Tampa, Fla. ? A slow start doomed the Kansas City Chiefs to a 20-10 NFL exhibition-opening loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Naturally, Chiefs coach Todd Haley hopes to get out of the blocks more quickly tonight, when Kansas City takes on Tampa Bay.

“The guys just need to be ready for the start of the game,” Haley said. “Tempo was a big issue. It wasn’t about being ready; they were prepared. I think everybody was ready to go for the game, but I think the initial, ‘Here we go, this is the first real game’ — and I just think the tempo caught some guys off guard.”

K.C. couldn’t stop the Falcons early, and on offense went three-and-out on its first possession and lost a Matt Cassel fumble on the second.

“That’s why I think next week you’ll see an adjustment,” Haley said. “Everybody will have a little better idea of what to expect. I think that occurred, once they got their feet under them. I saw some good things from a lot of defensive players that make me feel like we’re making progress.”

Haley said early last week that the coaching staff would spend much of the Chiefs’ final week of training camp emphasizing the need to start well against the Buccaneers.