Chiefs look to soothe battered egos on short rest

The sun had set on Arrowhead Stadium, to say nothing of Kansas City’s perfect start, by the time Alex Smith and the banged-up Chiefs finally headed to their cars Sunday night.

They don’t have much time to recuperate.

After getting dominated on both sides of the ball by the Pittsburgh Steelers in a 19-13 loss, the Chiefs have four days to flush it from their system.

They will head to California to face the AFC West-rival Oakland Raiders on Thursday.

“Coming off a physical game, you know you’re going to have another big divisional game and travel,” Smith said.

“You got all those built-in excuses there to lean on.”

The Chiefs (5-1) ran roughshod through the first five weeks of the season. Their offence was the best in the league, their defence was stingy.

But if their egos were inflated, the Steelers did a brutally efficient job of deflating them. They held that high-flying offence to six yards in the first half. They churned out 179 yards rushing with Le’Veon Bell against that plucky defence.

“They say not to take anything personal,” Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson said, “but when they run the ball like they did on us, you have to.”

That sounds like someone who intends to be mentally right by Thursday.

Getting right physically might prove to be a bigger challenge.

The Chiefs were without centre Mitch Morse and right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif again Sunday and the ailing offensive linemen could well be out against the Raiders.

“It’s a short turnaround, right back on it tomorrow,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “You have to heal up fast, use all the technology we have, take care of yourselves, rest and get ready for Monday and Tuesday and you’re flying on Wednesday. That’s part of the game.”