<table> </table> CHARLOTTE, N.C. | Tank Tyler was sprawled on a chair in the locker room, trying to think of something encouraging about Sunday&#8217;s 34-0 loss at Carolina.</p><p>Defensive end Tamba Hali had tried telling him to forget it; that this week was finished and the Chiefs have more weeks to prove they possess a good defense.</p><p>That&#8217;s one way to look at it.</p><p>&#8220;Nothing to feel good about,&#8221; Tyler said after Hali had walked away.</p><p>A week earlier, the Chiefs&#8217; defense was soaring after holding Denver&#8217;s fierce offense to half its scoring average. Kansas City harassed Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler, stuffed the running game and generally made life difficult on a team expecting to cruise through Arrowhead Stadium.</p><p>Then there was Carolina. The Chiefs allowed the Panthers to gain 441 total yards, more than three times as many yards as Kansas City&#8217;s offense gained Sunday. Carolina running backs Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams combined for 195 rushing yards. Quarterback Jake Delhomme passed for 236 yards. The Panthers converted nearly 60 percent of their third downs, and they didn&#8217;t go three-and-out until the third quarter. By then, Carolina had a 24-0 lead.</p><p>Tyler said the worst part was the timing. The Chiefs thought their defense had turned a corner in the Denver game. Maybe found its identity. Maybe established itself as an outstanding defense. Then there was Carolina.</p><p>&#8220;We thought we had the mojo back,&#8221; Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson said.</p><p>Hali said the good thing about Sunday is that there are more weeks for the defense to prove itself. Tyler said that&#8217;s true, but Kansas City has two weeks to sit and stew about this one &#8212; the Chiefs are idle next week and will have to endure endless film viewings, meetings and practices with Sunday&#8217;s blowout in mind.</p><p>Tyler said the Chiefs&#8217; defense never clicked Sunday. There was no chemistry, no urgency, no strength. And it showed.</p><p>The Panthers had their weaknesses, of course. Both their starting offensive tackles, Jordan Gross and rookie Jeff Otah, were out because of injuries. That was supposed to give the Chiefs&#8217; defensive line an opening to do what coach Herm Edwards said Kansas City is desperate to do: pressure and maybe even sack a quarterback.</p><p>The Chiefs didn&#8217;t get close to Delhomme or his replacement, Josh McCown, on Sunday.</p><p>&#8220;We tried to blitz a bunch,&#8221; Edwards said. &#8220;We didn&#8217;t get there even blitzing.&#8221;</p><p>Johnson said the Chiefs took a leap backward Sunday, and most of all he was confused by how differently the defense played in consecutive weeks. He said it&#8217;s still early enough in the season that Kansas City&#8217;s unit can improve and forget Sunday&#8217;s many mistakes.</p><p>Then again, the Chiefs are approaching the season&#8217;s midway point, and other than the Denver victory, there haven&#8217;t been many indications the defense can string together decent performances, let alone good ones.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re definitely shocked that this happened,&#8221; Johnson said. &#8220;We just knew we were going to come up here and have a good game.&#8221;</p><p>Tyler couldn&#8217;t explain it. Hali at least tried.</p><p>&#8220;It didn&#8217;t go to plan,&#8221; he said.