Print edition: 
KANSAS CITY, Mo. —The Chiefs were in the middle of feeling good about themselves when on Sunday, reality intervened. It wasn't so much about the fact their winning streak was stopped abruptly at one as how that happened.
They reverted to their early-season ways in a 37-7 loss to San Diego at Arrowhead Stadium. That type of defeat, coming one week after their feel-good victory in Washington, seemed to blindside everyone in a throwback Dallas Texans outfit.
"I think it did,'' running back Larry Johnson said. "I don't know what was going through our heads at the time. I don't know whether it was false happiness or thinking that . . . San Diego was just going to lay down because they played the Monday night game.
"I don't know what it was.''
The Chiefs desperately wanted to believe the win in Washington represented progress, a sign they were coming around to coach Todd Haley's ways. But against the Chargers, the Chiefs allowed three pass plays of more than 50 yards and two runs of more than 20 yards.
They again couldn't protect quarterback Matt Cassel, who was sacked four times. But in this game Cassel didn't handle the constant pressure so well. He threw interceptions on three consecutive second-half possessions, ending a streak of 150 passes without a pick.
The Chiefs never saw it coming.
"It wasn't what was expected,'' Haley said. "We were all excited about playing the game. That probably makes it worse.
"We won a tough game last week on the road. We've had as good a week of practice as we've had. We had a day in the rain that started out kind of ugly that I really felt like our team kind of came together and we probably had our best practice of the year. We had our best Friday (practice) of the year, and I really was excited to get to the game.
"I thought we had a chance to compete.''
The Chiefs have experience in dealing with lopsided losses. They were handled in back-to-back games against Philadelphia and the New York Giants.
But neither of those games came after a rare occurrence, a Chiefs victory. Neither of the other games snatched away their vision that things were getting better.
The latest defeat says the Chiefs gave back everything they gained in Washington, and then some.
"A loss is a loss, whether it's by three points or 30 points,'' defensive lineman Glenn Dorsey said. "I feel the same way after every loss. It's just not acceptable. It's not the way we want to do things.''
Cassel had been a rock for the Chiefs, standing strong even when little around him was working. The Chiefs couldn't protect him, couldn't help him with a consistent running game and couldn't provide big plays from the receivers.
This loss was the first where he seemed to crack under the strain. He led a scoring drive to start the second half, ending it with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Dwayne Bowe on fourth down.
Otherwise, this game appeared to be a step back for him, too. His first interception was deflected to a San Diego defender by tight end Sean Ryan, the second a mixup with Bobby Wade.
But no matter where the fault lies, the interceptions ended any hope of a Chiefs comeback.
"You never want to lose in this fashion,'' Cassel said. "This is definitely not how we wanted to come out and play. We're going to have to deal with that as a team and we're going to have to correct a lot of things.''
The Chiefs are entering their bye week, so their locker room was full of players promising they would figure solutions to their problems. But after this loss, everything seemed so clear.
"We come back into the locker room and we have to deal with it, the wins and losses,'' Johnson said. "I think we just wanted to get a win and keep building off what we did last week.''
SDKC
First downs1710
Total Net Yards403203
Rushes-yards36-13531-121
Passing26882
Punt Returns1-181-17
Kickoff Returns2-348-156
Interceptions Ret. 3-600-0
Comp-Att-Int18-30-011-26-3
Sacked-Yards Lost0-04-18
Punts4-49.06-40.2
Fumbles-Lost0-00-0
Penalties-Yards9-597-41
Time of Possession32:4527:15
San Diego146710—37 Kansas City007 0—o 7
First Quarter
SD—Floyd 3 pass from Rivers (Kaeding kick), 7:32.
SD—Jackson 10 pass from Rivers (Kaeding kick), 1:23.
Second Quarter
SD—FG Kaeding 20, 9:49.
SD—FG Kaeding 39, :01.
Third Quarter
KC—Bowe 7 pass from Cassel (Succop kick), 9:48.
SD—Sproles 58 pass from Rivers (Kaeding kick), 5:45.
Fourth Quarter
SD—FG Kaeding 19, 11:37.
SD—Hester blocked punt recovery in end zone (Kaeding kick), 9:13.
A—69,337.
Individual Statistics
Rushing—San Diego, Tomlinson 23-71, Sproles 5-41, Rivers 2-18, Hester 3-8, Volek 3-(minus 3). Kansas City, L.Johnson 16-49, Charles 4-33, Cassel 6-24, Savage 5-15.
Passing—San Diego, Rivers 18-30-0-268. Kansas City, Cassel 10-25-3-97, Gutierrez 1-1-0-3.
Receiving—San Diego, Jackson 5-142, Gates 5-55, Sproles 3-58, Floyd 2-9, Tomlinson 2-2, Tolbert 1-2. Kansas City, Wade 4-66, Long 2-12, Bowe 2-11, L.Johnson 1-7, Copper 1-3, Charles 1-1.
Missed Field Goals—San Diego, Kaeding 43 (WR). Kansas City, Succop 43 (WR).
