O-LINE , PLEASE CHECK D-LINE AT THE POINT OF ATTACK !!

My first thought of the night is although its good too be kind too others lets not just let the defence stroll in and wreck our qbs ! We need too make a desision on our lt and center A.S.A.P ! Maybe moving veldheer to center could help out for now , what do you folks think ?? Bush broken thumb doesnt seem like the thing that would keep him out opening day ,bennett mcfadd and cartright will fill in til he gets back if there are complications ! I still say spread mcfadd out and let him catch the ball ! defence- aside from giving up another big run (49yds , gore ) 32 carries for 116 yds is less than 4 yards a carry so nice job d-line ! On a whole d- looked good , no sacks , no ints . Back on offence jcamp went 6-8 -93 yds -0-0 until he was sacked out of the game . Enter B Gradkowski , 14-22-202 YDS -2TDS -0 INT ! THAT TD TOO MURPHY IN STRIDE WAS HIGHLIGHT REEL STUFF !! I digress . Many on this blog already know i am a huge gradkowski fan and was bitter sweet with the trade for JCamp however i also realize we got campbell for cheap and he has a huge upside ! Just nice too have a starting qb as our second string (for now ), and kudos to the training camp boller is having ! so with only one more game left in preseason ( seattle at home ) i see a team that is starting to come together as a team , i see a coach (cable ) who doesnt let the media run the looker room , i see seabass nail long (57yds) field goals , i sometimes stil might see dead people , and i see the regular season just on the horison !! GO RAIDER NATION !!

Preseason Week 4: Chiefs 17 Eagles 20

This was by far the best performance the Chiefs have shown in the Preseason over the last 3 years. And we finally have a decent look at what the Chiefs might be bringing this year.

Halftime score had Philly ahead 10-7

OFFENSE: This is going to be control the clock football. Run the ball and utilize the short passing game looks to be what Todd Haley has in store this year. The ground game is looking good and the personnel seem to match up well against opposing defenses.

QB - Cassel by no means had an outstanding game. But he didn't have a terrible one either. He continued to show himself as a game manager whose focus is more on not losing the game than it is on winning it. 14-23 for 85 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT. I really don't think you can get much more average than that. Brodie Croyle is still hurt but will be the team's #2. Tyler Palko must have some kind of family connection to still be on the team. Bill Stull is a non-factor as he is only on the roster because of league requirements regarding the injury to Croyle.

RB - Obviously this will be the source of the Chiefs offense. Kansas City will live and die with their run game. Fortunately, it appears to be a pretty good run game. Thomas Jones continues to get tough yards between the tackles, and even added a nice 11 yard TD run. His purpose is going to be wearing down the defense. Jammaal Charles broke a nice 20 yard run that accounted for half of his total. 40 yards on 6 carries again had him averaging over 5 ypc. Even without the 20 yarder, he still averaged 4 ypc. Jackie Battle looks to have successfully held off the youngsters Kestahn Moore and Javarris Williams for the 3rd down back position. Look for either Moore or Williams to stay on the active roster while the other is sent to the practice squad for one more year.

FB - Still a battle between Tim Castille and Mike Cox. Neither plays consistently well and it's probably a reasonable assumption that Tim Castille will be the opening day starter.

WR - Dwayne Bowe and Chris Chambers are exactly what the Chiefs need on the outside. Large possession receivers with big play ability. They will run the tough routes across the middle but are able to go up and get the deep ball as well. Quentin Lawrence, Jeremy Horne, Dexter McCluster, and Jerhome Urban will round out the depth chart but the order isn't clear just yet.

TE - Leonard Pope has retained his starting job for now. Tony Moeaki has flashed a lot of ability and talent, but is still raw and has injury concerns. Look for him to be involved more as a blocker this year rather than a weapon.

O-line - The improvement from last year is obvious, but it isn't consistent. Weigmann appears to simply be better all around than Niswanger who has seen some time at guard recently. Waters and Lilja appear to be solid, but the Chiefs need some depth there. Branden Albert is coming along quickly at LT but needs to sharpen his skills. There is still a hole at RT that needs to be plugged quickly.

DEFENSE: It's been almost a decade since I could say the Chiefs defense was the best unit on the field in a game. They forced turnovers, pressured (and sacked) the QB, made plays in the backfield, broke up passes, played well in coverage. They really played well for the first time in a long time.

NT - Ron Edwards has been serviceable. The same can be said about Shaun Smith and Derek Lokey. It really doesn't seem to matter who starts because they all play just ok.

DE - Glenn Dorsey has looked much improved this year. He is constantly demanding a double-team which is exactly what he's supposed to do. On the other side it looks like Tyson Jackson is going to be pushed by Alex Magee. Magee has played better, but Jackson was the #3 overall pick and it's going to be hard for the Chiefs to forget that. Both players are sub-par right now.

OLB - They got after Kolb like he shot their dog. Hali was constantly double-teamed and was STILL getting pressure on Kolb. Vrabel did exactly what you would expect him to do and played smart football, directing the defense. The star from this unit was definitely Andy Studebaker who led the way with a pair of sacks. He looked like a man possessed going after Kolb. Cameron Sheffield also played better than expected until suffering what is being described as a "neck injury" (latest report says that he is able to move and is being held for observation).

ILB - There are some guys who want to play this year. Jovan Belcher appears to have locked up one of the starting roles which isn't a surprise considering he is the strongest LB on the team. The other spot is a different matter altogether. Derrick Johnson and Demorrio Williams are locked in a position battle that could get someone killed. Both are playing hard and appear to have stepped up their game in areas they were criticized for in the past. The highlight of this battle had to come when Williams sacked Kolb hard and just a couple plays later, Johnson (not to be out done) broke up a pass with a vicious hit.

CB - Kolb's numbers through 3 qtrs - 11/25 for 103 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT. Flowers and Carr looked very good. Arenas continued to struggle against taller receivers but was constantly in position. They need to find some depth here and soon.

S - Berry continued to be a constant presence. He's making tackles and plays which is exactly what the Chiefs want out of him. Kendrick Lewis managed to snag an INT and showed that he could be functional as a starter. He has definitely taken advantage of John McGraw being out of the lineup. McGraw and Rashard Langford appear to be the current 2nd team and have both played adequately.

SPECIAL TEAMS: This is by far the best unit out there for KC. They have played well in almost every aspect so far in the preseason.

K - Succop is still very accurate and very powerful (well, kicker powerful). He is a KC favorite and has shown they were right not to bother bringing anyone in to challenge him. He continues to boot the ball deep on KOs.

P - It's almost not even fair. Dustin Colquitt seems to be able to put the ball just wherever he wants to. That includes 4 of his 7 punts going inside the 20. Oh, and he may have sent one for 73 yards. No big deal.

KR/PR - Javier Arenas needs to settle down. He's been close to breaking one the past couple of weeks and that showed against the Eagles, in a bad way. He was fielding punts he should have let go. He was trying to make returns out of obvious fair catch situations, and was simply too impatient in waiting for his blocks to develop. There is such a thing as wanting it too much.

ST Defense - The coverage teams have been great. They fly down the field and are in position on almost every punt or kickoff.


OVERALL: The Chiefs biggest problems are in the trenches. They have to get a playmaker on the D-line and plug the hole at RT. If they can find a way to do that, then this team is definitely moving in the right direction. There is still a severe lack of depth at a lot of positions which will hurt them in the 4th qtr and later in the season. They appear to at least be on their way to being a middle of the pack team. It's probably at least another year or 2 before they see the playoffs again.

NO TIME FOR PANIC !!!

CHAZ IS HURT AGAIN ! ANYONE SURPRISED AT THIS POINT HASNT BEEN WATCHING RAIDER FOOTBALL AS OF LATE ! ALL THE UPSIDE HAS BEEN GIFTED THIS YOUNG MAN HOWEVER , HE MAY NOT HAVE THE BODY FOR THE NFL . THAT BEING SAID , HOPE FOR THE BEST AND IF HE DOESNT WORK OUT WE GOT OFF CHEAP ! MURPHY IS A GAMER AND I BELEIVE HE SHOULD BE 1 , DHB 2 , FORD , JHIGGI , AND N. MILLER NEED TWO STEP UP AND WHO EVER BRINGS IT GETS THE SLOT UNTIL CHAZ CAN GIVE IT ONE MORE GO ! IVE HEARD THE NOTION OF GIVING D MCFADDEN A GO IN THE SLOT !!?? T.E. Z. MILLER NEEDS TO BE THE KEY TOO THIS PASSING GAME , J CAMP LOOKED ALOT MORE COMFORTABLE HOWEVER SHOULD HAVE THROWN A TD INSTEAD OF AN INT TO MILLER ! WITH SATTELLE INJURIED MORRIS IS NEXT ON THE DEPTH HOWEVER , VELDHEER AND CAMPBELL COULD BE AN OPTION IN MY EYES ! STRENTH AND SPEED AT CENTER WOULD BE A NICE OPTION ! AS FAR AS OUR LINE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE VELDHEER AND CAMPBELL HOPEFULY COMFORTABLE AND STARTING BY WEEK 6-8 ! BUT WE WILL SEE . BENNET IS HAVING A VERY GOOD PRE-SEASON , AND IF IT CAN BLEED OVER INTO THE REG-SEASON I COULD SEE A BUSH / BENNETT COMBO IF MCFADD DOESNT PRODUCE IN THE BACKFEILD OR IF MCFADD BLOOMS AT SLOT WR ! THE D-FENCE !! OUR FRONT 7 SEEM TO BE HUNGRY FOR QBS BUT NEED TOO KEEP PUSHING FOR COHEASION SO THERE IS NOT A LET DOWN DURING THE REG-SEASON ! THE D-BACKS LOOK TOO BE GREEDY AND WANTING TOO HIT ! IF THE PRESSURE KEEPS COMING THE SAFETIES AND BACKS WILL BE PICKING OFF QUITE A FEW THIS YEAR ! SPECIAL TEAMS , SOMEBODY PLEASE STEP UP AND AT LEAST GET US AVERAGE YARDS ON THE K-P RETURN !!!!!AS WE HIT THE MIDDLE OF PRE-SEASON THING LOOK GOOD IN OAKTOWN , A LITTLE BANGED UP BUT NOT THE END OF THE WORLD . NOW WE FACE THE NINERS , JUST A PRESEASON GAME MY SLIGHTLY HAIRY HINNEY ! IF WE LOSE NOT GONNA SHAVE MY HEAD AND JOIN THE DEATH STAR CULT . BUT IF WE WIN IT WILL BE INTERESTING TO HEAR THE JUSTIFICATION ONE OR TWO NUGGETTS WILL GIVE ! NO MATTER , WE ARE GOING TO TAKE THEM TOO THE WOODSHED FOR LESSONS REGULAR SEASON ! MY THOUGHTS FOR THE WEEK . PEACE TO ALL !!

Week 2 Chiefs Recap TB 20 KC 15

After Week 2 of the preseason, a few things are looking clearer, while others have become even bigger questions.

Halftime score was knotted up 10-10.

OFFENSE: They showed signs of life this week. Consistency needs to be worked on, but this was a much better showing by the unit as a whole. Cassel spread the ball around and got his top receivers involved.

QB - Cassel looked like he was out to prove something tonight. He looked much better and was made some very solid throws. 14/19 for 125 yds and a TD isn't bad for a half of football. With Brodie Croyle out, Tyler Palko got a chance to work more. He started strong but ended the night with a pair of picks to remind everyone why he is a long shot to make this team.

RB - Solid all around. Thomas Jones started and did exactly what the Chiefs are going to ask of him. He grinds out tough yards while the defense is still fresh. He did fumble on the opening drive which led to 3 points for the Bucs. Jamaal Charles then proceeded to pump up Chiefs fans by averaging over 5 ypc and having only one carry under 4 yards. He also added 23 yards receiving on 3 catches. Dexter McCluster carried the ball once on an end-around that was sniffed out by Ronde Barber for a loss. McCluster also added a 17 yard reception. Jackie Battle took advantage of Kestahn Moore being out of the lineup and had a solid night with 59 yards or 11 carries.

WR - We have a Dwayne Bowe sighting. A few of them actually. 3 receptions for 33 yards. Bowe played strong, using his body to simply keep smaller defenders away from the ball. His hands looked much improved as well. If he can continue this into the regular season, the Chiefs may have a true offensive weapon in the passing game. Chris Chambers also had 2 receptions for 20 yards. It's a good sign that the Chiefs #1 and #2 receivers averaged over 10 yards per reception.

TE - Leonard Pope continued to play well. He's doing everything he can to keep Tony Moeaki at #2 on the depth chart. Moeaki was, again, held out for precautionary reasons. This is one of the more intense position battles on the team.

O-Line - This squad played 10 times better this week. Cassel was sacked once and pressured once but both times were due to overload blitzes. The line played great in the run game as well. It's clear that running to the right will be difficult for the Chiefs. Lilja is a pass protector and O'Callaghan just isn't quick enough for the NFL. However, the left side of the line looks phenomenal. Albert and Waters were handling people last night. Weigmann is a clear upgrade over Niswanger at center.


DEFENSE: They started strong, but seemed to lose their fire as the half approached. Coach Crennel is going to have to find a way for the rest of the unit to help out a young and talented secondary.

NT - Ron Edwards didn't play well at all. He was largely ineffective the entire night. Shaun Smith showed plenty of fire, but no control. He shot past the RB and out of the play a couple of times.

DE - Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson played pretty well overall. They didn't make plays or really rush the passer. But they chewed up blockers all night. It was rare that the Bucs didn't have to double team at least one (if not both) of them. Alex Magee needs to find some drive and become much more effective as a backup.

OLB - Tamba Hali absolutely crushed Josh Johnson. Those are the kinds of plays the Chiefs need. Getting to the QB with just a 4 man rush is the key to a successful defense. It needs to happen a lot more often for the Chiefs though. Vrabel played as expected but Andy Studebaker is quickly gaining on him by putting on solid performances. More needs to be seen from Cameron Sheffield and Corey Greenwood.

ILB - Jovan Belcher may have locked up a starting spot on the defense. He is easily the strongest LB on the team and has worked hard on his tackling technique. He was matched up with a no-show Derrick Johnson last night. Expect DJ to get another shot as the starter next week, but he will have to play better if he doesn't want Demorrio Williams to get the nod. Williams had 3 1/2 tackles, but that was largely against the scrubs. Corey Mays is most likely out of contention for a starting role.

CB - The coverage was there all night. But excellent catches and throws will make it look like Flowers and Carr were getting beat. Flowers' one mistake was trying to take the ball away from a receiver instead of making the tackle. The result was a 53 yard TD. You have to know where the safety help is. That's a young player's mistake, and Flowers is smart enough to correct it. Javier Arenas is most likely the team's #3 CB now that Leggett is likely out for a long period of time.

S - Berry looked sharp. He was making tackles and was constantly around the ball. Kendrick Lewis didn't get his name called all night, but that's what you want as a defensive back. I noticed that he was out of position on a couple of plays (including the 53 yard TD pass). He may have just taken the starting job away from John McGraw. McGraw and Rashard Langford will probably be locked in as the 2s.


SPECIAL TEAMS: This unit is almost perfect. They did everything right last night. It was easy to see why the Chiefs didn't bother bringing in any competition for Ryan Succop or Dustin Colquitt.

K - Succop is a Chiefs fan's favorite. The last pick of the 2009 draft has quickly become extremely popular. He added a pair of FGs to his preseason resume and consistently put the ball deep in the end zone on KOs.

P - Colquitt has a natural advantage being left-footed. It puts a spin on the ball that most returners don't like. Add that to the incredible power and accuracy that he has, and it's hard to imagine the Chiefs letting him go any time soon.

KR/PR - Javier Arenas about broke another one. A 54 yard KR in the 1st qtr set the Chiefs up for a TD drive. This is 2 weeks in a row that Arenas has put on a return clinic. Anyone who was surprised that McCluster wasn't named the return man just needs to watch Arenas work.

ST Defense - It speaks volumes when the other team is willing to take a safety instead of giving you a chance to block the punt. That's the kind of rep this team needs to take to the defense.


OVERALL: A couple of mistakes away from a 1st half shutout. The Chiefs definitely looked better than last year. The mental mistakes are exactly why teams play preseason games, so there isn't much to worry about there. They need to generate more pressure and I expect to see a couple of blitz packages next week. The offense needs more consistency because they have shown the ability to be dominant when things are clicking. The Chiefs look like they can be competitive with average NFL teams. Things appear to be looking better in KC.

Preseason Week 1 Observations

Sure it's only Week 1 of the preseason, but that doesn't mean there aren't observations to be made. Here's a quick breakdown of what I saw from the AFC West this past weekend.

Note: I didn't get to watch much of the Oakland game, but I did catch most of the 1st half which is what I use to gauge performances this early in the season.

Denver: 24-33 L to Cincinnati -- The Good: Kyle Orton put on a passing clinic against a pretty good Bengals secondary. The short and mid range passing game was especially impressive. The Bad: Outside of Champ Bailey, Akin Ayodele, and Mario Hagan, the defense showed some holes. There is a noticeable presence missing at OLB where Robert Ayers simply is not Elvis Dumervil. The Ugly: If you take away all the positive and negative hype over Tebow and simply address his performance, he didn't play poorly. He made some solid passes and moved well. But he also made some mistakes, as all rookies do. The Tebow faithful will point out that he had a couple of nice passes dropped by receivers, one of which was a TD pass. The Tebow haters will point out that he had a couple of bad passes dropped by defenders. Both sides are right. He stood tall in the pocket and showed composure, but he also held on to the ball to long and didn't feel the pressure very well. He ran the ball well and scored his first rushing TD of his career, but he certainly learned that it's not like running over some undersized FIU linebacker. Guys in the NFL can hit.

Kansas City: 20-10 L to Atlanta -- The Good: The backfield was impressive. Jamaal Charles, Dexter McCluster, Kestahn Moore, and Javarris Williams all had good nights both rushing and receiving. The Bad: Kansas City's obvious inability to stretch the field is going to be a sore spot this year. Cassel simply doesn't have the arm strength to be an elite passer, Croyle belongs in a china shop, and Palko is officially on my hit list. The Ugly: The Chief defense was up and down. The opening drive was ugly but only resulted in a FG. The rest of the first half was a shut out as the D seemed to wake up and realize that it was football season. The backups didn't look very impressive which means this team will probably struggle late in the game as they did last year.

Oakland: 17-9 W over Dallas -- The Good: The defense is definitely the strength of this team. That is what will keep the Raiders competitive as the season goes on. The Bad: The o-line can still be confused with a revolving door. They have to buy Campbell some time and open running lanes for the backs if this offense wants to see any success. The Ugly: Campbell showed that he very well could be a leader for this team. He needs to get his receivers on the same page as him, but there is definitely some progress being made.

San Diego: 25-10 W over Chicago -- The Good: Rivers. There really isn't anything else that needs to be said about this team. This is his team and they will succeed or fail with him. If this game was any indication, then the Chargers have moved on from McNeil and Jackson. The Bad: The 1st and 2nd team defenses struggled a little. There looks to be some improvement on defense but there remains a question as to whether or not it's enough to help this team in the playoffs. The Ugly: Ryan Mathews is going to be a necessity for this team to win in the postseason. He looked strong with some decent runs against a (traditionally) tough defense. But he also showed a lot of impatience and nervousness, although that is to be expected from a rookie who is being called upon as a workhorse starting RB.

TAKE IT FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH

It's just a preseason game. The first one to be more accurate. Teams aren't playing at full strength. If anything, it's just a glorified practice. Usually what we see in these mid-August games is not necessarily a vision into what the September-January games will bring.

So the Chargers beat the Bears 25-10 in the preseason opener at Qualcomm. Big woop. It's meaningless... right? Well, you could say this victory is as significant as Oakland's 17-9 win over Dallas... or Denver's 33-24 loss to Cincy... or KC's 20-10 loss to Atlanta. All four contests had the same impact on the race for the division: Nothing. By this time next week things could flip-flop... The Bolts could have a poor showing against the Cowboys. The Raiders could get manhandled by the Bears. The Chiefs could bury the Bucs. Or Tebow could throw for 200 yards and 2 TD's against the Lions.

My point is, you take what you get in these preseason games. Don't read into too much. Take it for face value. Learn and adjust.

With that in mind, here are some of my humble thoughts from the Chargers game this weekend:

1. Ryan Mathews needs to slow down and be patient.
It's understandable that he is excited and his mind is racing at light speed. But he can't keep running into his blockers. What most people saw in him was his burst, balance and strength. He ran over Lance Briggs and bounced Urlacher to the turf. BUT - the confrontation with Briggs could have been avoided if he would have let Kris Dielman do his job. The rookie RB ran into Dielman and knocked his lead blocker out of the play. However, I'm sure if that were LT in there, Dielman would have been credited for the tackle... LOL. I'm not going to say the Chargers running game is better... but the signs are certainly encouraging.

2. Rivers looks like he is in mid-season form.
His passes were crisp. His ability to look off the safety was effective. And to the critics who say his receivers make him look better: Watch the video on that TD pass to Legedu Naanee... Rivers looked to one side of the field to draw the safety over, pumped to sell it even more and then came back to the other side and arced a tight spiral over Legedu's shoulder. Pretty. Very pretty.

3. The Defense looks like it is playing with a chip on its shoulder.
There has been a lot of criticism about the strength of the defensive line. Many (including myself) have said the line is the defense's weakest link. Against Chicago the D-line played well. They stuffed the line of scrimmage and the Bears only gained 28 yards on the ground in the first half... and that's with Lovie Smith keeping his 1rst string offensive line in the game until halftime. There was adequate pressure on the QB as well. Although, most of that was dialed up by some creative blitz scheme's employed by Ron Rivera. Most of the blitz packages involved a DB off the corner. The defense tallied 6 sacks and the Bears could barely muster anything with their running game. Again, I caution my optimism here... It's encouraging, but we need to see consistent play on the D-line before we can make a valid argument for their improvement.

4. Missing: Marcus McNeill and Vincent Jackson?
The issue of the holdouts was supposed to be a cloud hanging over the team going into this game. How would they respond? Would it be a distraction? Well, McNeill's replacement, Brandyn Dombrowski, showed why AJ Smith has faith in him. Dombrowski never allowed Julius Peppers to get even a whiff of Rivers' after-shave. And the two WR's expected to pick up the slack for VJ made a couple of great plays as well. Buster Davis caught a Rivers pass on 3rd and long for 22 yards and Legedu Naanee had the TD reception. The first string offense didn't miss a beat. If these guys can prove their respective performances against the Bears were no fluke, then both Marcus and Vincent could become distant memories in the minds of the fans and, unfortunately for them, AJ Smith.

5. Penalties a plenty, but no big deal.
There were several sloppy moments and a few brain farts but that can be expected. If the only blemish on the evening were a handful of false starts and holding penalties then I'll take it. And besides, the offense was still able to dig it's way out of the holes the penalties created. No harm, no... foul? Well, these things should get resolved before the start of the season and unfortunately penalties are a part of the game and nearly impossible to avoid. Just try not to make it a habit of committing 10-12 a game!

6. Big injuries avoided.
The team was fortunate enough not to suffer any major injuries. One game down, 3 more to go. Let's hope they continue to stay healthy.

So those are my early thoughts on the 2010 San Diego Chargers. Just like the preseason game itself, take them for what they are worth. I'm heading out on vacation this Friday for 9 days in Glacier National Park. Which means I will miss the next TWO preseason games... oh well. At least it's not the regular season.

Take care folks.

(photo courtesy of Chargers.com)

Falcons 20 Chiefs 10 Immediate reactions

Final score doesn't really mean much in preseason games. Especially true when almost all the points come in the second half.

Halftime score had KC and Atlanta deadlocked at 3.

KC's 1st team defense looks much better. They gave up a long opening drive but seemed to settle down and held Matt Ryan and the Falcons offense to virtually nothing. Plenty of pressure from the front 7, didn't result in any sacks or turnovers, but 3 sack opportunities resulted in an intentional grounding call, a false start (barely early and too bad because Dorsey would've killed Ryan), and a pass stopped in the backfield. Michael Turner was able to grab a couple decent runs on the opening drive, but KC's run defense tightened up and limited any further production. A couple of decent gains by Tony Gonzalez were also key for the Falcons.

Brian Waters (and his backup Darryl Harris) was out for this game and it definitely showed. Thomas Jones was only able to grab 2 yards on 2 carries. However, Jamaal Charles picked up 37 on 4 carries while Dexter McCluster grabbed 25 on 5 carries. There have been questions asked about McCluster's ability to take an NFL hit. He took several today and bounced right back up after each one. He even tucked his head and ran straight at a couple linemen on one play. Kestahn Moore flashed some ability on a couple of plays, but he also had a couple of mental errors that show why he's destined to be #3 on the depth chart. There is a problem at RT as Ryan O'Callahan appeared to be a liability against speed rushers.

The passing game wasn't really shown today. Mostly short to mid range passes and not much stretching the field, which is to be expected with Matt Cassel. Brodie Croyle came in and looked sharp early but seemed to fall apart with his later snaps. Tyler Palko has already been summed up by Charlie Weiss: "You're 0 for August, Palko!"

Dustin Colquitt looked to pick up where he left off from last year as one of the better punters in the league. Ryan Succop went 1-3 but both misses were from 53. The first one hit the upright (about 9/10 of the way up) while the second flared outside at the last second. Both would have had the distance from another 10 yards away easily. Javier Arenas got a chance to show off his skills with a great 42 yard kickoff return, and sold a fake fair catch well enough to catch the defenders queued in on him instead of the ball (rolled into the endzone for a touchback).

The questions after tonight's game are:

1. Will KC's defense play like it did on the opening drive or like it did on the following drives against the 1st and 2nd team offenses?

2. Was tonight's o-line failure because Brian Waters was out, or is there a bigger problem?

3. Will KC be able to stretch the field with Cassel at the helm?

4. Do the Chiefs have enough depth to be competitive with middle of the pack teams?