KANSAS CITY, Mo. First, as a public service, we remind you that the last NFL team to go undefeated was the 1972 Miami Dolphins.
And that only once since, in the case of the 2007 New England Patriots, has a team reached the Super Bowl unscathed.
So unless you were Pollyanna swigging Kool-Aid on the rocks frozen with fools gold, you had to know that no such scenario was in play for the 2019 Chiefs.
Because for all the perfectly rational hysteria generated by the presence of quarterback Patrick Mahomes, their defense is a living, breathing asterisk that must be affixed to even the most optimistic hopes for the season after the Chiefs essentially finished a tantalizing offsides penalty and coin toss from their first Super Bowl since the 1969 season.
Trouble is, the first loss of this deliriously anticipated campaign wasnt just because the overhauled-but-still-suspect defense couldnt stop the Indianapolis Colts from owning the clock like Father Time himself: Running for 180 yards on 45 carries enabled the Colts to play keep-away for 37 minutes 15 seconds, including 22:11 in the second half, punctuating part of the apparent antidote against a defense that entered the game giving up more than five yards a carry.
Kansas City head coach Andy Reid on how why the Chiefs lost Sunday night to Indianapolis
But that 19-13 loss Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium was about a jumble of data points, including 11 penalties for 125 yards and LeSean McCoys fumble and Travis Kelces drops (and sideline pushaway of offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy before a makeup hug) and Mahomes being sacked four times (after being sacked three times through the Chiefs first four games) and a hideous fourth-and-1 conversion attempt with the game on the line that was stuffed by unblocked former Chief Justin Houston.
It was about the Chiefs scoring half as many points as the fewest theyd ever scored with Mahomes as their starter, not to mention now having scored just four offensive touchdowns in their last nine quarters after scoring 12 in the first 11 quarters of the season.
And it was obscured by an absurd number of injuries to compound the ongoing absence of receiver Tyreek Hill and left tackle Eric Fisher: Receiver Sammy Watkins left Sundays game almost instantly with a hamstring strain; defensive starters Chris Jones and Anthony Hitchens missed much of the game with groin injuries; offensive lineman Andrew Wylie and defensive lineman Xavier Williams went out with ankle injuries; and receiver Byron Pringle left the game under concussion protocol.
Even after rattling off the list, coach Andy Reid spoke truth when he said, Listen, with that, we got beat in about every phase you can get beat in.
They really did, right down to the coaching that produced a curious abandonment of the run game, including zero carries by McCoy.
But this game still was much more Rorschach test than clarifying moment, much more a diagnostic check than a defining statement.
If its not exactly nothing to see here, its also not everything to see here, either.
Feel free to panic, but why not save that for when you know more?
Lets start with this low bar. It could have been a lot worse: Check out the frightening replay of Mahomes getting his ankle crunched by a teammate and limping off the field.
