After an impressive showing throughout the entire 2015 preseason, the Kansas City Chiefs will look to build upon that momentum as they prepare to take on the Houston Texans in Week 1 of the regular season next weekend.
But in taking a closer look at the Chiefs performance throughout their four preseason games, there are a handful of stats that jump out that hopefully will carry over into the regular season.
Here are a look at some of those stats:
Only Undefeated Team
The most obvious stat that jumps out is the Chiefs were the only team in the NFL that didn't lose in the preseason. It'd be nice for that to continue.
The last time the Chiefs went through the preseason unbeaten?
1969, which was a memorable season for the Chiefs as they beat the Minnesota Vikings by a score of 23-7 in Super Bowl IV.
Chiefs Dominate Point Differential
The Chiefs finished the preseason with a plus-47 point differential (106 for, 59 against), which ranked first in the AFC. The plus-47 point differential also ranked second in the NFL behind the Philadelphia Eagles (plus-56).
They scored among the best and gave up among the least—not a bad combination.
Offense Finds Its Groove
The 106 total points scored by the Chiefs in their four preseason games ranked No. 1 in the AFC and was 31 more than the second-place Denver Broncos (75) in the AFC West.
The Chiefs offense converted 54.2 percent of their third down attempts, compared to their opponents converting just 42.3 percent of the time.
Overall, the Chiefs offense averaged 5.5 yards per play in the four preseason games.
The offensive line, which was a storyline and a focus throughout the offseason, surrendered just four sacks in four games, which tied for the best mark in the NFL.
Chiefs Quarterbacks Find Efficiency, Explosiveness
All three of the Chiefs quarterbacks completed better than 71 percent of their passes throughout the preseason, led by Chase Daniel at 77.4 percent.
As a group, they threw 11 touchdowns to just four interceptions with five different receivers catching touchdowns, led by Fred Williams with three. The 11 touchdown passes thrown were the most for any team in the NFL.
Altogether, Alex Smith, Chase Daniel and Aaron Murray had eight different players on the receiving end of at least one touchdown pass.
Category Leaders
Offense
Passing yards – Chase Daniel - 388
Rushing yards – Charcandrick West - 136
Receiving yards – Fred Williams – 167
Combined yards – Charcandrick West - 181
Defense
Tackles – Ramik Wilson – 15
Sacks (3) – Justin Houston, Daniel Sorensen, Nick Williams
Interceptions (3) – Ramik Wilson, Frank Zombo, Daniel Sorensen
Tackles for loss – Nick Williams – 3
Quarterback hits – Mike Catapano – 3
Photos from the Chiefs fourth preseason game against the St. Louis Rams
Finally, here are some rankings from the guys over at Pro Football Focus.
These grades are purely subjective and don't reflect anything but the PFF analyst's opinions and don't take into consideration the competition (first team, second team, etc.) or the actual play call.
According to their numbers, the Chiefs receivers group dropped just one pass in 55 catchable attempts in their four preseason games. The running backs didn't drop a single pass in 29 attempts.
Also, according to the numbers at PFF, rookie linebacker Ramik Wilson didn't miss a single tackle in the preseason, and he led the team with 15 tackles.
Receiver Fred Williams – No. 3 WR in NFL with grade of 4.7.
- Williams was targeted 15 times and had 15 receptions for 167 yards and three touchdowns.
- QB rating when thrown his direction was 152.6.
Left guard Ben Grubbs – No. 4 OG in NFL with grade of 3.4.
Center Mitch Morse – No. 10 OC in NFL with grade of 2.3.
- According to the PFF numbers, Morse allowed just one quarterback hurry in 55 passing attempts during the preseason.
Quarterback Chase Daniel – T-No. 4 QB with grade of 3.8.
Defensive Lineman Mike Catapano – No. 6 DE with grade of 5.1.
Linebacker Derrick Johnson – No. 2 ILB with grade of 5.4.
Safety Tyvon Branch – No. 2 safety with grade of 4.7.
