At least one person is proud of the Kansas City Chiefs despite the fact they slipped to 0-3 today with a 20-17 loss to the San Diego Chargers. During a particularly brutal first half, the Chiefs failed to even generate one first down, but they rallied back to nearly win the game. It's likely that gritty performance by the defense that garnered praise from former NFL head coach Steve Mariucci.
"Kansas City played some great football today, they showed a lot of positives in the tough loss," he said today via Twitter. To come away from a loss like that and be proud is something we're hearing a lot from the Chiefs today as both Jamaal Charles and Le'Ron McClain both also stated on Twitter that they were proud of the team's effort. While fans might be frustrated with yet another loss so early in the season, these things are important to note and see the progress of a team that was definitely the league's worst through two games.
That great football likely comes in reference to a defense that refused to let the Chargers get away all day. The Chiefs continued to force turnovers, keep the Chargers big play ability in check and came up big on key third and even fourth down stops. Despite a running game that never really worked and a passing game that only got off the ground for 30 minutes, the Chiefs were always within reach of a lead.
That's the kind of workmanlike performance that the Chiefs can hopefully build on despite the 0-3 record. And that's likely what Steve Mariucci was referencing when he saw value in the Chiefs on a day few people will.