From the Editors Show: Kansas City’s turnover margin this season

On this week’s AP Editors’ Show, Pete and John present marinated takeaways from Kansas City’s win in Denver.

On the latest episode of the Arrowhead Pride Editors’ Show podcast, Pete Sweeney and John Dixon discussed their marinated takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs Week 14 win over the Denver Broncos.

(Listen to the podcast above or by clicking here. It is also available on Spotify.)

Kansas City’s negative turnover margin

John: “In the games where Patrick Mahomes has been the Chiefs’ starting quarterback and Kansas City has a negative turnover margin, the Chiefs are the only team in the NFL with a winning record… If the turnover margin is zero, Kansas City is fourth in the NFL with a 14-5 record since Mahomes has been the starter. When they have a positive turnover margin they are second in the NFL with a 32-2 record… Turnover margin is one of the more predictive stats in football. When you get a minus-3 turnover margin it’s difficult to win football games in the NFL. The Chiefs — above all other teams in the NFL — still find ways to win these games even when they turn the football over. Let’s take a second to appreciate that when we complain about their performance on Sunday.”

Running the ball vs. taking your foot off the gas

Pete: “When the Chiefs are up 27-0 and they continue to throw the football I’m not sure I get the thought process there. With that in mind, one of the biggest criticisms of Andy Reid has to do with him taking his foot off the gas when the Chiefs get up big in games… There are definitely fans who have complained about Andy Reid getting conservative over the years and he finally tried to keep his foot on the gas on Sunday. The results didn’t play out the way you’d like but the process might have been what we’ve been looking for.”

Giving up 28 to the Broncos

John: “A lot has been made of the Chiefs’ defense giving up 28 points to a team that hadn’t scored more than 23 points in a game all season. I just want to point out that the only time the Broncos scored 23 points this year they still gave up 32 points — and lost. That was the most points they had given up this season prior to Sunday’s game against the Chiefs. There’s a divisional element here that we can’t overlook, because we see these divisional matchups play out differently than they should on paper… Kansas City still won this game — when they really had no right to win this game against the Broncos after turning it over so many times.”

The Chiefs’ young secondary

Pete: “I thought the Chiefs’ young defensive back’s growth over the next four weeks will be the key to the Chiefs’ championship chances this season. The pass rush is starting to come on — but they still have to do it against top teams like the Bengals. This Chiefs defense is still growing — and my greatest concern is the young defensive backs… They are going to face elite competition in the playoffs and Jerry Jeudy has been looking for that kind of game his entire NFL career so far… The playoffs aren’t locked yet — but right now, I think it’s fair to be a little concerned about this Chiefs’ young secondary once the competition level goes up in the postseason.”

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