KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The most essential reason the Chiefs are fizzling at 5-5 is because what once seemed a near-mystical advantage has gone dormant: Instead of creating ways to win in the late-game crucible as they did 12 times last year (and an NFL-record 17 times in a row overall), they now have bungled all five such chances this season.

That 22-19 loss on Sunday in Denver was the latest case in point, with the Chiefs squandering two late possessions — and giving up a pivotal third-and-15 conversion — to allow the Broncos to win on the last play.

If the Chiefs can’t revive that key trait, starting this week against visiting Indianapolis (8-2), they aren’t going anywhere in the playoffs and, gulp, may find themselves not going to the playoffs.

But their precarious place now is also all about how they arrive in such quandaries late in the game. And the Denver game provided a snapshot of the other part of a bookend afflicting the Chiefs — and a glimpse at a way to change it.

On the Chiefs’ second play from scrimmage, Mahomes overthrew a wide-open Xavier Worthy for what had the makings of a 61-yard touchdown pass. Two plays later, he misfired again deep to Tyquan Thornton.

Instead of some tone-setting lightning, the Chiefs punted and remained one of the worst first-quarter offenses in the NFL with an average of just 2.9 points. Only Washington (2.5) and New Orleans (1.9) are worse to open the game.

But how the Chiefs start, and where they end up, also is a byproduct of something at once exasperating and hopeful for the Chiefs.

After all, in many key ways the issues holding them back are under their control.

Yes, that means cleaning up the penalties, including 10 of them for 69 yards in their latest costly binge against the Broncos.

But something else is vital: It means Mahomes, who entered the game 17th in the league in deep-pass percentage (16 of 42, 38.1%), needs to connect more on those passes of 20-plus yards.

And that’s not as far-fetched as it initially looked Sunday.

Mahomes later hit a season-long 61-yard pass to Thornton — and effectively did the same with two other passes that drew interference calls of more than 40 yards.

The difference between the plays that worked and those that didn’t might seem simple enough but aren’t just about mechanics.

They also reflect a mindset to Mahomes — who, as usual, wanted to first be sure to blame himself.

When I asked him if he saw common denominators in the ones he missed, he said, “Yeah, I’m just not making the throws is pretty much the biggest thing. Guys are getting open and giving me chances to make the plays down the field.”

But there’s something more to it than pure accuracy.

Something Mahomes is coming to understand better and better that should serve him well if he can overcome one of his pesky habits.

Perfectionism — the enemy of the good.

“If you look at the one to Tyquan later in the game, it wasn’t necessarily the best-thrown ball,” he said. “But it gave him a chance. And I think that’s something I can learn from.”

If he could get back that early pass to Worthy, for instance, Mahomes wouldn’t be so intent on trying to throw the “perfect pass” that Worthy could have taken right in for the touchdown.

Instead, he’d flatten Worthy’s angle and put more air under it and trust him to make the play.

Not that Mahomes wants to be anything less than his best or wouldn’t want to hit a receiver in stride like that.

“It looks awesome when it happens, but obviously there’s more misses than there are completions,” he said. “So you look at the best deep-ball throwers in the league and in the history of the NFL, they weren’t always just these perfectly thrown balls.

“But they were giving guys chances.”

Much as those sorts of plays can set a pace, flip a field and change games in themselves, part of the reason the Chiefs have prioritized that anew is because of everything else they can set up — including the intermediate game.

Once the Chiefs hit some of those throws, as Mahomes put it, “all of a sudden the offense opens up” and it “loosens the defense up.”

And the Chiefs, who actually remain in the top 10 in yardage and scoring, can flex more of the offense we’ve figured they’d show with this much-improved line and receiving corps.

Yes, they’re going to have to get back to finishing with a flourish.

But that still begins with how they enter those final scenes.

That starts from the get-go and, Mahomes will tell you, with him letting go of that call to flawlessness.

Counterintuitive as that might seem, Mahomes reckons it could help jumpstart the Chiefs as they seek to “write the rest of this season’s story.”

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