Lock, however, maintained an optimistic approach as the team moves toward two home games to end its season.

"I think as people look at this, I think it'll definitely be blown up," Lock said. "We got our butts kicked today. But there were so many opportunities for us to make plays. And as bad as people are going to say it looked and we feel right now, we're going to go back, we're going to watch it and we're going to realize there were plays there to be made. If we make a couple here and there, that's a different game."

Miller said he's not losing hope either, but he knows everyone on the team must pull a little more weight.

That's what it will take for the Broncos to snap the streak against the Chiefs and return to contention.

"Drew is definitely the future," Miller said. "It's everybody around. Guys have got to get open; the offensive line's got to block; we've got to run the ball. Just cliché little stuff. Drew's doing what he needs to do. [On] defense, we need to stop the run; we've got to rush the passer; we've got to play tight coverage. I sound like a broken record up here. We're saying the same thing. We found a quarterback. We've got a great quarterback, but everybody else has got to know you can't just lean on one guy — offense, defense special teams. It's the pros. You can't just lean on one guy to do it all or save you. It has to be a collective effort by the foundation of the team. When you get stars, stars are going to take you to the next level. We've got one at quarterback, we've got a receiver. We've got guys all around, but we've got to come on with it."

This one, though, will hurt for at least a while. That was clear watching Lock, who made his third start, and Miller, who made his 133rd.

"For me, I guess it just looks different from my lens. I'm 30 years old. I've been playing in the league nine years. I'm ready to hit the gear, I'm ready to go again. I'm ready to bring whatever we had in the past back. I want that back. Down year, two down years, three down years, four down years. We did that. Now I'm trying to get back going again, and whenever you — and I'm not just in it for me — but whenever we put it all out there, we play hard … and we come up short, it's definitely defeating. It's more than just winning and losing.