Chiefs 2014 v. 2017 - ChiefsPlanet

In 2014 KC's defense finished 2nd in the league in points against. IIRC, DJ only played one game and Berry only started 5 games (Berry I confirmed).

The starters were:

DL: Bailey, Poe, Howard

LB: Houston, Mauga, Johnson, Hali

CB: Sean Smith, and a mix of Cooper/Gaines with a sprinkling of Fleming.

Safety: Abdullah and Parker.

Is there that much of a difference in talent? Howard and Poe were so much better than Logan and Jones? Does the team miss Hali that much? I think fans generally underestimated the safety play of Abdullah and Parker.

Is safety and Hali the big difference?
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I think every one of the linebacker positions is downgraded from 2014, even the ones with the same players between now and then.
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Houston had 22 sacks. Hali could still move. Was that Poe's beast year?

Pretty substantial differences, tbh. And that D wasn't as good as its points ranking anyway.
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Run defense was weak. Couldn't force turnovers (3 interceptions on the year). Still a solid group. Well coached.

We'd probably be 6-1 or maybe 7-0 with that group.
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Originally Posted by Rain Man:
I think every one of the linebacker positions is downgraded from 2014, even the ones with the same players between now and then.

I don't think you're a great person right now...
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Wasn’t that the year we had a soft ass schedule though?
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Poe and Howard would be a huge upgrade right now. Especially the 2014 versions of those players.

Howard was a dominant force against the run that year.
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Justin Houston was playing like a man trying to get paid. Now he is playing like a man who got paid and is mailing it in. The amount of low effort pass rushes by him is actually sickening to watch. I also think we underestimated how valuable Poe and Hali were to our run defense. The Pig was just an absolute beast in the interior and teams had trouble getting past him. Hali also gave excellent edge rush presence and opened up alot of Justin Houston's sacks on the opposite end. Overall though I think our line is in good enough shape. The lack of any type of corner/safety coverage is going to be our undoing though.
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