What you are about to read is not an obituary for the 2021 Chiefs, who have fallen to 1–2 and last place in the AFC West after losing 24–21 to the Chargers at Arrowhead on Sunday. We are just three games into an extended 17-game schedule, after all. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that the things we expect to remain constant in the NFL almost never do. Nothing, not even the most physically gifted quarterback to play the position in decades and a slate of skill-position stars, are unsolvable forever.
The Chiefs tried to tell us as much back in 2020, after their Super Bowl LIV victory over the 49ers.