They have not won any of their past four games in which they scored the first goal.
Tuchel said that the players are tired mentally and physically after their draw at Seagulls left them 12 points behind leaders Manchester City.
The Blues led against the run of play at the Amex Stadium through a low drive by Hakim Ziyech, but failed to hold on and conceded a second-half goal to Adam Webster.
They have taken just three league points from a possible 12 in the last 21 days, and have played seven matches in all the competition.
Their attempts to keep pace with the imperious City look like they are doomed.
They have to be aware of the sides below them, with Spurs having played three and five fewer games.
Tuchel said that they looked tired because they were tired and they were playing against a strong team.
We struggle with our schedule if you look at where we come from. You have a lack of focus and position when you're tired. We know where it comes from and you can see it in our game.
I can feel it. You sit on the bus and wonder where you are going. You have to think about where we are, when we are there, and when we play.
It's been like this since November. You feel it because we are the team that plays and plays. We need to come back with hunger and joy to fight these matches. It's necessary.
The squad has been given two days off to recover before they play their 21st game of the season against Spurs on Sunday.
This weekend's round of fixtures precede the third international break of the season.
We have four days between matches, so we give two days off. We'll use the international break to replenish our batteries. We will give the players a week off.
They played it like a cup game.
In their last 13 matches, they have kept two clean sheets.
For most of Tuesday's game, the Blues were second best and were fortunate to come away with a point.
The visitors were lacking in confidence and energy as they played with good form and five games without a loss.
"They played it like a cup game," said Tuchel. The crowd celebrated the draw like it was a victory. It's hard to play here.
We can do better. We try everything, I can see it. It is not a lack of ambition, but a lack of what we can do tonight.
We made a lot of easy mistakes, but I know where it came from so no harm was done. We don't have to sugar-coat it.
We had our moments and even in the end of the game, we felt we could escape with a victory because we have the individual quality. We came and did not lose.
Danny Welbeck's injury-time leveller at the end of December was the second time in 21 days that the Seagulls had drawn with the Blues.
Kepa Arrizabalaga told the Match of the Day that they were not happy. We lost two points in both games. They played a very physical game and we were in a good position to control the game.
We want to be the top team in the league. We have to improve and step up.
We are honest. I think we are in a good position. We are in the elite group. We are in a cup final, but in the league we dropped points, so we have to get back in the winning ways.
'Now, they are looking behind them.'
Karen Carney is speaking on radio.
We are in a difficult world where injuries and a Covid situation are the norm.
The intensity of the game wasn't there, no player goes into a game not wanting to win or play to their best. They couldn't get close to any of the Seagulls.
Something wasn't quite right. The energy is not right. I think they can hear it but can't do it right now, and then Thomas Tuchel is frustrated and sat down for about 25 minutes. He gave up giving the information because he couldn't deliver it to them.
We didn't see enough of Mason Mount, we didn't mention Romelu Lukaku, and then Timo Werner came on. There is no front line at all.
The backline has lost that clean-sheet mentality because of the amount of pressure put on them. There are a lot of contract issues affecting that dressing room.
I think that they are wondering if they can keep in the top four.
Manchester City are far away. The title race is not being fought by Chelsea. They need to see an application to make sure they get a spot in the top tier of European football.
They need to go away for a while to reflect.
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