A Distillation of Hope

I had admittedly low hopes heading into last Sunday's game against Denver. After joyously shouting at my TV screen through the first 20 minutes of that game, I started to think myself a pessimist. Then, as Manning continued to lob bombs through KC's secondary for score after score, reality set in and confirmed my most pressing fears.

Last week's game was tightly contested, and the offense deserves a bulk of the credit for keeping it close. While the defense gave up 35+ points for the second week in a row, the offense never looked better. With a balanced passing attack and a healthy dose of Jamaal, the Chiefs scored 21 points in 20 minutes and gained 452 yards. Five different Chiefs caught at least 3 passes from a remarkably accurate Alex Smith. Donnie Avery's heartbreaking drops happened, but holy crap, let's just never talk about that.

All the offensive productivity witnessed last Sunday was unfortunately trumped by failure on the defensive side of the ball. An injury-riddled KC defense gave up an embarrassing 535 yards for 35 points against the dreaded Peyton-led offense. While it was nice to see the team get hits on Manning with such a pieced-together blitz game, those moments were few and far between. In the end, the longest play in Chiefs history and a positive turnover ratio still weren't enough to help KC outscore the vaunted Denver offense.

After all their defensive struggles, KC still found themselves within one red-zone reception of tying the game with 1:51 left in the game. Getting that close may have proven some things to Kansas City and its fans, but it didn't earn the team a win.

So is it time to panic, Chiefs Kingdom? After a wondrous, undefeated beginning to the 2013 season, KC is now reeling from three straight losses. Although the sky is not yet falling, the ceiling on expectations for this team has certainly been lowered. The Chiefs are all-but locked into the #5 seed, thanks to that defeat at Arrowhead last Sunday. That means road games in the playoffs, and that means greatly diminished chances for KC's first Super Bowl in more than 40 years.

The Chiefs now need to focus on finishing the season strong. One or two late-season losses against inferior opponents could send the Chiefs limping into the playoffs. If you can remember how that usually turns out for KC, you're probably cringing at the possibility right now. That makes the matchup on every coming Sunday just as important as the last three insanely dramatic games we've just witnessed. Stay tuned for a look at the upcoming face-off with RGIII and the struggling-but-talented Washington Redskins.

Doug LaCerte operates this blog and writes for Rantsports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DLaC67, "Like" his awesomely cheesy "Feel Good Songs of the Day" on Facebook and add him to your network on Google. Credit for the linked photo goes to GIFD Sports.