As bleak as things look for the Kansas City Chiefs at this stage, there are still believers inside of Arrowhead. Or at least, it's safe to classify them as thinking more positively about the team's chances going forward than others. Defensive tackle Chris Jones is one of them.
Moments after the Chiefs walked off the field with another official loss, this time at the hands of the lowly Tennessee Titans, who came into the game with two wins on the season, Jones took to the podium to answer questions from reporters in the post-game media session. Jones made it clear that he hates losing but that he's also steadfast in his belief that the Chiefs are, or at least were, closer than some persons believe to competing.
At the present time, the Chiefs have six wins and nine losses. They're guaranteed to have their first losing season since 2012 (when they won 2 games overall and held the first pick in the NFL Draft), and it's hard to imagine then knocking off the Broncos in Week 17. Even the Raiders in Week 18 have to be viewed as a potential loss knowing how the Titans steamrolled them by 17 points.
Chris Jones remains convinced the Kansas City Chiefs were closer than their record suggests.
Still Jones insists it's a matter of "finishing". Of course, that was much easier to do when the injury report wasn't as long as a CVS receipt and Patrick Mahomes wasn't sidelined for the year with a torn ACL.
"This team is a makeup of last year’s team, and last year’s team went 15-2," said Jones. "There’s not many pieces missing. Then you look at what’s the difference. The difference this year is in one-score games; we didn’t finish as crisp as we previously did, and that can make a difference. In this league, the margin for error is so small, and we have so many games which are one-score games. Whether it’s the offense, defense, or merely just special teams, we’ve gotta hone in on finishing, finishing, finishing, especially at the end of the game."
For Jones, a veteran who has helped carry the Chiefs through this golden era on defense, each week presents a new chance to grow and compete. The effort, he says, will not be lacking, even in the face of a forgettable season. And he spoke for his teammates when he said they will be giving the same level of effort to finish strong.
"It’s always disappointing when you lose. I’ve played this game since I was a young kid. All I want to do is have fun and win. Any time I’m able to step on the field, that’s my goal: to have fun, most importantly, and try to finish with a W. Today, we were a little unfortunate, but we preached on giving a high effort. I think a lot of guys flew around, younger guys got new opportunities, and we’re gonna keep it going. We’ve got two more opportunities left at the end of the season, and we’re going to try to finish strong."