While I know I have fans across the country because my blog is so awesome, I also know that the majority of my reading base is Chiefs fans like me. And I’m sure most of us suffered the same depressing loss that I did yesterday. Of course it was probably without your spouse being really happy with the outcome but we all have different struggles. The wife and I both handle defeat and victory as graciously as possible in these games. The good news is we don’t have to do this again during the rest of the regular season. The bad news is that it feels sort of inevitable that these two teams meet one more time this year with much higher stakes. But with all this said, this is for my fellow Chiefs fans. Here are 11 takeaways from this awful loss and this season so far that I think will make Chiefs fans feel better and worse…all at the same time.

11. We are who I thought we were:

Before the year started, I thought we were a 10 win team and a borderline playoff team. I liked our draft and our free agent pick ups but there were still issues that I was concerned about and those concerns still remain. There is only so much money to go around and only so many fixes you can make in a year. We still have holes at receiver, tackle, linebacker and pass rush. The 5-0 start gave us a false confidence and false hope in who we are. But I thought we would be 4-3 or 5-2 at this point and here we are. 10-7 or 11-6 is who we are. And after last year’s disaster, that is something we can feel good about.

10. Pass rushless:

Why can we not get any pressure on anyone! 9 damn sacks over 7 games? One guy with more than 1 sack? Getting pressure on Bo Nix 6% of the time? I don’t understand how we can be so bad at this? And this is like 3 years in a row. Everyone is talking about trading for a receiver and maybe a tackle. How about we trade for someone who can win one on one in pass rush situations because Bo Nix had all freaking day in this one. It was the lowest pressure rate by any team since week 5 of 2024 and the lowest for the Chiefs since week 8 of 2012. You remember when we played the Dolphins and we all laughed because they didn’t have any sacks? We are now tied with them for last in the league. Just terrible.

9. Father Time is undefeated:

We are sort of in between worlds right now. There isn’t a Chiefs fan out there who isn’t grateful for all that Chris Jones, Travis Kelce and Harrison Butker have done for our favorite team’s success. We all have memories of each of them coming through in big moment after big moment. But they aren’t who they used to be. They also all take up a huge part of the salary cap and all of them could be gone next year to free up a huge amount of salary cap and honestly unless something looks drastically different in the next 10 weeks, they should all be gone. Jones can’t do much of anything now. He’s gone back to back weeks without having a stat in the stat book. No tackles, no sacks, no pressures. I love Chris Jones. I want him to still be good. He is not. Kelce is still pretty good. He makes plays and is a solid NFL tight end. But he is slow and has too many drops and is getting too many silly penalties like false starts, etc. And Butker, well Butker is a disaster. More on him in a bit.

8. Special Teams is a mess:

Dave Toub like the 3 guys mentioned above seems to be past his prime. After Special Teams being a strength of the team for years, the last couple of years have been a different story. Too many penalties, missed kicks, bobbled punt returns, etc. Toub this week said he doesn’t speak kicker language. Well, you are the special teams coach so you if you don’t talk kicker, who does? Butker has been just awful and is 2 of 7 from 50 yards or further this year and no one has missed more kicks the past two seasons. Like the 3 players mentioned above, Toub needs to go after this year as well. And can anyone besides Remijio catch a punt? Allen? Johnson? You? I mean we got to find someone who can field a punt and get more than 3 yards on the return.

7. Tyquan Thornton getting injured ruined everything:

I predicted a lot of things going into this season. I even thought Thornton was our best receiver even if the Chiefs didn’t use him that way. But what I didn’t expect was him being the 3rd most important part of our offense. The first 4 weeks we had a perfect combo of Walker running over everyone, Pat playing very well and Thornton being able to take the top off of the defense. With Thornton gone, teams aren’t afraid of the deep ball so opposing defenses can focus on stopping Walker and forcing Pat to dink and dunk without making any mistakes to try and score. Thornton was easy to cheer for but was also so important to this offense’s success. Him being gone has made everything harder. I’m all for going to get a receiver but if they can’t stretch the field similarly to what Thornton did, then what is the point? Also, Worthy should be that guy but he sucks. He plays more than everyone who isn’t an offensive lineman or not named Pat. He played 94% of the snaps and you barely noticed he was out there.

6. Why is our boring offense so complex that no one new can do it?:

Andy this week said if they were going to add a receiver it would need to be someone familiar with the system or be really smart. Teams add players all the time mid season with success. But apparently running mesh concept in the Chiefs system is as difficult as rocket science. There is a part of me that doesn’t even want them to add anyone because I’ll just be frustrated with their lack of playing time. And at the end of the day, I’m not sure any receiver we can get will be a difference maker anyway. But I’m sure we will waste a 6th round pick on Hollywood Brown who we could have signed before the season started.

5. We need to figure out how to get a yard:

Rewatching the end of the game is more frustrating the more you see it. Kenneth Walker is amazing. One thing he isn’t great at is getting a yard. There was a place for him to score and he didn’t. We are terrible on 3rd and 4th and short. We refuse to run QB sneak because Pat got hurt on a freak play 7 years ago. Put in Fields and run QB sneak. He isn’t doing anything else. Sign Kareem Hunt. Do something. Because this crap is getting old.

4. We have a divisional rival:

After years of domination, we finally have a divisional rival. We have beaten all 3 teams way more than we have lost to them since Andy took over and even more so since Pat took over. Enter Sean Payton who has one at least one against us each year. Last year we sucked so no surprise we dropped two against them but both games were close even when we didn’t have Pat and half our team. This latest loss solidifies that these two teams are going to battle for years. They are my wife’s team so I can’t say too much bad about them. I like Bo Nix. He seems like a nice kid. But Sean Payton is just an awful human being. I’ve never liked him even in New Orleans. I didn’t like him on TV. And don’t like him now. He’s just a smug, arrogant prick. But he’s a good football coach. So it will be fun to cheer against him and the Broncos going forward. And rivalries make sports more fun.

3. We aren’t perfect, but we are a playoff team:

As frustrating as the last two weeks have been, we are a pretty good but not great football team. Assuming there isn’t a complete meltdown, we will make the playoffs. And after last year that is a good thing. Us Chiefs’ fans have been spoiled because for 7 years, we never finished worse than the final four. That’s not normal. So be okay with being okay and getting in the dance. If and when we get in, anything is possible especially with Pat.

2. We seem far away but at the same time, we are pretty close:

I know a lot of games it feels like we are so far away but in reality we are really close. Andy will say this all week, just wait. But it is true. We made a ton of mistakes in the Broncos game and still should have won. We did a lot of things to beat ourselves. That’s not to take anything away from the Broncos. They are a good team even though Sean Payton is a prick. They won fair and square. But we certainly had multiple opportunities to win. We are close. Real close. Maybe young guys get better. Maybe we add some players via trade. Who knows. But the goal is not to be the best team in week 8, the goal is to be the best team in week 18.

1. Be happy your a Chiefs fan and you get to complain about these things:

At the end of the day, I know the last two weeks have sucked. But it could be worse. The Chargers have a few fans. They thought their team was going to be awesome. They are 0-7. I have a buddy who is a Miami’s Dolphins fan. They haven’t won a playoff game since 2000. The Jets haven’t been to the playoffs since 2010. You think it is hard cheering for a team who signed a kicker with a massage parlor problem to the practice squad…try cheering for a team who’s starting quarterback has the same issue only worse. And that same team hasn’t won their division since 1989. I was 10 the last time they won their division and that team actually became the Ravens. So look, I know things suck today. But we got a lot going for us…including playing the Jets on Sunday. So keep your heads up Chiefs fans. It’s okay to be upset but don’t be too upset. I have always said there will always be someone better off than you and always be someone worse off than you. Fandom is no different. So be grumpy today. Get over it tomorrow. And get ready to get excited for another Chiefs game on Sunday. We are in the hunt and are one of the 7 best teams in the AFC which is way better than we were doing last year.