This Chiefs team brings back disturbing memories of the 2003 season Some Kansas City Chiefs fans are really nervous right now.If they were following the team in the early 2000s under head coach Dick Vermeil Kansas City Chiefs Hats , they remember the 2003 season, when the Chiefs had an unstoppable offense coupled with a poor defense.That combination was sufficient to bring the Chiefs to the postseason with a 13-3 record that assured a first-round bye.But then came the infamous No-Punt Game against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts.The Colts scored on every one of their drives, and the Chiefs scored on every one of theirs — except for one drive ending with a missed Morten Anderson field goal, and another ending with a fumble by Priest Holmes.It added up to a 38-31 victory for the Colts.It would be a dozen years before the Chiefs returned to the divisional round of the playoffs.And now, some Chiefs fans are worried it’s happening all over again.So I thought I’d see if there’s really anything to be worried about.I picked seven commonly-used statistical categories to compare the 2003 and 2018 Chiefs on both offense and defense.Because the two seasons are separated by 15 years — and more than a little has changed in the NFL since then — I’m going to show you the bare stats, but no rankings.Instead, I’ve calculated standard deviations from average for each of these statistics, and they will be expressed as letter grades — just as we do in our True Power Rankings roundup every week.This solves two problems.First, comparing these stats with these letter grades allows us to compare these stats across the 15-year span between them; that’s one of the cool things about using standard deviations from average to compare them.Second, we won’t get ourselves worked up about differences in rankings that might not really be significant.If none of this makes sense to you, read the final part of the TPR methodology — the part with the equal-distribution graph.Or... just remember the rule: unless a grade is at least a full letter grade better (or worse) than another, the difference between the underlying stat is measurable, but not significant.Kansas City Chiefs 2003 and 2018Wow.Are you breaking out in a sweat yet?I know I am.As you can see, the statistical parallels between these two Chiefs seasons are striking.Every single one of these 2003 statistics is within a full letter grade of its 2018 counterpart — except for defensive yards given up, which is worse than 2003.So looking at this data, you can’t really blame anyone who has already concluded that the Chiefs will have a very successful regular season, and then fall by the wayside to some wild-card team — simply because the Chiefs defense isn’t up to the challenge of the postseason.But it’s not time to give up on this season — not by a long shot.I say this not because I have a fan’s faith that the Chiefs defense will improve.I say this because we have already seen it improve.Yes Kansas City Chiefs Womens Hoodie , the Chiefs defense gave up more than 500 yards on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, but they also gave up the fewest number of points they have all season — and scored some of their own to boot.It started the week before in Denver, but you could really see it on Sunday in Kansas City.They were playing with fire and passion, and it changed the outcome of both games.We’ve seen this before, you know.In 2015 — when the Chiefs started the season 1-5 — the defense gave up 26.5 points per game in those first six games.But in the last two losses — the ones to the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings — you could see something had clicked in the defense.The Chiefs lost those games, but the defense allowed just 23 points in them.And that continued.Over the rest of the season, the defense allowed just 12.8 points per game, and was a big part of the reason the Chiefs finished with 10 straight wins.That doesn’t guarantee that for the rest of the season, the Chiefs defense will resemble what it was in the last two games more than it resembles what it was in the first three.But I’ve seen this movie before, and right now, I wouldn’t bet against the Chiefs defense.However... for the sake of argument, let’s say I’m wrong. I’ve certainly been wrong before.Let’s say that the last two games were an outlier, and the only way for the Chiefs to win games during the remainder of the season will be to put a lot of points on the board.Let’s say the Chiefs do just what they did in 2003, and finish the season 13-3.What’s to stop some other team from coming in to Arrowhead and taking advantage of a poor Chiefs defense?Nothing.Nothing at all.Except that there is one other thing that is different than it was in 2003:Peyton Manning is selling pizza and insurance, and Patrick Mahomes is the Chiefs quarterback.In 2003, the Colts offense under Manning was just as effective as the Chiefs offense under Trent Green— as the Colts proved in that playoff game.But in 2018, there is no team in the AFC that compares to the Chiefs offense with Mahomes and his merry band of receivers.You can argue that the Los Angeles Rams and the New Orleans Saints have that kind of firepower available to them Womens Customized Kansas City Chiefs Jerseys , but neither of those teams will face the Chiefs in January.February might be a different story, but we’ll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it.So I understand if you want to worry about a repeat of the 2003 season.Based on what we’ve seen so far, it’s an entirely reasonable concern.But there’s reason to believe that in this case, history won’t repeat itself. The Kansas City Chiefs finally tracked down Lamar Jackson when it mattered most.After watching the elusive Ravens quarterback scoot all over the field Sunday, Justin Houston and Dee Ford combined on an overtime sack that left Jackson holding his ankle. He then had to watch from the sideline as Robert Griffin III threw two incompletions and Kansas City escaped with a 27-24 victory Sunday.Jackson had X-rays on his ankle afterward that came back negative, and he did his best to brush off the injury, likely knowing full-well that Joe Flacco appears ready to return from his own injury."They just wanted to see what happened," Jackson said with a shrug, "but I'm good."He was excellent most of the way.In a matchup of school-yard gunslingers, Jackson threw for 147 yards and two touchdowns without an interception while adding 71 yards on the ground. His counterpart, Patrick Mahomes, threw for 377 yards and two scores with an interception while leading the Chiefs to the tying touchdown with 53 seconds left.The Chiefs won the toss and got the ball first in overtime, and Mahomes kept finding Tyreek Hill for big chunks of yards. They marched into the red zone before Baltimore's top-ranked defense stiffened, and Harrison Butker kicked a 36-yard field goal to give Kansas City the lead.The Ravens looked as if they'd answer 鈥?if not one-up the Chiefs with a touchdown 鈥?when they got their chance with the ball. Jackson connected with Willie Snead IV to pick up one first down, and his run and another by Kenneth Dixon gave the Ravens another first-down in Chiefs territory.The drive began to unravel after Ronnie Stanley was called for holding, though. The ground-oriented Ravens were forced to go to the air, and the Chiefs 鈥?who led the NFL in sacks coming into the game 鈥?were able to send their best pass-rushing unit onto the field for the second-down play.Houston and Ford met Jackson at the same time Authentic Patrick Mahomes Jersey , sending him crumpling to the turf."That offense is a problem. (Jackson) is a great athlete," Ford said, "but he knows how to execute the offense. We really had to be on one page as a defense. If you don't, they're going to gash you."The Ravens finished with 198 yards rushing, just two yards shy of their fourth straight 200-yard game. All of them have come with Jackson under center, a byproduct of coach John Harbaugh reinventing the offense to better suit the elusive style of his former Heisman Trophy winner."I was just trying to manage the game," Jackson said. "We knew we had to keep (Mahomes) off the field. We had to pound the ball, throw the ball around the field. We just had to do our job."It wasn't enough to extend the Ravens' three-game win streak. And while linebacker Terrell Suggs said there are no moral victories, Jackson seemed emboldened by the way his team performed."We're a strong team. We can fight with anybody," he said. "I know a lot of people doubted us to lose this game, but it was now how they thought it was going to be. We just have to get better next week."Now, the question is whether Jackson will have that chance next week.Harbaugh said Flacco was medically cleared to play on Friday from the hip injury that has kept him out, but he wasn't prepared enough to face the Chiefs. Another week of practice could have the Super Bowl-winning quarterback ready to play when Baltimore returns home to face Tampa Bay.They could need him if Jackson's ankle is sore, though he tried to dismiss any such concern."They were concerned. They just wanted to check and see if anything was broken, anything like that. I'm good," he said. "We've got to regroup next week and get ready for our next game."