What the last 5 preseasons told us about those Chiefs teams

Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

2014

Preseason record: 1-3

Regular Season Record: 9-7

Biggest question heading into the season: How would the defense respond after a disastrous playoff performance?

Last offseason was a strange one for me, I wasn’t sure whether to be optimistic because of the way we played throughout much of the season, or pessimistic because, you know, the whole Colts thing. With minimal changes made to the roster and coaching staff, it was apparent Dorsey and Reid landed firmly on the side of optimism.

Unlike the previous preseasons, , 2014 placed relatively equal amounts of scrutiny on the offense and defense. On the offensive side, it was all about two young weapons, Travis Kelce and De’Anthony Thomas, and one old one, Dwayne Bowe. Kelce absolutely dominated in the preseason with 11 catches, 193 yards, and two touchdowns. DAT gave fans flashbacks of Dante Hall by returning a punt 80-yards for a touchdown in his first preseason game. While Dwayne Bowe, claiming to be in tremendous shape, showed signs of his former self with a five-catch, 62-yard performance against the Panthers. On defense, things looked like they were carrying over from the playoff loss to the preseason. The Chiefs ranked dead last in scoring defense, and ranked in the bottom-half of the league in yards given up. 

Suffice to say Kelce and Thomas lived up to their preseason performances and proved to be the difference makers they showed they had the potential to be. As for Bowe, it turned out that the numbers he put up against the Panthers were a good indicator of his ceiling in 2014. The defense managed to completely flip the script from the preseason to the regular season: they finished the season ranked 2nd in points allowed, 7th in yards allowed, 5th in sacks, and fielded one of the top passing defenses. 

So after looking at the last five preseasons, do I believe these games are meaningless? Not exactly. We’ve seen that the preseason can give us a high-level idea of where our strengths and weaknesses lie on each side of the ball, as well as show us which young guys to at least keep an eye on, not proclaim as future HOFers, in the regular season. Outside of that, the only thing to do during these next four weeks is sit back, pray for no injuries, and enjoy the snap judgments.