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KANSAS CITY, Mo. cheap jerseys . -- In many ways, it was a dream, going from 2-14 and the first overall pick in the NFL draft to 11-5 and a spot in the playoffs. Yet it ended in just about the most nightmarish way possible, a second-half collapse and another round of post-season heartache. No wonder the Kansas City Chiefs had such a hard time summarizing their season in the minutes and hours after a gut-wrenching 45-44 loss at Indianapolis on Saturday. "You know, I certainly think you use this as drive," Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith said Sunday between wrap-up meetings. "I think its good to be playing in these types of games. I think these types of games are contagious. You go back to playing in just regular-season games, you want that itch. You have that urge to try to get to these types of games. "I certainly think that foundation has been laid for next year." The Chiefs have lost a record eight straight post-season games, their last victory coming after the 1993 season. Most of the current members of the team were in grade school, some of them still in diapers, the last time Kansas City tasted any success in games that truly matter. It appeared for most of three quarters Saturday that things would be different. Kansas City had raced to a 31-10 halftime lead, and then took advantage of an interception early in the third quarter to tack on a touchdown that several Chiefs would say later should have sealed the game. The problem was that they started playing as if the game was in hand, while Andrew Luck and the playoff-tested Colts started to play as though they had nothing to lose. The result was a furious second-half rally, one made possible by unconscionable breakdowns by a defence that was spectacular during a 9-0 start. Luck torched a secondary that wilted when it faced premier quarterbacks such as Peyton Manning and Philip Rivers, and his 64-yard touchdown pass to T.Y. Hilton with 4:21 left finished off the second-biggest comeback in NFL playoff history. "I sat there and talked to them this morning and there were a lot of long faces," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Sunday. "They had their hearts ripped out. I can work with that. "They should hurt," Reid said. "Thatll make us better." The last time the Chiefs won a playoff game, Joe Montana was the quarterback and the Titans were still the Oilers. Since then, there have been all manner of playoff heartbreaks: -- The Chiefs missed three field goals against Indianapolis after the 1995 season, when they had gone 13-3 during the regular season and harboured championship aspirations. -- Two years later, the Chiefs lost a 14-10 heartbreaker to the Denver Broncos, who would go on to beat the Green Bay Packers and win the Super Bowl. -- After the 2003 season, the Chiefs lost again to the Colts in a game featuring two of the leagues premier offences -- and in which nobody punted. But the way that Kansas City melted down Saturday may trump all of those disappointments. "Its hard to put in words, to lose a game that we clearly had control over," said linebacker Derrick Johnson, who is now 0-3 in playoff games in his nine-year career. "Coming from having the first pick last year to making the playoff this year, we did accomplish some things," Johnson said. "At the same time, our standard is very high and this one hurts." While players were going through final meetings Sunday, Reid met briefly with reporters at the teams practice facility. He said that no changes are planned for his coaching staff, though he did acknowledge that some of his assistants would be pursued by other teams. Reid also said it was too early to discuss personnel issues. The Chiefs have most of their key players already under contract for next season. Their biggest loss figures to be left tackle Branden Albert, whom they gave the franchise tag to this season. But even he may be allowed to leave in free agency with viable replacements already in house. Theyll be seeking help at wide receiver and in the defensive backfield in free agency and the draft, but for the most part, the Chiefs should return intact next season. When they make another run at ending two decades of playoff futility. wholesale jerseys . The Blue Jackets entered this series against the Metropolitan Division champions as heavy underdogs, but they sit tied with the Penguins at two wins apiece. Columbus has arrived at this point with a pair of overtime victories, including a 4-3 triumph in Wednesdays Game 4 clash at Nationwide Arena that gave the franchise its first home playoff win. wholesale nfl jerseys .C. -- Cameron Gaunce scored in overtime to lift the Texas Stars to a 4-3 win over the Abbotsford Heat in American Hockey League action Wednesday.MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Vikings arent wasting any time getting their draft picks signed. The team announced Tuesday that first-round draft pick Teddy Bridgewater and seventh-rounders Shamar Stephen and Brandon Watts have signed their contracts. The Vikings were also working on finishing first-rounder Anthony Barrs contract. The deals leave only three unsigned picks from the Vikings class. The Vikings ttraded up to get Bridgewater, a quarterback from Louisville, with the last pick of the first round so they could lock him into a four-year contract that includes a team option for the fifth season. cheap jerseys from china. Under the NFLs salary slotting system, Bridgewater will get just under $7 million over four years. Stephen is a defensive tackle from Connecticut and Watts is a linebacker from Georgia Tech. cheap jerseyscheap jerseys from china ' ' '