Chiefs’ leaders turned devastating Indy loss into a positive

When the crowd of media that had gathered around Eric Berry’s locker dispersed last Sunday afternoon, the All-Pro safety shook his head.

Berry was in a pretty good mood, considering the Chiefs had just toppled the New Orleans Saints 27-21 to improve to 4-2. But there was a number he couldn’t get out of his head, something that stuck in his craw.

“Three sixty seven,” Berry said through pursed lips, referring to the number of passing yards the Chiefs had just surrendered to the league’s top passing attack.

When reminded that Saints quarterback Drew Brees basically does that to everybody — heck, holding him to 367 yards could be called a good day, considering that was right around his average entering the game — Berry didn’t really want to hear it.

“Too many,” he said.

Moments like this are not unusual in the Chiefs’ locker room following wins. Several players often point out little things that nag them, or mention the next team they have to face or areas they need to improve in. It is not a locker room filled with guys who rest on their laurels or satisfy easily.

The leaders in the locker room attribute this to the culture Chiefs coach Andy Reid has established since his arrival in 2013, and that’s largely the case. But battle scars they’ve accrued along the way have also contributed to that attitude, and none was more formative than their heartbreaking 45-44 wild-card loss to the Indianapolis Colts in January 2014, during which they improbably blew a 28-point second-half lead.

“The core group of veterans … they were all here when we went through that,” quarterback Alex Smith said. “To turn on that tape, and check the score and the time and say ‘Hey, you guys are going to lose this game,’ it’s almost like ‘You gotta be kidding me, right? It’s impossible.’ But it did happen. So no question for us, I think it is ingrained.

“That edge you talk about week-to-week where you’re like, until it’s really over, there’s always something left to be done? You keep that edge about you.”

When quizzed about the loss this week, several Chiefs coaches — including co-offensive coordinator Brad Childress and defensive coordinator Bob Sutton — noted how many current Chiefs weren’t on the field for that loss, which is why the coaches rarely bring it up. And to a degree, it makes sense. Of the 53 Chiefs who were on the active roster at the time, only 15 remain.

But like Smith noted, nearly all of the alpha Chiefs — Berry, inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, running back Jamaal Charles, outside linebacker Justin Houston, outside linebacker Tamba Hali, nose tackle Dontari Poe and punter Dustin Colquitt — were on the field for that game, with the exception of receiver Jeremy Maclin, who was still in Philadelphia then.

Add in other current key starters who were on the 53-man roster then — including fullback Anthony Sherman, left tackle Eric Fisher, defensive tackle Jaye Howard, defensive tackle Allen Bailey, safety Ron Parker and linebacker Frank Zombo — and a healthy portion of significant contributors to this year’s team continue to harbor the painful memory.

“I remember going into halftime thinking we were going to the next round already,” Howard said. “Then honestly, after the game, I remember sitting in the locker room, (thinking) that’s the first time a team in NFL history came back from that (playoff) deficit. So that definitely sticks with you.”

Poe, Howard’s buddy on the defensive line, agreed.

“I wish it was out of sight, out of mind, but you remember it,” Poe said. “Just because of how it went down, how it happened. It could have been a big moment for us … that’s in the back of my head, I know.”

But along the way, a funny thing happened. The veterans took the loss and found a way, somehow, to spin it into a positive. They use it as motivation, as a reminder that you have to finish every snap, every game.

Take the Saints win on Sunday, for instance. Berry wasn’t the only player a little dissatisfied with the result. Berry said that as he walked off the field with Parker and cornerback Marcus Peters, all three of them groused about how many yards they surrendered to one of the league’s most potent offenses.

“We were like ‘man,’ ” Berry said. “The first thing (Ron) said was ‘We gave up 430 yards,’ and Marcus did, too. That’s just the mentality back there.”

That goes for the offense, too, as Smith — who said they still talk about the wild-card loss, albeit infrequently — could sense an urgency to score against the Saints late in the game. The Chiefs led the game by 14 in the second half, but they knew better than to take that lead for granted, especially as the Saints cut their lead to as little as three points late in the fourth quarter.

“I think Sunday was a great example,” Smith said. “I thought offensively, even though we missed those two third downs in the fourth quarter, I thought we kept our edge and had pride, as an offense, like ‘Let’s go win the game and not rely on our defense.’ ”

“That edge, having that attitude, is different. And I think it does come from things like that (loss).”

Derrick Johnson took it a step further, noting the Chiefs’ 30-0 wild-card win over the Texans in January was, in part, fueled by the memories of the Colts loss.

“Everybody thought we were going to win, but we didn’t take care of business, physically or mentally,” Johnson said of the Colts loss. “Good teams keep the lead. I don’t think we knew what we had at the time, and we didn’t take advantage of it.”

Berry agreed, but true to form, he continued to stress the importance of pushing forward. Yes, they “finished” against the Texans in last year’s playoffs, but what happened the next week? They lost to the New England Patriots in the divisional round — something else that sticks in his craw.

“You’ve got to come back and stack another game like that together,” Berry said, referring to the Chiefs’ first playoff victory in 22 years. “That’s why, after winning against Oakland and New Orleans (like we did recently), you’re like, ‘Let’s do it again, so it’s automatic in the playoffs.’ ”

The Chiefs’ next task will beto extend their winning streak to three, as Berry mentioned, against the Colts on Sunday. The game will be held at Lucas Oil Stadium, the site of their wild-card collapse.

And for the Chiefs who remain, being in that stadium again will serve as a reminder, not only of how far they’ve come, but what they better never let happen again if they want to make their Super Bowl dreams come true.

“No matter what the score is,” Berry stressed, “we can’t relax — at all.”

This story was originally published October 29, 2016 at 3:38 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ leaders turned devastating Indy loss into a positive."