AP

The Chiefs lost a game on Sunday and they lost two defensive starters with injuries that are likely season enders.

Coach Andy Reid announced after the game that linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive end Mike DeVito both ruptured their Achilles tendons during the 26-10 loss to the Titans.

The losses are severe ones for the Kansas City defense. Johnson is one of the team’s defensive leaders and his absence coincides with Joe Mays’ rehabilitation from wrist surgery that will keep him out for a few more weeks. That leaves the Chiefs awfully thin in run defense after giving up 162 yards on the ground in the opener.

DeVito’s loss won’t help on that front either as the Chiefs don’t have much behind him at defensive end. Jaye Howard, Vance Walker and Damion Square, inactive on Sunday, are the reserve defensive linemen in Kansas City and none of them profiles a difference maker up front.

There are also problems to sort out with the team’s offense, which adds up to a very wrong-footed start to the 2014 season for the Chiefs.