The Kansas City Chiefs did not have their sharpest game Sunday against the Buffalo Bills. Similar occurrences had not cost them through their first nine games, but their luck finally ran out against a quality opponent. The Chiefs had their chances, but the showing was not one that a championship franchise knows will get them through the trials late December and January football. Despite the loss though, their is a sense of relief for Kansas City, no longer pursuing the dreams of a perfect season. For Patrick Mahomes, he feels this presents an opportunity for him to ground his play. In turn, that same mindset could be applied to the team as a whole. “We feel like we can play better, so we will get back to work and try to use this as a spark so that we can be a better football team in the end. The undefeated thing was cool, but that’s not our ultimate goal,” he said. “I think it’s going to spark us to have more urgency, especially at the start of football games, especially with the offense, and that comes from me and turning the ball over on the first drive. It’s something you can’t do in big games like this.”

Now that the undefeated record becomes a thing of the past, the Chiefs must shift into gear down the stretch. In the weeks prior, heroic late-game efforts both offensively and defensively helped the Chiefs past the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Denver Broncos. Sunday showed there will be opponents (those which this team may see again) who can make them pay on a bad night.

At the same time, the Chiefs have learned applied lessons like these throughout Mahomes’ run. If the star quarterback feels a renewed sense of “urgency” its likely his team shares the same sentiment.