The Kansas City Chiefs opened their preseason with a vanilla offense and a bland defense, showing nothing from their arsenal on either side of the ball.
The long-awaited arrival of the Patrick Mahomes era is here. If you watched the game against Houston you may have thought it was week 10 of 2017. The Kansas City Chiefs showed the NFL absolutely nothing.
Earlier in the week, Andy Reid told the media that the Kansas City Chiefs would be running their base stuff. He wasn’t lying. That isn’t to say there weren’t good things happening out there, because there was.
There were good and bad things to note out there against Houston, who left Arrowhead with a 17-10 victory.
First Half
Patrick Mahomes looked comfortable out there during the first quarter. He was efficient going 5-7 for 33 yards. He was sacked once but it was a good decision by Mahomes to not force the throw. There were plenty of dink and dunk passes which reminded Chiefs Kingdom of years past.
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The defense looked very Chiefs-like for the entire game. While few really stood out, some looked very lost out there. David Amerson is basically Terrance Mitchell. He was flagged a couple different times that allowed Houston to walk down the field instead of earning it. Ukeme Eligwe struggled out there, looking lost and very hesitant. His impressive training camp didn’t carry over to the game.
Damien Williams looks like he has a chance to make the roster as a third or fourth back if they keep that many.
Demarcus Robinson looked pretty good, catching the first touchdown of the preseason on a well-thrown go route by Chad Henne. Gehrig Dieter played with the first-team special teams, nearly blocking a punt. He also made a catch and a beautiful stretch for a first down.
Score at halftime: 14-7
Second Half
The defense continued to get pushed around little by little in the second half. One thing that carried over was the intensity Breeland Speaks brings to the defense. He was around the ball all night long. Speaks was one of the rare positives that came from the defensive side of the ball.
The secondary was picked on. Armani Watts showed enough for me to believe the Chiefs need outside help at the safety position since Daniel Sorenson is down and out for a while. This doesn’t mean Watts won’t be ready eventually, but as of now, he needs some time.
Tackling all around was pretty lackadaisical. The 2nd and 3rd string offenses had their way with the defense. Now there was not much that the Chiefs showed defensively either. It was definitely the most base-defense that you can have.
Thanks to the new rules the NFL submitted, the Chiefs defense was able to stop Houston at the goal line since you can no longer dive to gain yardage apparently.
Matt McGloin didn’t do a whole lot with the short time he had. What he did show was he needs more time throwing the ball to his receivers. Chase Litton faired okay in the fourth, backing up my prediction of being the 3rd quarterback on the roster if they carry that many. More on him later.
Darrel Williams might be a player the Chiefs can’t afford to let go. There are six in the rotation, so two will surely be gone by the start of the season. He was by far the best running back of the night.
Overall Outlook
This game should have been pretty much what should have been expected. Some good, some bad, some indifference. Players that stood out to me were Speaks, Alex Ellis, Darrel Williams, and Chase Litton.
Litton had some moments of question, but for the most part, he looked very crisp. His play tonight makes me want to see more. Alex Ellis might calm those that are worried about the tight end position. He looked very nice in with the three’s and four’s.
Blake Mack was a no-show, and that made many of us sad. The Kingdom was looking forward to seeing him do what he’s been doing in camp.
The score really doesn’t matter in the preseason. The factor you are looking for is competitiveness and there was plenty of it. That being said, It would have been nice to see a win at the end.