Justin Houston has a theory about the Chiefs

They never talked about it much, at least not publicly, and if you ever asked they would deny it with impunity. But time has a way of teasing out the truth, especially when time includes a change of perspective, so you will be interested in what Justin Houston said in the happiest Chiefs locker room of the season.

The question was about the Broncos, who the Chiefs (finally) beat, 29-13 here on Sunday. Wild day, too, one that left Broncos fans cursing, Peyton Manning talking about whether he was still the starting quarterback, and Chiefs fans hoping.

Manning broke the NFL’s all-time passing record, and then was so bad — the worst of his 291 NFL games, and it’s not close — he was benched. The Chiefs had not beaten the Broncos in seven tries across three and a half seasons and 1,414 days. Romeo Crenel was the interim coach the last time this happened. Tim Tebow was the Broncos’ quarterback.

So, the question to Houston was about beating the Broncos. After all this time. Houston was a rookie the last time the Chiefs did this. He had a wide smile on his face. The question, admittedly, was fairly obvious: does losing so many times to these guys over the years make this win feel better?

“I think it was more from the first game,” Houston said of the Chiefs’ blowing a late lead against the Broncos at home. “We know the first game wasn’t supposed to happen like that. To lose the way we did, it hurt. I think it kind of messed with our momentum. I think we’re back on track now. We just gotta stay with it.”

Sometimes the dumb question gets a smart answer. Here, Houston is admitting something you don’t often hear. Losing to the Broncos back in September rocked the team in a way that directly contributed to losing five games in a row.

“I definitely think so,” he said. “That’s one thing we can’t do. You have to have a bad memory in football.”

Just for another perspective on this, let’s go to Jeremy Maclin. He’s a smart guy. A veteran. Thoughtful. So, is that what happened? One loss and it snowballed into more than a month of funk?

“You’d like to not think that,” Maclin said. “But is it possible? Yeah. To lose like that, it can definitely affect you.”

It’s interesting on its own, the Chiefs’ best player saying one loss turned into five and a talented and respected veteran vaguely confirming it, but this is a happy day so the point isn’t to bring up the sorry past but to marvel at how quickly things can change.

Because even now, with the Chiefs 4-5, they appear in fairly good shape. They are just a game out of the playoffs, and have the easiest remaining schedule in the league. Only one team is currently in the playoffs, and that’s the Bills. That game will be played in Kansas City, with the Chiefs likely favored.

At least one formula gives the Chiefs a better than 50-50 chance at the playoffs. If that happens, their most likely opponent would be the Broncos, something the Chiefs are well aware of.

“Bigger picture,” Maclin said, “if you have to come back here you know you already did it one time.”

The NFL moves fast, in other words, and nowhere is that clearer than in the aftermath of this game. Because now, it’s the Broncos who will wonder if one loss just turned to two, and how the wretched second loss will hang over the rest of their season.

Manning won’t make excuses about injuries, even as he’s playing through pain in his foot, his shoulder, and his ribs, but that has to be the explanation because the other possibility is that he’s this bad, and he can’t be this bad. He completed five of 20 passes for 35 yards and four interceptions. When he was in the game, the Broncos managed just three first downs. Three. His passer rating was 0.0, and, no, the formula does not allow for negative numbers.

Manning’s legend is enough that Houston said he was “shocked — very shocked” when Brock Osweiler took over, but his play Sunday was bad enough that Derrick Johnson said he expected the change.

“He’s almost 40 years old,” Johnson said. “So he’s a guy who’s not what he used to be. Still a great quarterback, just not what he used to be. Today, we had our way.”

Nationally, and probably even locally, to some extent, the talk of this game will be about Manning. It makes for a nice soundbite: he made history, and now he might be history.

But underneath his historically bad day, and a Chiefs schedule that now opens up and allows for dreams, is a truth most fans back in Kansas City understand but would probably rather not talk about: they need to be better than this.

The Broncos were going to lose Sunday, no matter who they played. The Broncos did much more to torpedo themselves than the Chiefs did to distinguish themselves. The Chiefs were protecting a lead, and saw early that the Broncos would have trouble scoring, so the game conditions pushed an already conservative team further into the corner.

But even with those disclaimers, the Chiefs settled for six field-goal attempts, and scored just one touchdown in three tries in the red zone. They averaged 3.3 yards per carry. Even beyond Manning’s ailments, the Broncos were without cornerback Aqib Talib, pass rusher DeMarcus Ware, and had Emmanuel Sanders playing through an injury. So there’s room for the Chiefs to be better. That’s a good thing.

Because if the Chiefs are as good as they believe they are, they will be better than this. If the Chiefs are as good as they believe they are, they will push their way into the playoffs.

And, well, if that means a rematch here against the Broncos, at this point wouldn’t you take that?

This story was originally published November 15, 2015 at 9:05 PM with the headline "Justin Houston has a theory about the Chiefs."