Better team: 2019 or 2018?

[Prison Bitch]

The data says they’re identical, so you’ll have to explain some reasons beyond stats why one was better than the other. (“We got Spags now!” = not a reason)


Scoring Margin:
2018 +144
2019 +143

Expected wins:
2018: 10.7
2019: 11.4

Yardage Margin:
2018: +322
2019: +473

Turnover margin:
2018: +9
2019: +8

SRS (points above/below avg nfl team)
2018: 8.89
2019: 9.14

Sagarin Rank:
2018: 2
2019: 2

Sagarin Rating:
2018: 27.67
2019: 28.02

[ChiefBlueCFC]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Lotta homers on here.

Pat isn’t as good as last year, and CP always talks about how QB play is all that matters. Suddenly this year it’s not. I’m confused I guess.

So, because you are asking for peoples opinion, and they happen to differ from yours, there's a "lotta homers on here"?

Just because they're opinion and reason for their opinion is different than yours, doesn't make them homers.

QB play absolutely matters. Everyone in Chiefs Kingdom knows it. They team is absolutely different from Smith to Mahomes.

Just because Patrick didn't put up 5000 yards and 50 tds doesn't mean that the qb play was bad. Mahomes played pretty damn well every game. His "bad games" rated as league average.

If we had the defense we have last year, yeah you're probably right in the sense that 2018 would've been better than this year. But, hey, we had Sutton and that monstrosity of defensive coaching staff. So, this years team is more complete and balanced and is therefore probably better than last years team.

[Prison Bitch]

Yes, I think a 34-1 vote is silly given their identical stats across the board.

[mdchiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Yes, I think a 34-1 vote is silly given their identical stats across the board.

When numbers are in close proximity, it is generally left up to the interpretations of those numbers as well as factors exterior to those numbers to make a choice.I chose swagger/mentality of the team as the deciding factor to elevate 2019 over 2018.

Which factors make you choose 2018 over 2019?

[O.city]

The offense isn't historic elite like it was last year. Historic elite offense paired with historic bad defense wasn't enough.

The offense has regressed because of various issues, but it's still a top 5 offense and is paired with a top 10 defense at the moment.

[Easy 6]

2019, easy

[Why Not?]

Ask me in 3 weeks.

[Prison Bitch]

Originally Posted by Why Not?

Ask me in 3 weeks.

That’s really the best answer.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Pat isn’t as good as last year

He’s much better mentally. Stats have went down bc of injuries all over the offense + loss of Kareem Hunt

and CP always talks about how QB play is all that matters. Suddenly this year it’s not. I’m confused I guess.

Elite QB + elite defense is a formula for success. We are very close to having both this year.

[Prison Bitch]

I’m sorry but I don’t see “elite defense” in any number.

[RunKC]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

I’m sorry but I don’t see “elite defense” in any number.

Since our defensive awakening in Denver, we have given up 16.4 PPG on defense the last 10 games—3rd in the league

Didn’t say they were elite, but they’ve played close to that level for over 2 months

[Halfcan]

2019 is the better team.

Mahomes has improved so much reading defenses and protecting the ball.

[duncan_idaho]

I’ll take this version.

Mahomes and the offense have been less explosive but also have shown an ability to live with that and keep moving the chains against defenses that force them to move slowly and efficiently.

His injury also prevented much outside-the-pocket play creation for about 1/2 the season. That’s where a lot of the biggest plays came from a year ago.

Paired with a defense that is good at defending the pass and not a complete liability against basic running attacks, and I say it’s improved.

[Megatron96]

This year's team is better than last year's team. Don't know how anyone could dispute that if we're considering the team that's been on the field since week 11 or so.

The offense has had it's ups and downs, but there's no question that the WR is better than last year's with the addition of Hardman alone. Watkins being healthy for more of the season has also been a plus. The OL might be worse overall, though IMO, an argument can be made that it's at least as good as it was last year in just these last couple weeks. And the running game isn't what it was early last year, but we just don't have a bellcow RB right now. But the running game has improved, in the last few weeks, over what it was in the first half of the season.

However, in the area of being able to produce game-winning clock-eating drives this team is far and away a much better team over last year. We now have an offense that can put away a game by moving the sticks and chewing up clock at the end of a game, something they had trouble with last year. One of the first examples of this was at the end of the Lions game this year. That last drive that finished with a TD to leave just :30 seconds on the clock was something I just didn't see out of the Chiefs offense last year.

But the real difference between the 2018 and the 2019 squads has been the defense. The 2019 defense is head-and-shoulders a better unit than last year's. And I'm including the DC in that statement. Sutton was glacially slow at making adjustments, whether it was in-game, or from week to week. Spags and co. have been much better in that department, and at times down right wizardly. An amazing feat considering that we don't have a top-15 MLB or a shut-down CB on the roster.

And yet somehow this defense has managed to produce more than one game-winning performance that saved the team when the offense was sputtering at the close of a game. At least three, IIRC. And even in our losses, the defense performed better than the 2018 defensive unit overall.

As for Mahomes supposed regression, IMO, this isn't a thing. Pat's numbers are down for several reasons, including injuries, but also because he hasn't been relied on to save the team's defense nearly as much this year. He isn't having to get into shoot-outs in 2019, as he did in 2018. In fact, I'm trying to remember the last shoot-out we've been in this season. The MIN game maybe, but Pat didn't play in that game.

But if we go back and look at his numbers from the first 3 weeks of this season, he was in fact on pace to throw for 6,000 yards and 55 TDs, remember? It was his ankle sprain that slowed him down, not his failing abilities/talent.

Bottom line, I don't think there's anything wrong with Pat right now. He can throw the ball as well as he did last year, and maybe better in certain situations, and his ability to read defenses is at least as good as it was last year, IMO better, and his real-time analysis/decision-making is just as good as it was last year.

[Redbled]

No question to me this years is better. Our defense is way better. If needed our offense can be just as good. Not having the top seed is a downside but I still think we have a better chance going in to win it all.

[New World Order]

I can't think of too many teams that have had that bad of a defense like we had in '18 and won the SB.

Even the Greatest Show on Turf needed a good d to win it all.