The common urban legend perpetuated amongst Chiefs fans is that we would have won that 1997 playoff game with Rich Gannon because he was clearly so much better than Grbac when in reality, that wasn't at all the case.
Again, this cross section points to them being remarkably similar. They ran fewer pass plays with Gannon at the helm so therefore appeared to be slightly more efficient but overall, the offensive output was very similar, regardless of who was under center.
Now, let's look at a couple of key defensive stats, since I think we all agree that the 1997 team was driven largely by the defense. This is where things get interesting.
It's pretty clear what drove the Chiefs winning streak down the stretch - the defense got A LOT better as the season went on. In fact, the defense allowed LESS THAN 300 yards in only 2 of Grbac's starts, whereas that same defense allowed only one team to gain more than 300 yards while Gannon was under center. [Reply]
After losing SB III to the Jets with Earl Morrell starting in place of an injured Johnny U, Don Shula decided at that point that he would start his number 1 QB in future playoffs if healthy, regardless of how well his back ups performed.
I think most HCs took their que from that. [Reply]
I remember Grbac standing there on 4th and short at the end of the game waiting for a play call to come in from the sidelines. The process took forever. By the time they snapped the ball there was nothing to do but try to bomb one into the end zone. I've always felt that Gannon would have called a run by Marcus Allen, Allen would have gotten the first, then Gannon would have spiked the ball to stop the clock. That doesn't mean that KC would have won, but I think Gannon's personality and confidence would have kept KC alive at that point. We had also been eaten alive the previous year by Mark Brunell who (I think) had a similar skillset to Gannon. Brunell would throw on the run, run the ball and just stay very mobile in general to keep his O going. [Reply]
Gannon could run, had a lot of heart and leadership. Gbac was great at throwing 300 mile fastballs at wide open recievers feet then blaming them for the miss. [Reply]
Originally Posted by listopencil:
I remember Grbac standing there on 4th and short at the end of the game waiting for a play call to come in from the sidelines. The process took forever. By the time they snapped the ball there was nothing to do but try to bomb one into the end zone. I've always felt that Gannon would have called a run by Marcus Allen, Allen would have gotten the first, then Gannon would have spiked the ball to stop the clock. That doesn't mean that KC would have won, but I think Gannon's personality and confidence would have kept KC alive at that point. We had also been eaten alive the previous year by Mark Brunell who (I think) had a similar skillset to Gannon. Brunell would throw on the run, run the ball and just stay very mobile in general to keep his O going.
I'm still blaming that sequence on Marty. It's a coach's job to know what to do on 4th and 1 with 30 sec left. He chose the wrong option. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KCFaninSEA:
Grbac hadn't played in weeks and the team seemed to be hitting their stride at the right time. Grbac gets healthy and a huge change was made. I still contend that if Gannon played that game we go on to win the whole thing.
I knew Marty fucked up when he made the change Gannon was hot and the team was with him
I will always believe it was the wrong choice [Reply]
Also remember that the last game that Gannon started he was horrible 8/25 for 116 yards. The 49er ass whooping game is the one everybody seems to remember. [Reply]
Originally Posted by milkman:
While I am still skeptical that Smith will be anything more than a mediocre game manager, I disagree with the idea that he and Gannon are the same type of QB.
They are/were both mobile, but Smith has a far stronger arm, much stronger than given credit for.
In theory, Smith could be more dynamic.
My hope and what I think is key are 2 things-
An actual qb coach in Reid
- and -
Building up Alex's confidence- with a coach / organization that actually has confidence in him.
Andy clearly has seen something he loves in Smith, and in turn can actually teach and groom a top level NFL quarterback.
He's gone a majority of his time in San Francisco with piss poor coaching. When Harbaugh arrived you saw improvement, but it's fairly obvious Alex was never ''his'' guy, and I think that played a part in limiting what was asked of him there, and coach found his 1st opportunity he could jump at to start CK full time & never gave it a 2nd thought.
What we saw for a long while to start the season was a lot more of the safe - never take chances play and everybody figured that was all he could do. I think he will be more aggressive as he gets better adjusted to a new team, players and offense. Partly because Andy wanted to ease him in to build his confidence and get used to the new offense. We've seen at times he's been doing more deeper passing as well as aggressive play calls.
I think it was a smart move in building a solid foundation for early success at the cost of learning to walk before you run.
I won't be at all surprised to see it expand and shock a few people with his play in season 2 in KC. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Three7s:
I'm still blaming that sequence on Marty. It's a coach's job to know what to do on 4th and 1 with 30 sec left. He chose the wrong option.
Yeah, I agree. I think blowing so much time calling a play killed the O. That's on the coaches, that's on Marty. In retrospect with perfect 20/20 hindsight you give it to perhaps the best short yardage back in NFL history and you let him make the play. [Reply]
