Morning Update (Morning After Edition)
by Joel Thorman on Aug 8, 2008 7:15 AM CDT
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Print- Highlights and lowlights from the Chiefs victory.
- I can't believe we actually won.
- Official stats from the game.
- 10 initial reactions to the game from the Chicago Sun-Times.
Last night was actually an exciting preseason game. Our starters got some work, particularly Brodie and portions of the offensive line, while our young guys really kept it together.
I was pleasantly surprised by several of the younger wide receivers and a certain tight end. After only seeing clips of these guys doing drills and playing non-contact against each other, we're beginning to gauge their ceiling.
And the Bears received another kick in the face yesterday when it had been rumored that Chris Williams, their first round pick, is injured - but not like Dorsey/Albert, Williams may be out for the year according to the Sun-Times.
We played well. Sippio finally caught a pass/scored. Brodie played, eh...I'm sure there will be plenty of discussion on him. Huard didn't look half bad at times.
After seeing Thigpen in action I can confidently say I like him and would prefer him over Pennington - he's inaccurate but I can see progress.
Stick around for some more post-game stuff coming up.
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DJ
Holy crap am I happy we FINALLY moved Johnson to the weak side where he belongs – he is going to tear stuff up this season. He saw that screen play developing as soon as the RB stopped (before the RB even turned around to make the catch)
The running game
obviously needs some work. The 83/254 rushing/passing ratio is too low, but once the O-line starts gelling, it’ll give our running backs more protection.
Although Battle’s yards/attempt of 6.0 looks nice. Small sample size, but still.
That Was Savage, Not Battle
Battle was the one with the thoroughly unimpressive 3.0 ypc.
I thought Savage looked very solid, though. Good burst, good elusiveness. I think he’s going to stick around. Larry Johnson looked a step slow, though, and still danced way too much for my tastes. But the offense looked a lot more competent than last year. Croyle wasn’t anything special, but he wasn’t horrible. Thigpen may have driven us down the field for the win, but I thought he was all over the place in his performance and frankly if he has another performance like that it should kill the speculation that he’s the number 2 QB for the season.
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
I don't want to lose Savage either
but who do cut to make room for him? I can’t see us keeping 5 RB’s. Here is how I see it. If we cut -
Battle – then Cox would be our only short yardage option other than LJ
Smith – then we have no backup who has shown he can carry the ball 20-25 times if LJ goes down
Charles – we would keep an impressive UDFA over a FAST 3rd round pick (don’t see it happening)
What are your thoughts UCrawford? (and anyone else)
And
I don’t think Savage would clear waivers – not after some inside rushes that were, given his tiny size, impressive
Cut Battle
Kolby or the fullback can handle short yardage. Heck, Savage can handle short yardage. :)
I Say Battle
That’s why we have a fullback…for short-yardage situations.
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
Speaking Of Fullbacks
That was a nice little pass out in the flat that Cox made. If Kris Wilson had been on the receiving end of it, I’m sure that he’d have found a way to fall over or get hit by a defender immediately after the catch to make it of negligible benefit to the team. So as far as I’m concerned, Cox has already proven himself to be Wilson’s better :)
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
Correction
Nice little pass that Cox caught
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
Would it be insane to keep 5 RB's?
If so, do you think Battle would clear waivers? I like the way Battle runs, but at this point, I can’t justify keeping him over Smith, Charles, or Savage.
I Think Five Halfbacks Would Be Too Much
Otherwise you’re affecting depth at other positions. Frankly, I don’t see why Battle’s that promising. He got 3.4 ypc last year. He got 3 ypc last night. He’s just a big dude that doesn’t appear to have breakaway speed. That might make him a good fullback prospect, but as a halfback he’s more Cedric Benson than Brandon Jacobs or MBIII.
Gotta cut somebody, might as well be him.
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
I agree we haven't seen great numbers from him in the limited carries he's had
but he is a 4.4/4.39 40 runner...
That is why I am hesitant to cut him
he is a rare athletic specimen…I think he is worth an attempt at developing to determine if he can take the place of LJ in a few years…come on UCrawford, you should be all for that ;)
Which Doesn't Mean Much
If it doesn’t translate into production.
Decent running backs aren’t too tough to find. Most of them are able to step up immediately and if they don’t you can get rid of them because there are plenty of backup running backs sitting around. While Battle’s got intriguing tools, he wasn’t anything particularly special in college…he had a good senior and freshman season, a crap junior season, a so-so sophomore season. He missed a lot of games (half the season in 2004, a month in 2006, two weeks in 2003) and if you check out the game logs, he played a lot of garbage teams in posting those big numbers and had a tendency to have rotten games against the better squads.
http://nfldraft.rivals.com/cviewplayer.asp?Player=4533
I’ve never been a big fan of “tools” players who haven’t translated those results to the field…especially when they play in weak conferences in college. That’s a sign that they lack ability, not that they need development time. Battle smells to me like a combine warrior, not a football player.
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
Battle
Had he gone to a larger school I would agree for sure. But he hasn’t faced many opponents who were future NFL players. Either he has potential but hasn’t looked good in his limited NFL action because he has never been playing against such talent, or he only had good numbers in college because he was playing less talented defenses. Is it worth a roster spot to find out which? Is it worth a practice Squad spot?
I think he definately has a place on the 80 man roster...
his performance will dictate whether he makes the 53 man or not =)
For those that watched the game,
how true was number six in the “10 initial reactions” list?
...Herm Edwards and Lovie Smith are good friends and they might have had a friendly agreement entering this one on blitzing.Did we (or the Bears) refrain from blitzing?
It's hard to tell
I missed all of the third quarter, but the only things I saw that looked like blitzes from our side could have just been our secondary doing well at run support. I saw Morgan shoot into the backfield and tackle the RB – it might have been a safety blitz, or he might have just been playing in the box. Another time I saw Flowers do the same thing. Was it a CB blitz, or just good run support? I didn’t see anything that looked like an obvious blitz from us (meaning more than 4 guys rushing the QB on an obvious passing down). I think the Bears sent a LB a few times. I cold be wrong.
Nobody blitzes in early preseason
Blitzing typically doesn’t show up in any preseason game until the third or fourth one.
Overall impressed...
with the rookies. Yeah the defense could have been crisper but its too early to stress. Cottam, Charles, Franklin, Flowers and Morgan all looked promising. Things are looking up.
The Receivers Looked Decent
I cheered when Sippio caught on. Franklin had a really nice grab from Thigpen as well. Thiggy Stardust has got a great arm, but that guy is really inconsistent for accuracy.
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
I saw Franklin
a LOT more than I saw Darling…if that continues, I wouldn’t be surprised if we had a rookie as our #2 WR. Franklin had two nice grabs on that first series, and I am sure that his hanging on to the ball after taking the hit impressed some people.
The Best Thing About The Game Last Night
A friend of mine in Chicago called me while he was on the way to Soldier Field whooping and cheering about how the Bears were going to stomp the Chiefs. He’s yet to respond to any of my post-game text messages. :)
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
Savage as return guy
Robinson’s knee problem is unfortunate. Savage looks like a little bit of a project at returner, but he’s got qualities I like. He was a tougher runner than I had pictured. It’d sure be nice to keep him. There’ll be some tough cuts this year.
And I liked Sippio. If the Bears’ receiver had hung on to his chance later in the gae, we’d have lost it. But he didn’t catch it and Sippio did.
Savage As Returner
He’s got that Maurice Jones-Drew kind of build, maybe not the same speed, but I think he’s got potential. He’s definitely worth a shot.
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
As For Cuts
I think B.J. Sams is on the way out. He did nothing impressive last night, he offers no utility at any other position, and we’ve got some intriguing young players who have shown an ability to return kicks. So who really needs a guy that specializes in kick returns, especially when a slightly better kick returner isn’t that much of a priority in a rebuilding year.
Versatility will be the key for our fringe guys this season I think. Sams doesn’t have it. Battle doesn’t have it. Savage does.
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
Question
If he hasn’t healed up, and hasn’t been evaluated, does Kevin Robinson get cut, even though we drafted him hoping for a good return specialist?
Maybe
Guess it depends on how serious his knee injury his. Maybe he goes on the PUP list. But it’s not a tragedy if the guy doesn’t make the roster…that kind of stuff happens. At least he’s not a high round draft pick.
Supporting the lesser of two evils is still supporting something evil.
Robinson should start practicing sometime this week.
If not, they will likely end up putting him on the PUP list and he will be out for 6 weeks.
Who talks trash over a preseason game?
I was at the Royals Sox game last Saturday and some Sox fans were talking trash, I took the opportunity to remind them that thier QB was Sexy Rexy.
Overall
Overall I was very impressed, esp. with the way the offense took the ball down and scored on the first possession of the game.
http://www.kcchiefsfootball.com
http://www.kcchiefsfootball.com/
Go Chiefs!
+ 1
The Bears may not have the best defense in the NFL this season, but I’d expect them to be top 10, and our first drive was methodical and smoothly executed (starting the game 5/5 on 3rd downs was a big confidence booster)
Anybody pay any attention
to the defensive play calling(headsets and hand signals and all that jazz) last night? I completely forgot…..Was Thomas or DJ on the field the whole game? I don’t remember them being out there the second half…..How’d they get the signals in?
hmmmmm...
good question. I would assume that they just called plays in the same manner they have in years past but I don’t know.
http://www.kcchiefsfootball.com
http://www.kcchiefsfootball.com/
Go Chiefs!
yep
I had forgotten about the helmet thingy’s, btu I don’t think Thomas was out there for the whole second half (but I think DJ played every defensive series of the first half).
Kevin Keitzman and Humble Pie
You might want to listen to Kevin Keitzman on 810 AM Radio today at 2 PM. He hates Croyle to the point it shows in his voice. The response he gives today should be interesting.
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