Mellinger nails why this team isn't same old Chiefs

[Mloe68 1,521]

KC Star columnist Sam Mellinger nailed this as part of his column today..At least in my opinion. 

 

This team is really, really good, you guys, the rare NFL team that can win playing it’s A- or so game, regardless of what the other team does. The offense can score from anywhere, the quarterback can make a play from nothing, the defense is coming along, and special teams can break things open.

This team is, in other words, the polar opposite of the franchise’s playoff history.

So, look. Curses are not a thing. We can have fun with them here, and have, but the Chiefs have crumbled in the postseason because of bad luck, ineffective play, and the inability to make plays.

Last year, the offense had to keep the trains moving on time and the defense needed to create turnovers and any letdown in any phase meant doom.

That’s not true here.

That doesn’t mean the Chiefs won’t break your heart in the playoffs again. They probably will, but if it happens, it doesn’t mean the whole thing needs to be blown up.

Just means they need a few more shots.

Because in the past, postseason losses felt like indictments on everything the Chiefs were trying to build.

With this team, a postseason loss might feel like a necessary step, because the pieces are mostly in-house already.

[jetlord 10,210]

Not sure where he get the part that the defense is coming along, but in general it's hard to disagree.

[reesebobby 5,663]

I think in general, the defense has been better.  The first 4 games we gave up almost 29 points a game.  If you take out the Patriots game, the other last 4 games we gave up 17 per game.  The competition has been not as good, but at least from a scoring perspective they have been better. 

[kkuenn 3,613]

Just now, reesebobby said:

I think in general, the defense has been better.  The first 4 games we gave up almost 29 points a game.  If you take out the Patriots game, the other last 4 games we gave up 17 per game.  The competition has been not as good, but at least from a scoring perspective they have been better. 

And we are more experienced now than the first 4 games. Look at all the new pieces from FA, injuries and rookies that are coming along. I think when we hit the playoffs and if we get healthy the first 4 games will be an anomaly of sorts. Sure they will score more than 17 but I think we hold them better than the first time we showed in the first 4.

[DieHard 2,061]

The defense definitely is better. Add a healthy Houston and Berry in the post season and we are by far the best team in the AFC. Fingers crossed for injury as always.

[qnet 1,158]

I liked the article also.

[liquidfriend 1,151]

Here, I'll make this simple.  They now have a QB and the weapons to step on opponents throats.  Not even 2003's Offense was this lethal.

That's the difference.

[sith13 1,746]

What is the defense coming along to? If he's referring to the whole process and not this particular season I could agree there's a lot of young talent on defense but this season is the same balance as the Vermeil years, great offense and no defense.

[moons314 2,463]

I don't think we're going to get where we want to go until we get the defense restructured, meaning get out from under a couple of really bad contracts and replace some guys that are injured more then they are healthy.  Bridging the gap between now and then is key, as is getting some young guys in here over the next two drafts that can contribute greatly over the next 5 years.  I'm fully expecting a defense heavy draft, and an influx of enough talent leading into next season to reduce the pain when Houston and Berry inevitably miss some or all of the season.  We're so close to a Super Bowl I swear I can taste it, I just think it's not quite this year.  

[Calichief 3,020]

6 hours ago, sith13 said:

What is the defense coming along to? If he's referring to the whole process and not this particular season I could agree there's a lot of young talent on defense but this season is the same balance as the Vermeil years, great offense and no defense.

That defense was worse imo. But they are both bad. 

If Sutton would play Lucas and DOD we would see some more consistent results. Our corners are starting to ball.

[dksww 484]

7 hours ago, sith13 said:

What is the defense coming along to? If he's referring to the whole process and not this particular season I could agree there's a lot of young talent on defense but this season is the same balance as the Vermeil years, great offense and no defense.

This offense is much better and those defenses couldn't sack the QB or get turnovers.  This defense just gives up yards, and a big chunk of their yards given up have been in garbage time where teams didn't have a real chance of winning got yards and TDs. 

Is this year's defense good?  No, but it's not flat out atrocious like the 2003 defense.

At least this defense can pressure the QB and create turnovers which the 2003 team could never do.

[soonerborn77 276]

That was a lot of writing when all he had to do was this:

 

[sith13 1,746]

12 minutes ago, dksww said:

This offense is much better and those defenses couldn't sack the QB or get turnovers.  This defense just gives up yards, and a big chunk of their yards given up have been in garbage time where teams didn't have a real chance of winning got yards and TDs. 

Is this year's defense good?  No, but it's not flat out atrocious like the 2003 defense.

At least this defense can pressure the QB and create turnovers which the 2003 team could never do.

This defense sure has more positives but in general it is a very imbalanced team just like it was in 2003. Both defenses were terrible against the run which wasn't the killer for us in the playoffs but could be this year. Nevertheless this one has more upside but not sure if that's good for this year.

[Handswarmer 645]

Offensive efficiency

 

 

OPPONENTS------------>

 

                                     

 

[dksww 484]

1 hour ago, sith13 said:

This defense sure has more positives but in general it is a very imbalanced team just like it was in 2003. Both defenses were terrible against the run which wasn't the killer for us in the playoffs but could be this year. Nevertheless this one has more upside but not sure if that's good for this year.

I do wonder how many yards and points the defense has given up while up by 2 scores or more in the 4th quarter with less than 10 minutes to go.  I bet it's at least 20% of their yardage given up total.

[qnet 1,158]

1 minute ago, dksww said:

I do wonder how many yards and points the defense has given up while up by 2 scores or more in the 4th quarter with less than 10 minutes to go.  I bet it's at least 20% of their yardage given up total.

It's a big part of it. During the Browns game, they had held them to 327 total yards. The Browns then gained 61 more yards on their last two drives to bring the total to 388. The Chiefs intercepted Mayfield on the next to last drive, and on the last drive gave up another 9 yards and the game was over.  

It's frustrating to watch, but that's the way Sutton seems to play it. 

In comparison, the 2003 defense was pretty decent through the first nine games, then got exposed when they stop getting turnovers.  The 2018 Chiefs are already exposed but seem to be getting better. The difference is the 18 Chiefs offense is younger and very much more talented.

Both teams have positives & negatives. The 03 Chiefs were a less talented veteran group, while this years Chiefs are a more talented younger group.

I'm not sure what's going to happen this year. 

[Mloe68 1,521]

59 minutes ago, dksww said:

I do wonder how many yards and points the defense has given up while up by 2 scores or more in the 4th quarter with less than 10 minutes to go.  I bet it's at least 20% of their yardage given up total.

Our defense is very odd really. If we can get teams in an obvious passing situation on third down we are good at closing them out. And it seems like early in the game we get a few stops to build a lead on most teams. It’s almost like early on we guess right how teams will play us or something. 

  But then we will look like Swiss cheese the next few drives.  And this pattern has continued all season. 

8 hours ago, moons314 said:

I don't think we're going to get where we want to go until we get the defense restructured, meaning get out from under a couple of really bad contracts and replace some guys that are injured more then they are healthy.  Bridging the gap between now and then is key, as is getting some young guys in here over the next two drafts that can contribute greatly over the next 5 years.  I'm fully expecting a defense heavy draft, and an influx of enough talent leading into next season to reduce the pain when Houston and Berry inevitably miss some or all of the season.  We're so close to a Super Bowl I swear I can taste it, I just think it's not quite this year.  

I think we’ve proven we can overcome the defensive liability, but it’s a crapshoot of sorts against the likes of NE and Pitt. 

I think we all want to gravitate to the point we expect to win all things being equal rather than hope. 

Just a competent complimentary defense can do that and give us a slew of real shots as good and as young as this offense is. 

[dksww 484]

57 minutes ago, qnet said:

It's a big part of it. During the Browns game, they had held them to 327 total yards. The Browns then gained 61 more yards on their last two drives to bring the total to 388. The Chiefs intercepted Mayfield on the next to last drive, and on the last drive gave up another 9 yards and the game was over.  

It's frustrating to watch, but that's the way Sutton seems to play it. 

In comparison, the 2003 defense was pretty decent through the first nine games, then got exposed when they stop getting turnovers.  The 2018 Chiefs are already exposed but seem to be getting better. The difference is the 18 Chiefs offense is younger and very much more talented.

Both teams have positives & negatives. The 03 Chiefs were a less talented veteran group, while this years Chiefs are a more talented younger group.

I'm not sure what's going to happen this year. 

Exactly, and KC only gave up 6 points in the entire 2nd half against the Browns.

I guess I just don't understand the idea of having your defense on the field to chew up clock.  Just make a stop being aggressive and eat clock on offense.

[Handswarmer 645]

34 minutes ago, dksww said:

Exactly, and KC only gave up 6 points in the entire 2nd half against the Browns.

I guess I just don't understand the idea of having your defense on the field to chew up clock.  Just make a stop being aggressive and eat clock on offense.

Chiefs avg drive is 2:41 long, starts at their own 30 and results in 3.31 pts per drive.

 

3.31 pts per drive is No1 in the NFL. They score fast, that's why

[jetlord 10,210]

37 minutes ago, Handswarmer said:

Chiefs avg drive is 2:41 long, starts at their own 30 and results in 3.31 pts per drive.

 

3.31 pts per drive is No1 in the NFL. They score fast, that's why

Don't understand.  If the Chiefs score a TD in 6 minutes, they get 7 points per drive.  If they score in 50 seconds, they get 7 points per drive.  What's scoring fast have to do with it?  The whole points is just score as much as possible whenever and for however long they get the ball.

[Okiechief1 425]

Since the D doesn't get many 3 n outs, the faster the offense scores the more it puts the D out on the field with very little rest in between.  

 

Early 90s bills team were the same way, they scored quick with the K gun.  Nothing really wrong with that either. 

[Handswarmer 645]

34 minutes ago, jetlord said:

Don't understand.  If the Chiefs score a TD in 6 minutes, they get 7 points per drive.  If they score in 50 seconds, they get 7 points per drive.  What's scoring fast have to do with it?  The whole points is just score as much as possible whenever and for however long they get the ball.

It is an average of every drive. C'mon man....

[jetlord 10,210]

56 minutes ago, Handswarmer said:

It is an average of every drive. C'mon man....

Thanks for making my point.  Time of drive has nothing to do with points/drive.

[Handswarmer 645]

2 minutes ago, jetlord said:

Thanks for making my point.  Time of drive has nothing to do with points/drive.

So i guess the Chiefs haven't (a) gone three and out all year,

(b) turned the ball over on offense all year

or (c) kicked a field goal all year?

SMDH

[Mloe68 1,521]

Football Outsiders guy was just on Sportsradio 810 and he gave the Chiefs a 90 percent chance of getting the number one seed. He said the Chiefs are not only number one in DVOA offense but there is rarely such a big gap between number 1 and 2 (NE) in the AFC. In short this is one of the most efficient offenses since they started tracking this two decades ago. He said defenses were all questionable so combined its clear the Chiefs right now are the favorites with the precursor of how injuries can derail anyone at any time. Last year at this time this same guy said the numbers suggested the Chiefs were unlikely to get past the wild card round. 

Of course I take all this with a grain of salt as we all should. But there's some real tangible statistical evidence of just how special this offense and this QB have been through 9 games. Still a long way to the finish line though.