under Zorn, QB Joe Flacco reached a career high in touchdowns with 25 and a career low in interceptions with 10. Flacco also turned in a career high QB rating of 93.6.

Flacco was not happy with the team’s decision to fire Zorn. He was so upset he spoke out against the move publicly.

More after the jump:

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This isn’t Chiefs news per say but it is (former) AFC West News. The Denver Post is reporting that Mike Shanahan is currently talking with the Washington Redskins about their head coaching position. This of course, makes for more awkwardness in Washington as Jim Zorn is still the head coach.

Obviously, Shanahan is an extremely coveted coaching candidate, perhaps the most attractive hire other than Bill Cowher, available. While I can understand the Redskins desire to snatch him up before anyone else, you can’t really admire their tact in regards to the situation of their current head coach.

I have to give Zorn credit. He has handled what has been a pretty dicey situation in Washington with grace this year. You have to wonder if Shannahan, who is used to control and job stability, is asking himself if he really wants to work for a reactionary, unpredictable owner like Dan Snyder.