Over the past six years, 31 of the 72 playoff teams had a game in their respective seasons that they lost by 25 or more points, and that also includes three of the last six Super Bowl winners.
Those 72 playoff teams had an average worst defeat that year of 20 points, so it’s not uncommon for successful teams to have a bad game. The Chiefs just need to make sure it’s an outlier.
“We have a bunch of fighters here, we just have to look into the mirror and realize we did not come to play (on Sunday),” veteran Tamba Hali said after the game. “When we play together, we do well. When we do not play well and make mistakes like we did (against the Steelers), that is the result. That’s a good team we played today. They win Super Bowls here.
“For us to take that step, we have to beat a few teams like [the Steelers].”
“You learn a lot about yourself when you get your butt kicked,” veteran Derrick Johnson added after the game. “The best thing about it is it counts as one game. It does not put a damper on the season, and it does not set us into panic mode.
“We’ll learn a lot about our team’s character after something like this. We were tested and we’ll have to see if we can rise up to the challenge.”
