The Kansas City Chiefs might be hovering at 5-5, but around the league, there’s still a healthy respect for what they can become down the stretch. Rival executives see a flawed team that’s struggling to run the ball and leaning too heavily on Patrick Mahomes , yet they also point to his “fear factor” and Andy Reid’s track record as reasons nobody is ready to write Kansas City out of the AFC playoff picture just yet. Fix the details, and those Chiefs rumors about a late surge won’t sound far-fetched at all.

Inside the building, though, the mood shifted sharply after the loss in Denver. According to ESPN, Chiefs coaches went into Mile High genuinely optimistic about the offense, believing pass protection was better than in past seasons and that they finally had five receivers they cou

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