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With the Christmas holiday in the rearview mirror, so too is Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts. The Kansas City Chiefs are moving forward, better yet, they’re moving west to face their division-leading rival, the Denver Broncos.

Although it’s never easy to fully forget a tough loss, much less the 2-13 overall record, a break from football can often times help. However, the holiday season isn’t the only thing that can help the Chiefs move on from their latest defeat; the nature of the league almost forces them to forget.

“It’s the beauty of the NFL, you have a game (with)in seven days, so no matter what happens, it’s a clean slate on Wednesday; you have to come back and do what you have to do. We have a game against the Broncos, a big game and we’re excited to finish the season strong,” Chiefs TE Steve Maneri said.

There’s also the proactive approach, where players learn from their mistakes and make the most out of their next opportunities.

“The best ones learn and have that short memory, get in there and see the film, correct any mistakes and get back to it and move on to the next game,” Chiefs DB Tysyn Hartman said.

“Especially with our long season, you can’t dwell on any one game, if you don’t play well in any phase of the game, you have to learn from your mistakes and move on.”

Fear has always been a motivating factor and it could be this week, as well. It’s not a fear of the Denver Broncos but instead, what they could do if the Chiefs aren’t prepared.

“No matter what the record is, division games mean something to us. We go in there, it’s a hostile environment, going to Denver,” Chiefs CB Brandon Flowers said. “We have to be ready because if you’re not, you can easily get embarrassed with Peyton Manning on the field.”

If all else fails, refocusing and giving all-out effort, regardless of records, comes down to playing because you truly love the game.

“If you love to play football, you have to come to play every week,” Chiefs LB Derrick Johnson said. “You have to be a pro, regardless of the situation, if you’re winning or losing, it’s much harder when you’re losing, (but) this should make us stronger.”

Chiefs WR Dexter McCluster agreed.

“As competitors, we know this is our last game coming up; we want to definitely end this season on a high note,” McCluster admitted. “No matter what the season took us through this year, it’s behind us. We have one game left and that’s one more ‘w’ we can possibly get.”

It’s been said, it’s not how you start but how you finish; the Chiefs will look to finish on a high note when they visit the Mile High city on Sunday.