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Originally Posted by RaidersOftheCellar
It seems like the entire fanbase considers this defense better than last season's, at least until recently. But is it?
Last year's D was terrible to start the year, but made a dramatic turnaround. We all know the personnel and strategy changes that led to it. From week 8 forward, they allowed 16 ppg. I think it may have been the best scoring defense in the NFL during that time, or close.
On this day last year, KC's D notched its third straight game of allowing exactly 9 points. Vs Dallas, Denver and the Raiders. The Cowboys were #1 in total offense and the Raiders were high on the list too. Talking heads were calling KC's defense a dominant unit, and the narrative became that it was carrying the offense.
Obviously they struggled in the 4th quarter in the divisional vs the Bills, but the Bills were coming off a no punt game against a pretty good NE defense and were rolling.
On paper, KC got faster and more athletic this year. Ditched the liabilities like Sorenson, Niemann, Hughes and Hitchens. But it's really hard for me to say they've been better collectively. At least not yet.
I think last year's defense was underappreciated, and this year's is overappreciated.
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It certainly is starting to look that way. We will have to see how the rest of the season plays out.
Bolton and Gay have certainly gotten better but the secondary seems to have lost confidence after that Bengals game - not a good sign with playoffs around the corner.
What is good is I'm only basing that secondary statement on one game and there's still a little bit of time to try and get better before playoffs start. What's bad is that one-game i'm basing it on was against one of the worst offenses statistically that NFL has seen in a while, at least it was before the Chiefs game.
Pass rush is still bad. It doesn't seem much better than last years. I do like Dunlap though but no one other Chris Jones at times seems to be a consistent threat to get pressure.