KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It’s going to be hard to take the Kansas City Chiefs seriously as a championship contender until they can consistently beat their AFC West brethren, and specifically their division nemesis, the Denver Broncos.

In an all-important game for their chances to make the 2014 AFC postseason tournament, the Chiefs lost another one to Denver, going down 29-16. The Broncos have won six in a row over the Chiefs, and Sunday night Denver won again in Kansas City, giving them four consecutive victories and six in the last eight games at Arrowhead Stadium.

Under Andy Reid over two seasons, the Chiefs are 3-7 in the division. A team that can’t win in its own neighborhood can’t be considered a contender. Right now, Reid and general manager John Dorsey have a lot of work to do to put the Chiefs into a position to seriously challenge the Broncos.

Last season, they were 2-4 in the division, beating only the Oakland Raiders. This year they are 1-3, beating the Chargers in San Diego but falling on the road to Oakland and Denver and then losing at home to the Broncos. They have home games against the Raiders and Chargers to finish out their schedule.

That’s what made the 13-point loss to Denver so devastating for the Chiefs’ chances. A victory would have left the Chiefs (7-5) tied with the Broncos (9-3) for first place with four games to play. Instead, their last quarter of the season starts Sunday with a game against the Arizona Cardinals, and they are two games out of the division lead and in third place, behind the Broncos and Chargers (8-4).

“We have a high-character team and they will work like crazy to get back and do better than this,” Reid said. “We’ve all got to do better.”

The best way to improve a team’s chances of making the playoffs and doing something in the tournament is to win the division and have at least one home game. There are no guarantees mind you, but over the last five AFC and NFC playoffs, home teams are 15-5 in the divisional round. Those are the games hosted by teams that won division titles.

Against Denver, the Chiefs showed again they were not ready to advance their cause in the division and conference.

NOTES: OLB Justin Houston picked up his 14th sack of the season Sunday, giving him 40 for his career. Houston became the Chiefs’ second-fastest pass rusher to reach that total, doing it in 55 games. Only Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Thomas achieved 40 sacks faster (42 games). … RB Jamaal Charles caught a 12-yard pass for a touchdown, giving him 31 offensive scores over the last two seasons, more than any other player in the league. It’s five more than Seattle running back Marshawn Lynch (26) and six more than New Orleans tight end Jimmy Graham (25).

REPORT CARD VS. BRONCOS

–PASSING OFFENSE: F — Alex Smith did throw a pair of touchdown passes and completed 65 percent of his throws, but the Chiefs averaged just 6.7 yards per attempt and Smith was sacked six times, or once every five passing plays. It wasn’t just the sacks either — he was hit another 12 times while throwing the ball. This was a complete breakdown of the passing game.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: F — Down 17-0 midway through the second quarter, it’s hard for any coach and play caller to worry about staying balanced on play selection. Andy Reid did not. The Chiefs ran 29 passing plays to 15 running plays. Those times when they kept the ball on the ground, they averaged just 2.7 yards. Overall, Jamaal Charles touched the ball only 14 times. That just should not happen.

–PASS DEFENSE: D — This game was not a virtuoso performance throwing the ball by Peyton Manning. He completed half of his passes (17 of 34), for just 5.3 yards per attempt. But Manning hit a pair of touchdown passes, did not throw an interception and the Chiefs were able to sack him just once and touched him on only one other pass play.

–RUSH DEFENSE: F — Tackling by the Chiefs was atrocious, as Denver running back C.J. Anderson ran for 168 yards, averaging 5.3 yards per carry. Well over 100 yards of Anderson’s total came after first contact. The Chiefs were able to put a hand or arm on the Broncos back, but they struggled to get him on the ground. When Denver wanted to run the ball, they did.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: D — Sunday night, the Chiefs made one of those mistakes that just can’t happen in the kicking game, when Marcus Cooper did not locate the flight of a punt and the ball bounced off his knee and was recovered by Denver. They also gave up another fake punt that produced a first down for the Broncos. The return game did not help either team.

–COACHING: D — The first-quarter performance in all phases of the game was the worst of the season for Reid’s team. They needed to get out of the gate fast, and they couldn’t. The Chiefs had 10 days to prepare for this game after coming off a Thursday night loss to Oakland, and that extra time seemed to provide no help. Reid and staff deserve credit for keeping their players in the game when they started out down 17-0 midway through the second quarter.