The Kansas City Chiefs had a better downfield passing defense than you thought

The Kansas City Chiefs lost Eric Berry for the year and had a disappointing secondary, so they obviously… had one of the top 5 downfield passing defenses?

It was just another Pro Football Focus graphic.

Scrolling through Twitter, I found myself ready to move right past the latest bar graph from PFF because at this point in the offseason, we already know the stories. We know the top performers. We know how the season played out. We’ve celebrated the players and teams and chastised the rest. In the end, I don’t need another pie chart to tell me that Kareem Hunt was great or Justin Houston was elite.

But then I saw this:

While the team of conversation was the Buffalo Bills, I noted the red and gold and quickly clicked on the link to zoom in further on the graphic. There at the end of the NFL’s top five defenses against deep passes, at least in terms of passer rating, was the Kansas City Chiefs.

What? How is that possible?

I couldn’t believe it. I still can’t. I’ve spent the entire offseason (and even most of the season) believing the absolute worst about the Chiefs secondary. Were they not as bad as I initially thought?

1. Eric Berry was lost for the entire season. It all starts here with the loss of the single best player in the entire secondary (and maybe the defense with apologies to Justin Houston).
2. In the wake of Berry’s loss, every memory of safety play was disappointing in 2017. Eric Murray didn’t look ready to completely take over a starting spot. Daniel Sorensen was exposed too many times when asked to do things outside his wheelhouse. Ron Parker slowed a step and was ultimately released. (Note the Chiefs `draft additions that speak to all of this with the competition from Armani Watts and Dorian O’Daniel.)
3. Steven Nelson was out for nearly a half season and even then still needed time to round into form.
4. The Chiefs could never find a single cornerback to lock down the starting outside spot opposite Marcus Peters. Terrance Mitchell? Nope. Kenny Acker? Again, nope. Nelson? Even the ghost of Darrelle Revis? Nope and nope.
5. Speaking of Peters, there were enough frustrating moments and even a suspension that should at least make this stat disappear.

In short, the narrative surrounding the Chiefs passing defense was a defeated one, a sad story of a group of players who were largely disappointing in 2017. Injuries, age, fatigue, talent—all perceived as issues. How are they a top 5 defense deep?

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Perhaps some of this can be explained that the Chiefs didn’t exactly face great quarterbacks week after week. Remember two of 16 games featured Trevor Siemian as the opposing quarterback. There’s also the stretch when the Chiefs faced Josh McCown of the New York Jets, Tyrod Taylor of the Buffalo Bills and a quickly fading Eli Manning three games in a row. (Of course, the Chiefs lost all three of those games, but let’s quickly forget that one.) There’s also Jay Cutler’s appearance late in the year when the Chiefs played the Dolphins.

Taken together, that’s a half season against mediocre quarterbacks. Even with Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, Carson Wentz of the Philadelphia Eagles, Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans, Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys and Kirk Cousins of the Washington Redskins on the slate, that could be enough to deflate the stats.

It’s also possible that Bob Sutton was protecting the deep ball for the bulk of the season knowing the issues in the secondary. Unfortunately that leaves the front seven open for running backs to cut through like a samurai, as illustrated by Le’Veon Bell in the regular season or Derrick Henry in the playoffs. Creating a strength at one point can expose a weakness at another if it’s simply a matter of scheme and not talent at the heart of that strength.

That’s likely what’s true about the Chiefs and the deep ball. Maybe not. Either way, at least it looks good on a bar graph.