In many ways, the first 7 minutes of Sunday's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans provided a glimpse of what the entire day would kind of look like for both teams. 

On their first offensive possession, the Texans drove 82 yards on 8 plays, and facing a third-and-goal from the 2-yard line, quarterback Brock Osweiler threw it in the direction of second-year cornerback Marcus Peters, which would prove to be a mistake on this play.

Just three plays earlier, Peters had been a few steps behind Texans rookie receiver Will Fuller in coverage, which resulted in a 53-yard gain for the Texans, and when Osweiler tested the standout cornerback a second time, Peters made him pay with an interception on the goal line.

It was a huge break for the Chiefs defense and prevented at least 4 points on the board if you assume the short field goal on fourth down would have been good.

After picking up a couple of first downs, the Chiefs offense succumbed to the mistakes that plagued them for most of the first half.

On third-and-6 from their own 44-yard line, quarterback Alex Smith wasn't able to handle the shotgun snap from center Mitch Morse and Texans All-Pro defensive lineman J.J. Watt was able to recover the fumble and give the Texans great field position at the Chiefs 27-yard line.

On the very next play, Osweiler found All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins for the 27-yard touchdown down the right sideline.

Just like that, the Chiefs couldn't take advantage of the break they were given and gave it right back to the Texans.

"All in all, we made way too many mistakes today," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said after the game. "You can't do that against good football teams, and that's what the (Houston) Texans are. You give them that many opportunities, and you're not going to win the game.

"My responsibility as a head coach is to play more disciplined football than what we displayed there."

The Chiefs finished the first half with 3 turnovers, which is uncommon for the guys who were involved.

Smith, who led the NFL with 601 touches last year without a fumble—had 2—and running back Spencer Ware, who didn't lose a fumble in his entire college career or at any point last season for the Chiefs, also lost the ball.

"I've never lost a fumble," Ware explained after the game. "That is something that we don't condone and it's not acceptable."

Those 2 fumbles led to 10 points for the Texans, which proved to be the difference.

In addition to the turnovers, the Chiefs were called for 9 penalties that resulted in 77 yards.

The mistakes added up and became too much to overcome, and after going 0 for 2 in the red zone, the Chiefs finished with 4 field goals on the day.

"We've got to find a way to get it going earlier," Smith said after the game. "With all the turnovers, the penalties, you can't settle for 4 field goals in a game like that. You have to find a way to get into the end zone."

The silver lining for this game is that despite the numerous mistakes, the Chiefs lost by a touchdown to a potential playoff team on the road without several key players, and the mistakes they made are all easily correctable and of their own doing.

"That's what's real," Reid added. "You can't do that in this league. The margin between winning and losing is so small in this league. You do stupid things, and it's going to be tough to come out on the right side of the score. That's something we've got to learn from this, and get ourselves back and ready to go.

"The ability is there. I'm not denying the ability is there. We have a chance to be a good football team, but we've got to learn from this right here."