Chiefs: Half Way Stats and
More Extrapolations
by Paul Pulley
It’s hard to believe that the 2018 regular season is half way over. Since the second quarter is in the books, I thought we could take a look at how the team is doing statistically. The most common way to compare teams is by “yards.” Yards per game gained by the offense and… yards per game allowed by the defense. This particular stat seldom tells the entire story of what is happening, which is why there are hundreds of other stats available to use.
I don’t plan to get that in-depth, but I thought it might be fun to see how our Kansas City Chiefs are comparing to the rest of the league to this point of the season.
The Team Offense
The Kansas City Chiefs offense, after 8 games, is ranked 3rd in the NFL in yards/game, averaging 425.2 yards. Both of these numbers are improved from where they ranked after 4 games. The Chiefs are averaging 6.9 yards per play, a slight increase from the 6.6 they were averaging after 4 games. The Chiefs passing offense is now ranked 4th in the league, up from 9th, averaging over 310 yards/game, while the rushing offense continues to be ranked 14th, but with a slight increase to just under 115 yards/game.
The Chiefs are 3rd at converting 3rd downs at 47% and are also 3rd in 4th down conversions. converting on 5 out of 6 tries on 4th down (83%).
Even though the Chiefs offensive line has faced some attrition lately, they have only given up 10 sacks through the first 8 games, tied for 3rd best in the league, but QB Patrick Mahomes has been excellent at avoiding losses by leading the league in only losing 43 total yards on the 10 sacks.
The most important stat is the one that shows up on the scoreboard, points. Believe it or not, through the first 4 games of the season, the Chiefs scored 145 points. Through the next 4 games, games 5-8, the Chiefs scored 145 points, maintaining their 36.25 point/game average which leads the NFL.
If the Chiefs continue this pace throughout the remainder of the regular season, they would finish the year scoring 580 points, gaining 6804 yards in the process.
The Team Defense
We all know the Chiefs defense have given up tons of yards, but I am happy to report that the defense is now currently ranked 31st from the previously held 32nd place. Even though our defense has improved from allowing over 450 yards/game after 4 games to averaging just over 432 y/g after 8 games, the gain in ranking is due more to the herculean efforts of the Cincinnati Bengals defense in giving up a total of 1127 yards in their last two games to take the 32nd ranking away form defensive coordinator Bob Sutton’s unit.
Looking at a Few Individuals
Kareem Hunt is the Chiefs leading rusher averaging 74 yards/game. Hunt is ranked 4th in the NFL with 592 rushing yards. Hunt has 5 rushing touchdowns so far. If he is able to duplicate this production for the rest of the season, he would end the regular season with 1184 rushing yards and 10 TDs. After 8 games, Kareem Hunt also has 262 receiving yards and an additional 5 touchdowns. If Hunt continues this pace, he would finish the season with 1708 all purpose yards and 20 total TDs.
Tyreek Hill is the team leader with 705 receiving yards and 7 touchdowns. Hill is currently 2nd in the NFL behind only DeAndre Hopkins for yards. At this pace Hill will finish the season with 1410 receiving yards and 14 touchdowns.
Travis Kelce is currently the Leagues most prolific receiving tight end with 642 yards. Kelce has 4 TDs to date. If he continues with this production he would end the regular season with 1284 yards and 8 TDs.
Sammy Watkins is steadily improving as he is becoming accustomed to the Chiefs offense. Watkins is currently the 14th ranked receiver in the NFL with 453 receiving yards and he has 3 touchdowns so far. If his current production continues, he would finish the season with 906 yards and 6 TDs.
Patrick Mahomes continues to amaze the football world and currently has passed for 2526 yards and a league leading 26 passing touchdowns. Mahomes has 2 rushing touchdowns as well. At his current pace, Mahomes would finish the regular season with 5052 passing yards and 52 passing TDs along with 4 rushing TDs.
Dee Ford: after Sundays 3 sack performance, Dee Ford is leading the team with 8 sacks averaging one per game. This has him on pace for a 16 sack season. Ford is currently tied for 2nd with several other players behind only Aaron Donald of the Rams who has 10 sacks at the half way point of the season.
Chris Jones and Allen Bailey are 2nd on the team, each having 4 sacks. The defensive unit as a whole have recorded 24 sacks for the first half of the season. The 24 sacks currently has the team tied for 2nd in the NFL.
Ron Parkerleads the team in interceptions with 2. Six other Chiefs have 1 pick each and the team has a total of 8, averaging one interception per game. The 8 interceptions has the Chiefs tied for 11th in the league.
Interestingly, one of the teams tied with the Chiefs both with 24 sacks and with 8 interceptions is the Denver Broncos.
Anthony Hitchens leads the Chiefs and is currently tied for third in the league with 72 tackles. This has Hitchens on pace for an incredible 144 tackles for the regular season. Hitchens did leave the game early on Sunday with an apparent rib injury. As the Chiefs leading tackler by far, we should all hope that the injury isn’t something that will cause him to miss time.
Both the offense and the defense have made slight improvements in the 2nd quarter of the season. If both sides of the ball can continue to improve, the Kansas City Chiefs should prove to be a formidable team for the rest of the regular season and beyond.
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