has always been part of the passing game," Loomis continued. "Hes

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - By the time the Kansas City Chiefs pushed the pause button and looked at the scoreboard on Thursday night, they were already trailing the previously winless Oakland Raiders.Not just trailing, either. They were in a 17-3 hole midway through the third quarter.They rallied down the stretch, even taking a brief lead in the fourth quarter. But a defensive collapse and their offences inability to go the length of the field in the closing minutes led to a humiliating 24-20 defeat, one that knocked Kansas City from first place in the AFC West.We wanted to start off fast and we didnt play like that in the first half, Chiefs linebacker Josh Mauga recalled, and it kind of hurt us.That may be an understatement.We didnt really start the way we wanted to, Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith admitted. You know, on the road, we gave them too much momentum, it felt like.When asked to explain the Chiefs slow start, running back Jamaal Charles was stumped.I dont know, you know? Some games are just like that, he said. You learn from those games. Hopefully well learn from it and move on and come back next week against Denver.Yes, the Chiefs get their bitter division rival at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night, and with them a prime opportunity to move back into a tie atop the AFC West. But unless they are able to solve a troubling trend of slow starts, Peyton Manning and the Broncos could bury them early.The Chiefs are 5-0 when leading at halftime. Theyre 2-4 in all other games.We come back home and then weve got another big division game, and we are about to handle this the right way, Smith said. We can regroup and get it together.Just how do you get it together, though? How do you fix slow starts?After all, its not a tangible problem, something that can be fixed with playcalling alone. It doesnt come down to personnel groups, necessarily, or the scheme for the week.Often, it involves all of those things and more.In their opener against Tennessee, the Chiefs trailed 10-3 at halftime. They were behind 23-3 by the fourth quarter, when they finally found traction. The result was still a 26-10 loss, one that is even more frustrating now that Kansas City has clawed back into playoff contention.A few weeks ago in Buffalo, the problem popped up again.Kansas City trailed 10-3 at halftime and 13-3 after three quarters, finally coming alive when the game was coming down the stretch. The Chiefs scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns, their defence shut the Bills out and the result was a confidence-building 17-13 victory.The result was better. The way the Chiefs got there was a bit disappointing.Andy Reid has experience just about everything over the course of his coaching career, and even the Chiefs boss has yet to put his finger on the solution to the slow starts.Well, Ive got to make sure that I dial up plays that will help us with that. If you have an opportunity then weve got to execute when given the opportunity, he said. It hits all of us and defensively the same thing. There are things you can do as a coach with play calls and then the guys have to execute; were all in it together that way.Reid shouldered much of the blame for the flop in Oakland, and admitted that we werent as well co-ordinated as we needed to be. But he also said the Chiefs failed to grasp the opportunities that were presented, and that responsibility falls on the players.Youve got to stay on and execute. Thats one area on both sides of the ball we can do better at it. We didnt do a great job there, Reid said. I didnt feel it was a letdown; the guys didnt work hard and all that. It was one of those deals.One of those deals the Chiefs are trying hard to resolve by Sunday night.___AP NFL websites: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Air Jordan 13 Wholesale Australia . Jacob Jacques, Andrew Ryan and Jonathan Drouin also scored for Halifax (37-18-3), who outshot the Islanders 40-26. Kevin Darveau stopped 25 shots. Bradley Kennedy had the lone goal for Charlottetown (18-33-5), which has nine losses in its last 10 games. Air Jordan 13 Online Australia .J. -- Freshman Eli Carter scored a career-high 31 points and hit the go-ahead basket in the second overtime as Rutgers rallied to stun No. http://www.cheapairjordan13australia.com/ . Mickelson shot a 2-under 70 after opening with a 77 -- his worst score of the season -- on TPC San Antonios AT&T Oaks Course. Lefty was 11 strokes behind leader Steven Bowditch, the Australian who had a 67 to reach 8-under 136. Cheap Jordan 13 Retro Australia .Steamboat Ski Resort contends Steamboat Springs, Colorado has long been known as Ski Town, U.S.A., and claims in a new lawsuit that Salt Lake tourism officials violated their trademark when they rolled out the Ski City marketing campaign last month. Air Jordan 13 Retro Australia . Catch all the action on TSN starting at 10:30pm et/7:30pm pt. Toronto won at Denver and Utah, but lost in Portland and Sacramento. The Kings loss was the most recent game for the Raptors.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Japans Kei Nishikori is in doubt for the U.S. Open after he had a cyst removed from his right foot. Dr. Robert Anderson performed the procedure on Monday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nishikoris agent, Olivier Van Lindonk, says in an email that his client will fly to his U.S. home in Florida onn Tuesday to begin his recovery.dddddddddddd Nishikori, the first Japanese man to reach the top 10 in the rankings, is No. 11 this week. He lost to Richard Gasquet in the quarterfinals in Washington on Friday. Nishikori will miss next weeks tournament in Cincinnati. The U.S. Open begins Aug. 25. ' ' '