In a season layered with disappointment and now tragedy, the Chiefs are hoping to find any kind of bright light they can. One positive development that largely has gone unnoticed has been the steady improvement of DE Tyson Jackson. We’re not talking leaps and bounds, mind you, but Jackson has shown signs of becoming a solid player in his fourth season.

It almost seems impossible that he’s in his fourth year because Jackson has been so relatively quiet, with four career sacks and zero forced fumbles in 43 career starts. But two of those sacks have come in the past three weeks, and Jackson was at times dominant in the emotional victory over the Panthers and showed up several times on tape in the 17-9 loss to the Broncos the week before.

There were always signs in the past that Jackson could be a good player. He's generally regarded as a good run stuffer, and he has come up with some big stops (such as a fourth-down stuff of Chargers QB Philip Rivers on a sneak attempt and a tackle on Broncos QB Peyton Manning that essentially was a sack but statistically went down as a one-yard rush). But the sheer lack of big plays had been alarming.