KANSAS CITY, Mo. – There comes a point in certain seasons when it's time to accept that not all Super Bowl contenders are going to look impressive. The squads that usually catch our eyes have higher-powered offenses, big-name quarterbacks with gaudy numbers and enough nonstop hype to fuel sports talk radio for weeks. Then there are those teams that slowly creep into the national spotlight with more faith than fanfare, more grit than glamour. Teams like this year's Kansas City Chiefs.

Anybody who watched the Chiefs' 17-16 victory over the Houston Texans on Sunday learned something important: This team is not built to do things easily. It grinds away on offense, limiting turnovers and hoping for enough big plays to generate points. It swarms opponents on defense and produces plenty of underappreciated moments with consistent special teams. That formula has been good enough to push the Chiefs' record to 7-0. It also will be the reason they go deep into this postseason.

Tamba Hali forced Case Keenum into a fumble that sealed the win for the Chiefs. David Eulitt/K.C. Star/Getty

This Kansas City squad -- a team currently on its way to winning 13 or 14 regular-season games -- is starting to bear a striking resemblance to Super Bowl winners that thrived with limited offenses and suffocating defenses. The 2000 Baltimore Ravens rode that wave to a championship. The 2001 New England Patriots did the same thing, as did the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. These are just the teams that walked away with Lombardi Trophies, but you get the point. The Chiefs are not swimming in uncharted waters here.

Kansas City wins more with chemistry than convincing performances. As Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said after barely squeaking by a free-falling Houston team that is now 2-5, "Every win in the NFL is a great win, and we'll enjoy all of them. This was a great team win."

It was a great team win because the Chiefs needed every aspect of their team to earn it. They allowed a rookie quarterback who had never even dressed for an NFL regular-season game (Case Keenum) to complete 60 percent of his passes for 271 yards and a touchdown. They lost the turnover battle, blew a fourth-and-goal opportunity from the Texans' 1-yard line and watched quarterback Alex Smith throw a critical interception midway through the fourth quarter that gave the Texans new life. This seemed like the kind of game Houston could pull out, because the Chiefs weren't taking it. Then, just like that, everything changed.

Chiefs cornerback Brandon Flowers sacked Keenum to end a drive. His teammates, outside linebackers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali, then smashed Keenum on Houston's next possession, thwarting that effort. And when Keenum tried to lead his offense to a winning field goal on the Texans' final drive, Hali sacked him again, forcing a fumble that inside linebacker Derrick Johnson recovered to seal the game.