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Broncos vs. Chiefs: Monday Night Football may define K.C.’s season

By Austin Owen

FOXBORO, MA - JANUARY 16: Head coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on in the game against the New England Patriots during the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Gillette Stadium on January 16, 2016 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
FOXBORO, MA - JANUARY 16: Head coach Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs looks on in the game against the New England Patriots during the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Gillette Stadium on January 16, 2016 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /
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Coming off of back to back losses to AFC foes, how far the Chiefs make it this season may well depend on their performance at Arrowhead on Monday night.

The Kansas City Chiefs have come upon some adversity as of late. Two weeks ago, it was an abysmal offensive performance at home vs the Pittsburgh Steelers that handed the Chiefs their first loss of the season. Then, on Thursday night in Oakland just four days later, it was the defense that let them down.

Coming off of two straight losses after winning the first five has many people anxious about where the Chiefs are headed. While just over two weeks ago, the Chiefs were unanimously considered to be the best team in football, these two losses have exposed some obvious holes in the Chiefs armor—be it the horrendous play of the interior offensive line and sub-par performance from Alex Smith against Pittsburgh, or the inability to slow down Derek Carr and company in Oakland. The Chiefs have looked far less daunting than the team that started 5-0.

Fortunately, these flaws are very fixable. Mitch Morse and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif are on their way to making a return to the lineup. While Steven Nelson and Tamba Hali are equally close on the defensive side of the ball. My biggest concern at this point though, has nothing to do with personnel. It has to do with this team’s heart.

There is so much parity in the league right now, it is impossible to say definitively if any one team is more talented than the other. For example, in many power rankings this week, you will see the Eagles, Patriots, Steelers, and Chiefs making up the top four. While it may be appropriate to have the Chiefs ranked below each of these teams after back to back losses, you cannot ignore the fact that they blew out the Patriots on opening night and defeated the Eagles in a game that was not nearly as close as the final score suggests.

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My point is that the Chiefs are every bit as talented as any team in the league. Every team has holes this season. In fact, I would venture to say that this is the most level playing field we have seen in the league in the last decade. I have no worries about how the Chiefs stack up talent-wise. My biggest concern with the Chiefs right now is how they handle this bit of adversity that has come upon them.

We have seen the Chiefs start hot before, only to cool off down the stretch. In 2013, after racing out to a 9-0 start, the Chiefs lost three in a row and five of seven. That collapse cost them a shot at a division title as well as a chance for a top seed in the playoffs.

In 2014 the Chiefs were sitting pretty at 7-3 before a crushing loss in Oakland on Thursday night kicked off a three game losing streak. The Chiefs never recovered, finishing the season 2-4 and missing the playoffs.

Most of us believe that this Chiefs team has turned a corner, that they are clearly superior to the previous team’s of Reid’s tenure. I still believe they are, though I admit that these losses have given me doubt. A win this week on Monday night at Arrowhead would move to Chiefs to 6-2, put them in total control of the AFC west, and squarely in the race for the AFC’s top seed. The Chiefs of previous years crumbled under these circumstances.

How the Chiefs perform Monday night will define their season.

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