The painful story of the worst season in Chiefs franchise history

Kansas City Chiefs fans are fortunate for what the team has blossomed into over the past decade but the true fans know that it wasn't always this good. In fact, for quite some time, the Chiefs struggled to be a competent franchise and went 22 years without a playoff victory (and 25 years without a home playoff victory).

While that's not the case anymore, we're going to take a trip back in time and revisit the absolute worst season in Chiefs history. It's actually the last time the Chiefs had a losing record and a season that real fans accused of being bandwagoners can point to as proof that they're anything but.

Buckle up, Chiefs Kingdom, because we're about to discuss the 2012 Kansas City Chiefs season.

Why the 2012 season was the worst in Kansas City Chiefs history

Believe it or not, there was optimism for Chiefs fans heading into the 2012 season. Did fans think this team was a Super Bowl contender? Definitely not but there was at least hope that the team would be competitive and would continue to build on what it had accomplished in 2011 (a team that went 7-9 and narrowly missed out on the playoffs, as strange as that sounds).

The Chiefs closed out the 2011 season with Romeo Crennel taking over as the interim head coach and the underdog Chiefs managed to shock the world by handing the reigning Super Bowl champion Packers their only loss of the regular season. The team looked scrappy enough that they might be able to make some noise and earn a playoff spot.

Unfortunately, that didn't happen and it was pretty evident early on that the 2012 Chiefs were not going to be a force to be reckoned with. They were blown out in their first two games and then needed overtime to beat a bad New Orleans Saints team in Week 3.

After that overtime win over the Saints, the Chiefs would not win another game until Week 13 against the Panthers. That win came one day after tragedy struck the team and the city. The day before the Chiefs were set to play the Panthers, linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend and then drove to Arrowhead Stadium and committed suicide in front of Crennel, GM Scott Pioli, and linebackers coach Gary Gibbs.

It's one thing for a team to go 2-14 but the murder-suicide made it impossible for this season not to be picked as the worst in Chiefs history. Sports are a very small part of life and that rang even more true during December of 2012 in Kansas City.

When the season was officially over, the Chiefs had just two wins under their belt and ranked last in most major statistical categories. Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn were the two quarterbacks and they threw a combined eight passing touchdowns for the entire season. The Chiefs also didn't lead a game in regulation for their first eight games, finally ending that streak in a Week 10 game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The only good aspects from the season were Jamaal Charles' numbers (over 1,700 yards from scrimmage and six total touchdowns) and the fact that the team somehow had six Pro Bowlers on the roster. Otherwise, there was little to compliment the Chiefs on in 2012.

To the surprise of no one, Crennel and Pioli were both fired and the Chiefs were set to embark on yet another rebuild. While the 2012 season is always going to be looked at as the worst Chiefs season, it led to Kansas City hiring Andy Reid and also trading for Alex Smith, both of whom played a major role in turning things around for the organization.

As of this writing, the 2012 season was the last time the Chiefs had a losing record and finished in the basement of the AFC West. They're now winning Super Bowls and are a worldwide brand thanks to those Super Bowl appearances. That did not seem like a possibility whatsoever back in 2012 when the team went 2-14 and looked to be doomed to irrelevancy forever.