The Chiefs are talented. They need to be good.

Sep 13, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Jeremy Maclin (19) and running back Jamaal Charles (25) speak during the game against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Kansas City is better than this. We saw it Week 1 when both sides of the ball shined in Houston, even against a defense ranked ninth in the league by Pro Football Reference. They gave up only two sacks against J.J. Watt, but allowed five against Denver, and a whopping seven in Green Bay.

I am not satisfied with pointing the finger at Alex Smith, Andy Reid, or anybody else you may have seen lambasted in the wake of Monday night. That Chiefs lineup had a healthy Houston, Hali, and Dontari Poe, yet Aaron Rodgers was sacked a grand total of one time. And that was on a defensive trick play.

This roster has the talent to be competitive against any team in the league. But being talented is not enough. You also have to exploit that talent to be a good team. They did a decent job of that in Houston. They did not in Green bay.

Even a good team fails to play well every once in a while. You may remember that the Chiefs were involved in a Monday Night Football romp around this time last season. Only then, it was Kansas City pummeling the New England Patriots, 41 – 14. That sent the Pats to 2 – 2 on they year and raised all kinds of questions about their dominance being over. Fast forward to February and they are Super Bowl champions.

The past two weeks have felt awful because of the way that the games ended – an unbelievable turnover, and an unbelievably bad performance. But in the bigger picture the Chiefs have only lost two games, and in two of the competitions we knew would be the among the hardest. It is by no means unreasonable to have expected much better out of Andy Reid and company, but we all knew that entering Week 4 at Cincinnati 1-2 was a very real possibility.

So there is no need to sound the death knell of the Chiefs yet. But they cannot tarry in getting the ship righted either.

There may still be a lot of football to be played, but to salvage this season most of that football will have to be played very well. Kansas City is not in “must-win” mode from here on out, but there will be a smaller margin for error through the rest of season.

The next five games leading up to the BYE are no cake walk, but should be more manageable than the gauntlet that has been the start of the season. Though Sunday will see the Chiefs go on the road to face an undefeated Bengals team, the current record of their opponents preceding the BYE are a current cumulative record of 7-8.

The last two weeks have been about the worst follow up you could have to an impressive victory to open the season. But these Chiefs are still talented. And talented enough to be a legitimately good team.

Let’s hope they figure that out sooner rather than later.

Go Chiefs!