LAS VEGAS — That enchanted feeling we'd been carrying over the Chiefs in the Mahomes Era, the sense of wonder and magic, had been fading and fizzling for weeks.
Two straight Super Bowl appearances notwithstanding, they'd abruptly plummeted from presumptive team to beat to quite ordinary, and perhaps vulnerable.
So much so that even back-to-back victories had done little to quell unease about the trajectory of the season. Glory days of the recent past were being rendered a figment of our memories.
Until Sunday night at Allegiant Stadium, that is, where in one burst they revived the vibe and restored order and maybe even some faith itself.
Because all at once, the Chiefs dominated the Raiders 41-14 and Patrick Mahomes (406 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions) again looked very much like the guy who had transformed the course of Chiefs history.
Meanwhile, the defense continued its resurgence (just 38 points allowed in the last 14 quarters) and the Chiefs completed their odyssey back from last place in the AFC West to their recently customary perch at the top, where they've resided at the end of the last five seasons.
Oh, and call it coincidence, but just like after a wobbly start at this point in 2019 on the way to their first Super Bowl triumph in 50 years, the Chiefs now stand 6-4.
Maybe most of all, though, the night said something about the rejuvenated persona of a team that seemingly had lost its mojo or swagger or compass, or some other essential intangible element.
It's the sort of thing you could practically see taking shape anew in such moments as the rekindling of Mahomes' chemistry with Travis Kelce (eight catches for 119 yards) and a reanimating of his connection with Tyreek Hill (seven for 83) and the breakout receiving performance of running back Darrel Williams (nine catches for 101 yards.).
And you could feel it surge, really, on a night when Mahomes himself wondered if he was over the line of scrimmage after a 38-yard touchdown pass to Williams ... and the Chiefs converted a fake punt ... and the beleaguered Daniel Sorensen had an interception ... and the previously inconspicuous Jarran Reed had two key plays ... and Hill fumbled a ball that, ho-hum, bounced right back to him.
Yes, a lost fumble on that play would have been negated by a penalty-in-waiting on the Raiders, who committed a host of crucial ones. But for a team whose early season had been marked by a crazy sequence of uncooperative bounces, including five interceptions that went off Chiefs and several pivotal fumbles, it was part of some symbolic testimony of a turn in fortune ... and perhaps a reboot.
Referring to DeSean Jackson's fumble that he recovered after Jackson rather strangely circled and had it popped out by Rashad Fenton, Tyrann Mathieu smiled and shrugged and said, "Football gods."
There's no way to know, of course, about their whims going forward and how this will hold, especially in an NFL season marked by such flux. Even after three straight victories for the first time this season, the trend could be fickle and fleeting.
Certainly, it will be a challenge to extend it: Up next is Dallas, which is 7-2 after pummeling Atlanta 43-3 on Sunday.
In this league, coach Andy Reid reminded, you're only as good as your next game. Or as Mathieu put it, "This game is hard. There's ebbs and flows, there's ups and downs."
Just the same, this night also reminded you what's still bubbling in the culture and muscle memory and capacity of this group. And the eye test can be telling at times.
This is a team we haven't seen play this way against a high-quality opponent since it clobbered Buffalo in the AFC Championship Game, leading 38-15 before the Bills added nine basically token points in the final 5 minutes.
They don't crown champions in October or November, Mathieu pointed out, and if they don't keep improving this may be the highlight of the season.
Moreover, no blueprint is the same, and the Chiefs will be challenged in entirely new ways in their final seven regular-season games. But this game said they are alive and well and can thrive yet.
And that much of the mold they've made still matters.
A defense whose nucleus was among the 10 stingiest in points allowed the last two seasons no longer seems inexplicably out of sync and even gives you reason to consider Mathieu's words: "I see us being one of the better defenses when it matters most."
And an offense that has been sabotaging itself all season, entering the weekend leading the league in turnovers, second in offensive penalties committed and prone to dropped passes, had no turnovers (the only one the Chiefs had was a special teams fumble), few penalties and caught just about anything that Mahomes threw.
Then, of course, there's the most pure and simple reassurance in all this: No matter where you went or what you listened to the last few weeks, the chatter was about what was going wrong with Mahomes.
We made the case that he wasn't as far off as many perceived him to be. But it's also true that he wasn't performing like we were used to over this last month. He'd thrown just two touchdown passes in the previous three games and bore a joyless demeanor in post-game interviews, even after victories.
On Sunday, though, he was buoyant once more, something you could see in his face and hear in his tone.
And even if he didn't say it directly, maybe that was relief after what even Reid conceded was a slump in what might now be considered after the fact.
In fact, Reid pointed out that Chiefs statistical analysis coordinator Mike Frazier had done a study suggesting Mahomes had gone longer than any other quarterback in the history of the game before he faced such a moment.
"It's going to happen," Reid said. "There's going to be a little something that doesn't go your way. And it's important that you power through it, stay confident and keep firing ...
"That's how he's wired, and you knew he was going to get through the ups and downs just by the way he handles himself."
Knowing it still wasn't the same as seeing it happen, though.
And knowing now that the wonder and magic is very much still present ... and all things remain possible.
