Falcons Vs. Chiefs: Mature Teams And Veteran Teams

Both members of the Kansas City Chiefs and their fans have said in the offseason that this is the most complete roster the team has had since GM Scott Pioli arrived three-plus years ago. KC's roster is deeper than last year and with the injured guys coming back this looks like a good team, one capable of winning the division.

Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel was asked about the state of his team and whether he has a good idea of what he's going to get with the 2012 Chiefs.

"If you have a ‘veteran team', who has proven themselves and you feel good about, I think you can be less anxious," Crennel said on Monday, via comments sent out by the Chiefs.

"Let's put it that way. I think everybody gets anxious when the season starts, but if you have a veteran team and you're solid all the way across the board, I think you can be less anxious because you kind of know what you have.

"Generally, you're anxious because you don't know exactly what you have and you've got some young players you have to play. We all know that young players make mistakes. You don't know how many mistakes they're going to make or what that mistake may cost you during the course of the game.

"And then some guys, when there are 70 or 80-thousand in the stands and they know it counts, they react differently. So, we'll have to see how that plays out."

"I think we're better because we're a more mature team," Smith said on Monday. "We've gone through five draft classes. When you go through five draft classes, I think you have a nucleus of players that are on your team that you've drafted. Your personnel department and coaches have gone through the process of evaluating them. I think it's a more mature team.

"We've got a lot of guys that have played a lot of football, and even though chronologically they're young they've got a lot of snaps underneath their belt. I think experience is a very important factor especially early in the season."

The Falcons have an established quarterback, one their fans likely feel more comfortable with than Chiefs' fans do with their quarterback. They are a similar makeup with a solid defense and a couple of playmakers at receiver. The tight end position seems solid with Tony Gonzalez. I think the Chiefs have more individual playmakers on both sides of the ball but they haven't done it in three of the past four years like the Falcons have.

The Falcons are the more mature team. We're five days away from finding out whether that means anything in the games that count.