Steelers vs. Chiefs: Has Kansas City improved since last year?

The Pittsburgh Steelers will host the Kansas City Chiefs for their second preseason game of 2019. Are the Chiefs more dangerous this year?

The Steelers had an impressive outing in their first preseason game of 2019. Though they were missing most of their starters on both sides of the ball, Pittsburgh made a number of big plays, and their young stars stepped up in the spotlight.

This week, they will host the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday night. Though this contest is merely a preseason game, it’s entirely possible that these two teams could meet in the playoffs this year.

Kansas City has gone through a number of changes this offseason, but are they worse or better from them? Here is a breakdown of the Chiefs offseason changes and and a look at their offense and defense in 2019:

Offseason changes:

The Chiefs overhauled their defensive coaching staff this season, and lost a number of household names, including Justin Houston, Eric Berry, and Dee Ford. However, not all change appears to be negative.

Kansas City hired Steve Spagnuolo as their new defensive coordinator. They also brought in former Patriots defensive line coach  Brendan Daly as well as Kentucky’s defensive coordinator Matt House.

In addition to coaching changes, the Chiefs made a serious effort to bolster their roster after some of the departures they suffered. Kansas City signed new presumable starters in Frank Clark and Alex Okafor at defensive end, Bashaud Breeland at corner, and Tyrann Mathieu at strong safety.

It may take a while for them to mesh on defense, but this group of incoming players has potential to be better than the ones they lost this offseason.

Offense:

Rookie Mecole Hardman showed some serious speed against the Bengals last weekend, as he took a shovel pass for an easy 17-yard score. Hardman may have been drafted as an insurance policy to Tyreke Hill, but he has speed to burn and could be another legitimate weapon for Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs have also been pleasantly surprised with rookie running back, Darwin Thompson. The sixth round draft choice possesses similar traits to Kareem Hunt in terms of his agility and ability to break tackles, but he is significantly smaller at just 5’8” and 200 pounds. He had a very impressive 9 yard run against the Bengals, as well as a 25 yard reception that he took to the house.

With Mahomes at the helm, the Chiefs stand to be one of the best offenses in the league again in 2019, and these rookies bring even more speed to one of the leagues fastest offenses.

Defense:

Even though they lost Justin Houston and Dee Ford this offseason, the Chiefs pass rush should be very good in 2019. The combination of Frank Clark, Chris Jones, and Alex Okafor should be able to get to the quarterback consistently this year.

The secondary also has a completely new look to it with Tyrann Mathieu and Bashaud Breeland taking over. Eric Berry played just 3 games since 2016, and was no longer part of the picture. The Chiefs also lost Steven Nelson to the Steelers this offseason.

It will be interesting to see how these changes unfold for the Chiefs in 2019. The Steelers and the Chiefs stand to be two of the better teams in the AFC North again this season. Though the winner of the preseason contest doesn’t matter, we could be looking at a potential playoff matchup this January.