Kansas City, Mo. ? It’s a back-to-the-drawing-board kind of week for the Kansas City Chiefs, especially for a supposedly revamped defense.

Despite a new scheme and a different attitude under a new defensive coordinator, the Chiefs lapsed into their old ways Sunday night in a 34-24 loss at Denver.

Under the direction of Gunther Cunningham, Kansas City was determined to stop giving up the big plays that characterized its miserable defensive season of 2003. But the Chiefs allowed the Broncos to rip off 16 plays of 10 or more yards. The biggest went 25, 47, and 58 yards, while Quentin Griffin had 156 yards rushing and two touchdowns.

It was shades of last season, when Kansas City finished 29th defensively and fired defensive coordinator Greg Robinson.

“It’s got to be a belief in the new system and not revert back to what you did in the past,” a disgusted Cunningham said. “I tried to do that with them all week long in practice, and obviously I did not make my point good enough.”

One criticism leveled at the Chiefs was their refusal to sign any defensive free agents. Except for Cunningham, who was coordinator when Kansas City had standouts such as Derrick Thomas and Neil Smith in the 1990s, the defense has nearly the same cast of players.

Nevertheless, head coach Dick Vermeil admitted Monday that he was surprised at how poorly his team played.

“It’s like anything that’s new,” Vermeil said. “It’s hard to do it the new way all the time on every snap. You tend to react back and respond the way you have responded in the past. I think some of that did occur.”

Denver wide receiver Champ Bailey (24) dives over Kansas City defender Jerome Woods. The Broncos beat the Chiefs, 34-24, Sunday in Denver.

The picture may not get much better this week when the Chiefs play host to Carolina. A lengthy list of banged-up Kansas City defenders includes defensive end Vonnie Holliday, safeties Greg Wesley and Jerome Woods and cornerbacks Eric Warfield and William Bartee.

Bartee was carried off the field in the first half of Sunday night’s game, but Vermeil said Monday that Bartee merely suffered a neck sprain and might be able to play against Carolina.

“They made 258 yards on first down,” Vermeil said. “That’s where they won the football game. Normally, that’s where we are extremely sound.”

In another replay from last year, Kansas City could not stop Denver at the end of the game. The Broncos were nursing a 27-24 lead when Griffin broke a 19-yard run to the one to set up the clinching TD.

“I expected (the defense) to be better. I really did,” Vermeil said. “I think they expected it to be better. But offensively, we could have helped them. I expected our offense to be much better than it was.”

Denver running back Quentin Griffin (22) tries to slip away from Kansas City cornerback Eric Warfield. The Chiefs, who lost to the Broncos on Sunday in Denver, had defensive woes resurface in the week-one loss.