Kansas City, Mo. ? The Kansas City Chiefs are holding back the swagger and putting off the party.

Yes, they’re one of four 2-0 AFC teams. They have impressive victories over the New York Jets and Oakland and reason to believe all their work toward rebuilding a crumbling defense is paying off.

But a review of film of Sunday night’s 23-17 victory at the Raiders brought to mind a lesson coach Dick Vermeil learned long ago.

“Normally, when you win a football game and you really feel good about it flying home, you look at tapes and it’s not quite as good as you thought it was,” Vermeil said Tuesday.

“Conversely, when you lose a football game and you fly home and look at it, it’s not as bad as you thought it was. We know we aren’t there yet. But we all feel we have the talent here to continue to get better.”

Sobering, too, is the location of their next game: Monday night in Denver, a place where the Chiefs traditionally have struggled. Vermeil is 0-4 in the Rockies.

Improved speed at linebacker, with rookie Derrick Johnson and veteran Kendrell Bell, should help contain the backbreaking bootleg plays with which the Broncos have hurt the Chiefs year after year.

But the Denver running game always has given Kansas City a headache.

“The big problem with them is their offensive line and their zone scheme,” Vermeil said. “They do an awfully good job with it. Everybody has a few zone scheme running plays. We do. But they build their offense on that. They get you stretched, reaching out, and then they shove you out and cut right back underneath you. They do a good job of cutting the linebackers off.”

For the second week in a row, Kansas City likely will be without dominant Pro Bowl left tackle Willie Roaf. Third-year man Jordan Black, who was switched from right tackle to Roaf’s spot on the left side, again would step in.

Black got mixed reviews – and had one horrendous stretch. After Oakland tied it at 17, the Chiefs went on a nine-minute drive that got them to a first and goal at the nine. But then on successive plays Black was called for holding, and the Chiefs kicked a field goal.

“One was at least a pretty good call,” Vermeil said. “Sometimes, hey, if you’re getting beat, you don’t want the quarterback hit, you take the penalty. But overall, Jordan Black did a good job for his first start at left tackle. That’s a tough position.”

Black also had his moments, Vermeil said.

“He has the talent to play, just doesn’t have the experience. And he’s not Willie Roaf. He did have some problems.”

If they can win in Denver, the Chiefs would seize at least a two-game lead in the AFC West.

But that kind of thinking, Vermeil said, was ahead of where his players should be.

“None of us are disillusioned in any way. We know we’re not where we have to be, where we want to be,” he said. “It’s way, way too early. We aren’t arrogant in any way. We aren’t cocky. We aren’t strutting around bragging about how good we are. We are pleased. And we’ve earned the right to be pleased.

“But we are totally aware of how far we have left to go.”