The most obvious reason and the least talked about...
 

is Clark Hunt and Pioli doing all they can NOT to dwell on how far under the salary cap the Chiefs are...which is extreme. Much like the NHL...smaller market teams in the NFL are holding back on salary big time even though they could be on par (hence parity) with a lot of the other teams in the league. This is a big reason why teams such as the Chiefs, Bills, Cleveland, Tennessee, Oakland, and Carolina are wallowing in the basement of their respective divisions. Hunt and Pioli insist they are doing "all they can" to put the best product on the field, but the results always come back to the less-than-stellar performance of the team and the coaching staff. The aforementioned teams' records don't lie...and the underbelly of this are owners not willing to commit dollars to the success of their franchises. The good part about what is happening now, in my opinion, is Hunt will have to react swiftly to save what little face he has left to the fans of this once proud Chief nation. Obviously, he also has to draft a franchise QB next April, or himself and Pioli will be drawn and quartered. The emperor has no clothes...but at least he now knows the fans are aware of it.

Clark needs to sell the team and Pioli needs to go