Familiar issues pile up to bury Kansas City Chiefs vs Denver Broncos

The Kansas City Chiefs had an awful day against the Denver Broncos on Sunday. The 24-9 loss broke a 16-game winning streak for the Chiefs against the Broncos, but this game was frustrating for a lot more reasons than a broken win streak. This game was the culmination of multiple reoccurring issues the Chiefs have had recently coming together in one dismal performance.

Before I get to my list of issues and work myself up into full rant mode, let me acknowledge a couple of things. First, the Chiefs are 6-2 and tied for the best record in football. They are almost a lock to win their division for the eighth straight time and they're only halfway through the season. It's also incredibly hard to beat a division opponent 17 times in a row. The Chiefs experience a shockingly awful loss at some point every season and they always rebound from it. Patrick Mahomes was sick and less than 100% on Sunday, and the Chiefs are certainly capable of bouncing back with a big win next week.

Everything in that last paragraph is true. This is a good team that is still a favorite to win the Super Bowl, and their ceiling is incredibly high. But the reason I can't just write off this loss to the Broncos as a complete aberration or fluke is that all the bad things that piled up in this game are things we have seen and questioned for a while now. Do they all usually rear their ugly heads in the same game in such an overwhelming fashion? No, but these issues have all been here.

There is a famous quote from Winston Churchill that says "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it." The Chiefs can write this game off, burn the tape, and assume that they won't play a game that bad again this season. That might even be true, but if they don't take an honest look at the issues that piled up in this game and do something to address them any number of them could come back to haunt them in the playoffs when things really matter.

I thought about trying to rank them in order of how big of a problem they are, but I don't actually think that matters. The bottom line is they all need addressed or they could be a major issue again at some point down the road. So let's just jump right in.