A once-proud and plundering Chiefs defense under Andy Reid has dissolved into this: a lumbering, tentative, rudderless mess.
Now, it just brings chaos upon itself instead of creating it for opponents.
Those vital signs dominate the autopsy of the Chiefs’ 38-31 loss to the New York Jets on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, a game that downgrades the Chiefs from worrisome slump into a trajectory toward collapse after a 5-0 start that seems long ago and far away.
The weight of all that is why safety Ron Parker sat afterward for long minutes at his locker, head down, even as most others were on the move to get showered and get out.