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I can confidently say that I don’t think we’ll see a worse performance by the Chiefs than yesterday’s loss to the Broncos at Mile High. Jay Cutler and Selvin Young both individually had more offensive yards than the Chiefs did as a team. Bronco receiver Brandon Marshall nearly topped the Chiefs’ 129 total yards with 115 yards receiving. Of the Chiefs’ twelve drives, eight were three and outs. This one is going to sting for a long time.

The Offense

132 passing yards. Nineteen yards lost on five sacks. Three turnovers. 1/13 on third downs. Sixteen rushing yards in seventeen attempts. Two drives that went beyond three plays.

Hands down, this was the worst game of the season for the Kansas City Chiefs’ offense.

Brodie Croyle was 15/29 passing for 132 yards. Kolby Smith rushed thirteen times for twelve yards and briefly left the game with an ankle injury but returned. Tony Gonzalez, also injuring his ankle but returning, caught seven passes for 76 yards and patiently scored the team’s only touchdown of the day on a fifteen yard run after the catch.

That touchdown capped off the only positive showing by the Chiefs’ offense. The drive began at the beginning of the second quarter and lasted 8:51 on fifteen plays. On that drive, the Chiefs converted three fourth downs, of two, one and twelve yards. Croyle was 5/8 on the drive and was sacked twice. In a game that was almost unbearable to watch, the Chiefs’ second quarter drive was downright impressive. Playing with desperation that we’ve rarely seen, the two short fourth down conversions were made by the Chiefs bullying their way across the first down line with power rushes.

After a Chris Terry false start that moved the ball back to the Bronco fifteen-yard line, Brodie Croyle swung a pass out to his left side to Tony Gonzalez. TG cut towards the sideline, cut back to the middle of the field while Bobby Sippio blocked a Denver defender and tight-toped the sideline all the way into the end zone.

After that drive, the Broncos gave the ball back to the Chiefs after scoring their third touchdown of the half. With the score 21 to 7, the Chiefs had the ball with 1:55 left in the half. Forty-four seconds later, the Broncos had the ball back in their hands after Dustin Colquitt’s fourth punt of the first half. After a huge Selvin Young run put the Broncos in Chiefs territory with less than a minute left, Denver was able to easily get in position for a Jason Elam field goal.

It was 24 to 7 and the game was pretty much already over. The Chiefs had some pretty good field position in the first half and were unable to do much beyond the one touchdown.

The Chiefs didn’t score again and only gained thirty-four net yards in the second half.

The Defense

Unfortunately, there isn’t a "But the defense held them in check" story here like we’ve typically had. The Broncos racked up 453 in total offense. Jay Cutler passed for four touchdowns and 244 yards. Selvin Young rushed for 143 yards. In the first half.

On the second play of the game, Selvin Young rushed to the left side for fifty yards. You could see the rest of the game laid out from there. We were doomed from the start and everyone knew it. I held out on the doom thoughts briefly after we scored that touchdown. But the Chiefs didn’t do much from there to garner applause.

The defense looked completely flat. There was something different about our defense on Sunday. The energy wasn’t there. The desire wasn’t there. It was almost as if, as many of you have already said in the comments, that the defense quit. We didn’t hear Jared Allen’s name called. We heard safety Bernard Pollard’s name called quite a bit, mostly because he was making tackles on Selvin Young and Brandon Marshall in the secondary after big Bronco gains.

There was failure in every single facet of the defense. From the defensive line to the secondary, the Broncos completely dominated.

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I’m trying to look for positives from yesterday’s blowout but I’m not finding any. Our normally stout defense was torched. Our normally feeble offense was, well, just that. Except worse than usual.

The Chiefs have been on this losing path for a long time. This game was the culmination of many of our problems and not just on offense. We’ve been overlooking our poor rushing defense for most of the year and Selvin Young and the Broncos exposed us for who we really are on the defensive line.

After being eliminated from the playoffs with this loss, next year is officially on the table for discussion. After going 4-3 to start the season, the Chiefs have lost six games in a row. The Tennesee Titans travel to Arrowhead this week and I’m already looking towards that game.

Yesterday was embarrassing.