Chiefs preseason: Observations from the first game

[Mr. Laz]

Chiefs preseason: Observations from the first game
by Chris Clark 38m ago


Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Watching the Kansas City Chiefs play against the Arizona Cardinals was rough for the first 10 minutes of the game. Arizona came out and took the ball down the field against the Chiefs defense in a way that we didn’t see last year.

A long 57-yard pass play on a short underneath route by Andre Ellington put the Cardinals in position for first and goal. Three plays later the Cardinals ran the ball across the goal line when Marcus Peters was just a split-second slow filling the hole to stop Ellington short of the goal line.

– The first play on offense saw Alex Smith target Jeremy Maclin deep down the left sideline and just missing him. After a first down to Travis Kelce the Chiefs offense sputtered and Smith threw an interception while a delayed blitzing linebacker hit him. For all Smith’s faults over the past two years, he showed more trust in his receivers on Saturday than he has ever before with Kansas City

– Eric Berry was the story of the night in Phoenix. The Cardinals welcomed him back to the NFL with a sign on their replay board before the game started. Berry didn’t play much of the game only seeing nine snaps, but to come back from lymphoma and radiation therapy only eight months after the initial diagnosis is remarkable.

He is not starting currently as the Chiefs are easing him into playing and seeing how his body responds. Berry was named one of the Chiefs captains for the game and shared a touching moment on the sideline with his mother before the game started. He is an inspiration to all with the passion he plays the game and the love he has for what he does.

NEXT: Players that stood out on offense


– When the second-string offense came into the game the Chiefs started to move up and down the field. Chase Daniel played the best game I’ve seen him play as a Chief, showing how much he’s grown and progressed in Reid’s offense. Daniel had almost as many touchdowns to receivers (3) as he did incomplete passes (4) throwing for 189 yards.

– Fred Williams played like he has much throughout training camp. He got open down the field and allowed a great window for throws from Daniel. Williams proved he has the ability to separate from corners and even proved he is cognizant that blocking downfield helps the team. While he currently sits behind Frankie Hammond on the depth chart for both receiver and special teams, a couple more games like Saturday night and he could really make it hard for the Chiefs to let him go.

– Another offensive player that shined on Saturday night was Charcandrick West. With Knile Davis leaving the game early with a knee injury, West stepped in and showed great decisiveness with his cuts and vision to see the holes. West is also a much better receiver than Davis out of the backfield but will need to work on his ability to pick up blitzes properly if he wants to see playing time on Sunday’s.

NEXT: Players that stood out on defense

– While we are used to watching Derrick Johnson fill holes and tackle the ball-carrier behind the line of scrimmage, seeing him continue to do it after returning from an Achilles injury is quite amazing. On the second play from scrimmage, DJ hit the running back for a very short gain and the second play from the goal line DJ ended up tripping up the running back two yards deep in the backfield. If it wasn’t for Berry coming back from cancer, DJ’s return would be the story of the night from me because he looks to be the same player he was before.

Of all the defenders, the Chiefs linebackers had the best showing. Both Ramik Wilson and Justin March showed why the Chiefs are excited about them. Wilson had an interception that he almost took back for a touchdown and made several other great fills before he walked off with an injury in the third quarter. March also continued to show the coaches what they have seen from him while in St. Joe. He is usually in the right place and did his best DJ impression on a couple of plays in the second quarter.

Both Dee Ford and Dezman Moses showed their ability to get after the QB but need to work on bringing him to the ground. Moses had six pressures last night and stepped up trying to make the team as the fourth outside linebacker. Before last night’s game I would have assumed the Moses was going to have trouble making the team as Josh Martin played well last year and has shown pass rush ability during camp, but Moses showed he is a very capable edge rusher and could make Martin expendable.

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