Chiefs vs. Eagles Preseason: 32 Observations On The Game

the player led with his shoulder and hit the receiver in his chest. i thought the penalty was only for leading with your helmet and hitting the receiver in the helmet. that call was BS and cost us the game. im tired of all of the officiating that is pussying up football. this game is going down as a W in my book.

Barry Richardson did very well. He is going to be our RT

On a deep Kolb pass to Jeremy Maclin, Brandon Flowers probably should have been called for pass interference (he didn’t look back for the ball).

as much as some people have been whining about non-calls on holds on Hali or our other guys, how could they POSSIBLY have missed THAT

great work, Joel!

Eric Berry’s big ht on Desean Jackson that I don’t know knocked him out of the game. That was huge, I mean I could hear it through the TV.

First quarter

    * Demorrio Williams – Doing his job, getting more help, and facing lesser opposition.

    * Matt Cassel is throwing away from the defenders as much as to his guys. Some passes we maybe don’t like are, on further review, thrown where only his guy has a chance at the ball. Bowe and Chambers both seem to be developing a sense of where the defenders are around them, and where Cassel’s going to try to place the ball. Moeaki needs to either make the catch he gets a hand on or make it impossible for the defender to catch.

    * The Chiefs had some sort of plan for Michael Vick… – Maybe all the tweaking and shifting was to keep Vick under uncertainty. He’s most dangerous when the situation has resolved itself and he can see how to break it down with his feet. The less clarity you give that guy, the better chance you have against him.

    * Eric Berry looks good.

    * Brandon Flowers probably should have been called for pass interference – I think if Carr had done the same thing, he would’ve been flagged. Flowers is also a good salesman.

    * Tamba Hali came around Kolb’s blind side and nearly… – It is frustrating when it’s one of those nearly plays. Telephoto makes it tough to really tell, sometimes. But it does seem to me that he’s in position to get a good handle on the passer and doesn’t quite finish the deal. On the play in question, one angle showed Hali blowing it and the back-side angle showed Magee and company entirely walled-off from Kolb and Hali flying solo around the corner of that wall.

    * Derrick Johnson nearly had a sack.

Second quarter

    * Shaun Smith saw a series at nose tackle. – If I’m not mistaken, he was on the field before that. I’m currently speculating that the Smith-Gilberry combo will come in to replace the Edwards-Jackson duo. Maybe the same overall stout-speed, but in a different way. I want to see some Smith in there with Jax and Dorsey in short yardage, too.

    * Andy Studebaker just didn’t quit on his first sack… – Holding up long enough for the 4-man rush to seal the deal is the hallmark of a sound defense, 4-3 or 3-4.

    * Why not go for it on 4th-and-2 @ midfield? – I think the current O-Line and backfield are counting on getting consistent gains with maneuver and speed, but they don’t yet have the horses to just root, hog, or die. I’m also thinking Haley’s eye is on SD and he’ll pull out all the stops to win that one, including trying to steal a 1st down or two on 4th down. This isn’t about saving something for the playoffs. This is about notching the win in the home opener in front of a national audience.

    * Jackie Battle – I’ve always loved his combination of ball skills and size. If he keeps showing up the way he has been…

    * Samuel’s celebration appeared within the rules. He just did a flex after the hit, and he didn’t do it in McCluster’s face. Hell, as quickly as McCluster bounced up, and headed towards the huddle, Samuels would’ve pulled a hammie trying to get in his face.

    * Bowe seems to get at least an extra yard or two falling forward on every catch – and he’s making the surehanded catch. Looks to me like both WRs are developing some high-percentage “no matter what you do to stop us” threats that will net 6 yards if perfectly defensed, and bust off the big play if not. Again, that’s setting up the double move, later on.

    * … (T)his crowd is ready to erupt. – One of the players was bummed about the boo-birds in the relatively small crowd. I think Sheffield’s injury reminded the crowd of a thing called “sportsmanship.”
  
    * Cassel’s 2nd and goal pass to Jones… – It’s good to see that the Chiefs are forcing defenses to actually defend from sideline to sideline. It looks to me like they’re much more capable of creating space on the short field than they were last year.

    * … Charles went down and was clearly injured… – What’s the injury report? Have I just not reached the relevant headline?

    * Ryan Lilja was called for a hold at the end of the first half – I think we need to see more beef at RG before we’re going to see much success with the drop-back passes.

Announcer Mike Kelly said, “The football placed down inside the five yard line. It is fourth and short here in Kansas City and this crowd is ready to erupt.” Uhh….all 35,000 of them.

Actually, the chop chant was about as loud in this game as I remember hearing it since before Vermeil. That was great to hear!

Brandon Carr’s coverage was stellar all game. I think that is THE reason we had 4 sacks. Flowers shut his side of the field down, and Carr played great the whole game also. I really think if Carr can consistently play solid coverage, not revis coverage or even flowers coverage, we can get to the passer alot easier.

It was what cost the game. The red seemed to have an explanation as why after the first down it stopped and wasn’t running. Should have been able to run a good 30 seconds off.

Coach Haley Is getting hazed by the Refs. ( While Coach Haley was pleading his case for " taunting " )( I could see the Ref. looking @ Coach Haley Like " I might agree with you ; however the Eagles Head Coach A.R. wouldn’t agree with you ! Now let’s play ball . Before the game " The Don Pioli " ; told the announces {{ he will release injury reports @ the apprioprate time ( never during the game .}} Because I have known #25 J.C. all of his life , I was concerned to see him colapsed by that large storage chest on the Chiefs sideline ; forgive me , Don P. for leaking this info. Later in the game ; I saw #25 talking to " The Alpha Dog " #20 ! A least we know who our red zone fullback is #99 D. Lokey !