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]
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. [Reply]
I remember Gannon playing dink and dunk a ton when he was in, with just a few shots down the field. I wonder if that was by design or by limitation? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Pam Oliver's Forehead:
What about points per game?
With Grbac, 19.3/game points scored, 14.3/game against.
With Gannon, 28.5/game points scored, 10.83/game against.
That's just raw points. Grbac was the starter for the 19-3 loss at Denver to start the season and Gannon was the starter for 44-9 game against SF. Those are the two statistical outliers really. [Reply]
Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop:
17years later and we are still debating this. Time to (mercifully) move on.
You'd think so, but apparently not.
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.
Grbac had 260 yards passing in that playoff loss… second most passing yardage of any Chiefs QB during the current playoff losing streak (Montana had 314 yards passing in the Wild Card loss to Miami in December 1994). [Reply]
