KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Chiefs last week killed their opportunity to beat the Denver Broncos for the first time since 2011 by committing five turnovers. One gave the Broncos the ball at their 9, another at the Chiefs' 15 and Denver scored the winning touchdown with 27 seconds left on a fumble return.

But there wasn't a bunch of screaming from coaches to players in meetings this week about the importance of hanging on to the ball.

"We don't spend a ton of time browbeating our guys about turnovers," offensive coordinator Doug Pederson said. "They know. You've got to protect the football. That's what you're in this business for. They know they have to protect the ball.

"We talk about it. We don't preach about it. If we bring emphasis to it, you don't let them go play. They don't cut their talents loose. Now they're thinking about protecting the ball rather than breaking that tackle and gaining that extra 10 yards. It's something we talk about but we're not going to beat them up over it."

That's the right approach. Jamaal Charles and Alex Smith are veterans. Between the two, they combined to make four of the turnovers but they know the value of ball security. No reminders necessary there.

Pederson also makes a good point about big plays. The Chiefs don't get enough of those as it is. They don't need to lose chances for big plays because they're too occupied on keeping possession of the ball.