Number of drives: 13 (Last game: 11)

Average starting field position: 31 yard line (Last game: 31 yard line)

Average number of plays per drive: 4.84 (Last game: 6.6)

Average net yards gained per drive: 14.5 (Last game: 31.3)

Average drive time: 2:34 (Last game: 3:06 minutes)

Longest drive: 63 yards (Last game: 60 yards)

Time of possession: 33:25 (Last game: 34:07)

Box score is here.

Let me throw out a touch of good news before we get into the bad. The Kansas City Chiefs have improved quite dramatically over last season in converting third downs. Currently, the Chiefs have converted 43% of their third downs which is a big bump up from the ~30% they hoverered around last year. Why is third down percentage a big deal? Because, almost all of the time, an unconverted third down results in a punt, resulting in the opponent getting the ball. It's sort of a way at looking at turnovers, if you want to bend it like that.

The terrible third down percentage in 2007 was a maddening stat to have to look at each week because it meant the Chiefs weren't even giving themselves enough offensive plays to establish any kind of rhythm.

The passing first downs to rushing first downs ratio is still terribly out of whack- 32 to 17. The teams with a high ratio like that, for the most part, are not good. It has to be tough on Brodie Croyle to be forced to make two-thirds of the team's first downs with his arm. A more even ratio makes your offense more unpredictable in third down and short yardage situations where unpredictability is an even greater asset.

Unfortunately, real life is intruding this morning so I'll have to cut this short. Here are a few articles to tide you over until later today:

Over the Top - Chiefs' TV ratings suffer a major hit

Jonathan Rand - Easier said than done

Mile High Report - Samie Parker released

Don't forget that NFL rosters have to be trimmed to 75 players by today. As usual, we'll be updating you with who's out and if anyone new is in.

Say hello to Jay Feely. H/T to UCrawford in the FanPosts.

Feely (5-10, 206) has played in 112 regular season games with Atlanta (2001-04), the N.Y. Giants (2005-06) and Miami (2007). He has converted 177 of 219 field goals (80.8%) and 249 of 251 PATs (99.2%) for 780 points. He has also appeared in six postseason contests, connecting on eight of 11 FGs (72.7%) and all 12 of his PATs for 36 points.

That makes three kickers on the Kansas City Chiefs roster, as of right now. Neither Nick Novak nor Connor Barth distinguished themselves in the offseason and preseason. And with Novak missing the only field goal attempt during Saturday's game, bringing in a veteran was a no-brainer for the coaching staff.

The roster has to be trimmed to 75 players by tomorrow afternoon so expect either Barth or Novak to get the boot.

Direckshun helped me crystallize my feelings in his post this morning- "The We're Rebuilding! Card is easy to play right here. Well let's face it, it's going to be easy to play all year. But I don't think it adequately explains what happened."

Exactly what I would have loved to say but wasn't able to put into words over the weekend. Yes, I'm more willing than most to forgive indiscretions like Saturday because of the condition of the franchise. But Direckshun is exactly right- that doesn't forgive Saturday's performance and it shouldn't forgive any mistakes that are outside of the realm of "a young, rebuilding team." There aren't any free passes in my mind, only leniency. And that leniency isn't absolute. I may be more patient than most so remember that.

We can't dismiss all of the team's mistakes as ones of a rebuilding franchise and we can't call for the coach's heads after every preseason loss. The correct path, maddeningly, lies somewhere in the middle.

So, for those who have been battling it out on this site, take a second and make sure you're not on either extreme. I know I've reevaluated my stance a bit over the last few days and I feel better for it.

Offensive Line struggles

Let's get something straight. During the 2007 preseason, many fans (and even the coaching staff) simply hoped that the offensive line would come together in some magical way and play as an acceptable unit. I was one of those fans. That better not happen this year. Herm Edwards and his staff need to make doubly sure that the 2007 freak show of an offensive line doesn't show its ugly face in KC anymore. You don't create a massive personnel failure one year and not go freakin' crazy trying to not repeat that same mistake.

Aside from allowing five sacks to an unspectacular Dolphin defensive line, the Kansas City Chiefs offensive line had run blocking issues as well.

With 9:27 left in the third quarter, a Miami penalty gave the Chiefs a first and goal at the Dolphin 3-yard line. After one incomplete pass and two Larry Johnson runs for only two yards, Johnson again was handed the ball and again the offensive line let him down.

Turnover on downs, and for many fans, the television and radios shut off.

The Chiefs ended the game with 90 yards rushing on 25 carries. A meager 3.6 yard per carry average. Larry Johnson's longest runs were thirteen and six yards. Of LJ's thirteen carries in the game, seven of them went for fewer than two yards.

The offensive struggled with the Dolphin pass rush and with securing running lanes for Larry Johnson. From the first quarter to the fourth, from the first team to the third, the Chiefs offensive line did not do its job.

Young run defense shows little progress

I won't spend much time dissecting the play and rotations of the defensive line because, again, these players have only been teammates for three preseason games. I'll give the Dolphins' running game and offensive line respect too. I think Ricky Williams could be really good for a few years and don't forget who the Dolphins drafted #1 overall - Jake Long.

The Dolphins tallied a 5.4 yard per carry average spread over 31 carries. 104 of their 164 yards rushing came in the second half and 80 of those yards came on one play in the third quarter. Aside from that play, the Chiefs run defense got a bit beat up early but ended up neutralizing the Dolphins for the most part on the ground. The performance by Tank, Turk, Dorsey, Boone, Hali and others left a lot to be desired but wasn't nearly as chaotic as the mess on the offensive line.

Brodie Croyle's story doesn't change

12/21, 110 yards. An INT plus a lost fumble didn't help quiet any doubters of Brodie Croyle's ability. But it wasn't all his fault.

He was hurried, sacked, hit and the four or five drops by his receivers didn't help either. Croyle seems to have this ability to always come out about even after a win or a loss. He makes weekly mistakes that are 100% on him and is still held back by his teammates poor play. You can find reasons to both excuse and indict his poor play. He's a wash at this point in the preseason and his career quite frankly. This is purely an objective look and not meant to steer you in one Croyle direction or the other. I really like the guy in fact.

That's all I have for you this morning. This game isn't fun to recall in detail. For those new to the site since the end of last season, when the games are on Sunday, we'll have our game recaps and break downs for you on the following Monday. Stat day is Tuesday and we go from there.

Here are thoughts from a few different places on Saturday night's game. I'm working on a game recap which I'll put up tomorrow morning. Feel free to express your thoughts here and in the FanPosts section.

Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star - Chiefs’ offense, defense and special teams all flounder in loss

Herm Edwards knew that with a young, rebuilding team, the Chiefs would have days like this.

That might be understandable against an established opponent like New England in the regular-season opener or San Diego later in the year.

But the Chiefs weren’t competitive Saturday night against another one of the NFL’s forlorn teams. The Miami Dolphins, 1-15 last season, dominated the Chiefs in every phase, winning 24-0.

Palm Beach Post - Dolphins dominate to complete shutout of Chiefs

No Zach. No J.T. No problem.

A Dolphins' defense without a face or an All-Pro force heading into the season continued to show signs it might be ready to re-establish itself.

Kent Babb of the Kansas City Star - Chiefs linebacker Johnson wants team to get losing out of its system

Derrick Johnson is digging in his travel bag, looking for something to feel good about.

"We lost so much last year," the Chiefs linebacker says, "we don’t want none of that. We don’t want nothing to do with last year."

Saturday night looked a lot like last year. The Chiefs went 4-12 in 2007, ending with nine consecutive losses. Johnson has no trouble remembering that.

More Kent Babb: Not a special night for Chiefs’ Savage, Sams

While the Chiefs searched for answers Saturday night, they instead discovered another big question.

With one game left in this preseason, the Chiefs are 1-2 and clinging to any strength they can muster. Special teams might not be one of them.

Jon Yoon of Home of the Chiefs: The Kansas City Chiefs Suck and That’s a Good Thing

There is no other way to say it: the Chiefs were disgustingly bad in their preseason loss to the Dolphins. The third preseason game is typically the most important. It’s the game where starters tend to play longer, schemes are more true to regular season form, players competing for their jobs tend to play a little bit harder. If this is the closest representation to what we can expect from the Chiefs in 2008, then prepare your vomit bags. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Bob Gretz at The Mothership - No Points Sinks Chiefs In Miami, 24-0

It’s an impossible task to win any football game without being able to erase the pre-game zero on the scoreboard. The Chiefs were reminded of that Saturday at Dolphin Stadium, as they were shut out by the Miami Dolphins 24-0.

The Chiefs offense simply could not sustain any momentum or production throughout the game. Only once did they penetrate the scoring zone against the Dolphins and that possession ended short of the goal line. In fact, the Chiefs got inside Miami’s 45-yard line just two times.

Jeff Darlington at the Miami Herald - Big plays have Dolphins fans cheering again

It took only a tap on the helmet.

That might have been the gesture that mattered most Saturday night, the one Dolphins coach Tony Sparano quietly and subtly delivered to Chad Pennington as the quarterback left the field after a second-quarter touchdown drive at Dolphin Stadium.

Merlin at Arrowhead Addict - Miami Massacre

Wow, that was one extremely ugly performance. There is nothing like getting bitch slapped by a one win team to send everyone to a Jim Jones inspired chug of Kool-Aid. After the dust clears, let’s examine the remains for some clues. To wit, what have we learned?

KCChiefs.com - Chiefs-Dolphins Postgame Quotes

(Did you see this coming at all?) – "No, no, I did not. Because I thought we had a good week, and like I said, the last two weeks, we played halfway decent. And I thought we would do that this week, but it didn’t happen."

Consider me firmly in the camp of "It's only the preseason!" I cannot bring myself to give three presason games enough weight where we're drawing conclusions about what 2008 as a whole will look like. Give me a good chunk of 2008 completed and I'll make some firmer statements about the long term future of some players and coaches.

Saturday's game was still terrible, no matter what your overall perspective is. More to come tomorrow morning.

Where: Dolphins Stadium, Miami Gardens, FL

When: 6:30 PM Central

SBN Affiliate: The Phinsider

Chiefs Blogs: Home of the Chiefs, Arrowhead Addict, BobGretz.com, KC Chiefs Football, Red Zone, The Mothership and KC Chiefs Fanatic. (If I missed your blog, e-mail me and I'll link it.)

Listen online here.

Alright Kansas City Chiefs fans. Today is the third game of the 2008 preseason, meaning we'll get to see the starters play a good chunk of the game.

I'm on a mad scramble to find a place where I can watch this game, considering NFL Sunday Ticket doesn't carry the preseason games so no bar is going to have it. If you know of a place online that is streaming live video of the game (shhh, I won't tell), shoot me an e-mail.

If you haven't been around here on gameday, the auto-refresh comment feature is too cool and makes the game thread virtually a chat room. It's one of my favorite, if not my favorite feature of SB Nation sites.

I'm posting this thread early so get your predictions in for the game before it starts.

GO CHIEFS!!!!

Many thanks to Matt from The Phinsider for taking time out to answer our questions. Check out The Phinsider later tonight or tomorrow for our answers to Matt's questions.

What is Pennington's future role with the team?

Right now, it’s looking more and more like Chad Pennington is here to be the team’s starting quarterback. But we’ll know a lot more about this following Saturday night’s game.

So far, though, everyone in South Florida – fans, media, and coaches – has been impressed with how Pennington has performed. He’s picking up the offense easily. He’s showing his leadership skills, both on the field and off. And he’s beginning to show good chemistry with Ted Ginn, which is a great sign. Perhaps the most important thing that Pennington brings to this offense, though, is confidence. No longer is this team over-matched in clear passing situations. Now they have the most accurate QB to ever play in the NFL on their side.

Long-term, though, Pennington is likely just a "caretaker" until rookie Chad Henne, who has also been impressing people, is ready to take over.

Are Derek Hagan and Ted Ginn Jr. the real deal at WR?

First, let me address the simpler answer. No, Derek Hagan is not the real deal. He’s barely even a "deal." He’s the kind of player who stars in practice but disappears in games, though his consistency catching the ball seems to have improved. Entering his 3rd year now, this is the season Hagan has to show that he’s at least a capable NFL receiver. Personally, I’d feel much better if Hagan was a 3rd or 4th WR, not a starter. But it is what it is, I suppose.

As far as Teddy Ginn goes, let me preface my response by saying this: I’m trying to be as objective as possible here. With that said, Ted Ginn can very easily become a true #1 wide receiver. Those who think he’ll never be anything more than a #2 WR and a solid return man are mistaken. I know, it seems like I’m a homer. But I was thinking the same thing last season that you are now: Ted’s nothing more than a glorified #2 receiver. But I was wrong.

First of all, he catches EVERYTHING. That’s what most surprised me last season. I always wondered about his hands. But he had just 1 dropped ball last year, which is impressive when you consider the kind of "ducks" that he had to catch from these QBs in Miami. Now with a player like Pennington behind center, we are really going to see just how much progress Teddy has made as a receiver. And it’s a lot. He runs much better routes. He’s added a little meat to him so he can take a pounding. And the proof of his improvement from last year to this year can be seen just by watching his performance last week against the Jaguars, when Ginn consistently beat Pro-Bowl CB Rashean Mathis all 1st half long.

Make no mistake about it. Ted Ginn can become a true #1 receiver. He’s going to be a guy who can develop into a 75-85 reception, 1200 yard, and 10 TD player. That probably won’t be this year, but it’s also not too far off. Call me a "homer" if you want, but I’ve never spoken truer words – and I’m 100% shocked that I’m saying this, too.

I’ve heard Jake Long is struggling with speed rushers. Has he shown improvement?

First off, let me say that Jake Long is going to be a Pro-Bowl left tackle at some point in his career. His run-blocking alone is damn impressive. He’s a mauler, really.

With that said, he has struggled at times, more so in practice, against speed rushers off the edge. But the coaches seem to think that it’s more of a "technique" thing than a "talent" thing. So I’m confident he’ll get it corrected. And, in fact, he already has been improving, shutting down speedy edge rusher Quentin Groves last week against the Jaguars. Also, last year against Florida in a bowl game, Long was able to shut down Derrick Harvey, a top 10 pick this year. So I think the potential is there. Jake likely won’t make the impact that Joe Thomas did last year – primarily because Thomas is a better pass protector – but Jake was still the right pick by this team and he’s going to be the cornerstone of this offensive line for the next 10+ years.

Are Fins fans taking to Henne better than Beck? What’s the difference there?

This is probably the most interesting question of them all. And I say that because this Beck vs Henne storyline is one that could be used as a good psychological study.

On one hand you have John Beck. Some still believe in his abilities. Others think he’s absolutely terrible. But the only way to judge him in game situations so far has been in one preseason game (went 5 for 9), and last year’s play – where he was playing as part of the very worst offenses in NFL history. He never had Chris Chambers. He never had Ronnie Brown. And he had Ricky Williams for about one play before he got hurt. So to judge him off of last year’s disaster is unfair.

On the other hand you have Chad Henne, the "hand-picked" QB of the future by Bill Parcells and company. That idea lone has caused many Dolphin fans to jump on his bandwagon. But to his credit, he’s played well this preseason. Of course, Beck played just as well last preseason – perhaps even better (he at least led some TD drives – Henne hasn’t yet). But for some reason, probably the "Parcells factor" being the biggest, fans are taking a liking to Henne over Beck. Basically, Henne is this preseason’s "flavor" while Beck was the hot "flavor" last preseason. That’s why I’m not buying into any of them and will take the "wait and see" approach.

How about their defensive ends, Langford and Merling? OT Shawn Murphy seemed like an incredible reach in round 4 — how’s he looked?

Let me address the latter first. Shawn Murphy has been a disappointment thus far. There’s no doubt about that. But he’s young and could be a factor down the road at the guard spot. Luckily, though, the Dolphins found a true gem in the 6th round that alleviates the disappointment of Murphy. Donald Thomas, a guard out of UCONN, has been the story of training camp. He’s taken hold of the starting right guard spot and hasn’t looked back. Even the defensive veterans are raving about how Thomas has come in and just taken over that RG job. Some people around the league even are saying that Thomas is going to end up being the steal of the draft (can’t find the link right now…sorry).

As far as the two defensive ends go, both have been quite good. Kendall Langford, though, has been especially impressive, being named the starting left defensive end already despite being just a 3rd round pick. But he has 3-4 experience coming out of college, which has set him apart from Merling. But that’s not to say Merling has struggled. He’s likely going to be the top reserve at DE for the Dolphins, only behind Langford and veteran Vonnie Holliday. And the coaches have already said that they are going to rely heavily on a defensive line rotation, meaning Merling is going to see a lot of action this year.

But when you look at this draft as a whole, it’s the best one Miami has had in a long, long time. They have potentially picked up 5 future starters (Long, Merling, Henne, Langford, and Thomas), with 3 of them likely starting week one against the Jets. And they may have hit on an undrafted WR out of Hawaii named Davone Bess, who is likely going to be at least the team’s 4th WR, and is even penciled in as the "starting" slot receiver right now. Not too bad for a team that was desperate for a solid draft.

• D Bowe lets us know he's ready for Miami in the above video from Yardbarker. Only Bowe can give himself two ridiculous nicknames - The Show and Mr. Awesome. H/T AA


• The Phinsider fills us in on what to watch for from a Dolphins perspective tomorrow. With Ronnie Brown sitting out, Ricky Williams at the top of the RB depth chart and former Kansas City Chief Boomer Grigsby starting at fullback, the first few quarters of this game should be interesting.


• What is the one thing Larry Johnson would not give up for a Super Bowl ring? Papa Johns.


• If you want to get caught up with your Dolphins news so you can sound extra smart this Saturday while watching the game, Dolphins in Depth is a good place to start.


• We'll be exchanging questions with The Phinsider later today, so make sure you get yours in as soon as possible.


• Here's a good article from Clark Judge about Gene Upshaw's legacy and what his eventual successor should take from it.


• Former Chief kicker Lawrence Tynes is undergoing knee surgery.

Remember that tomorrow's game is at 6:30 PM Central time, which is a bit earlier than you may have expected. Or at least earlier than I expected. We'll be rounding up the latest news today as well as getting our questions together for The Phinsider. Matt does a heckuva job over there and his work is definitely worth a look. Heck of a community over there too.

Jump down a few posts after this one and make sure you read Direckshun's latest. I've read it through three times now and can't help but crack a smile each time.

Oh, I finally signed up for Facebook yesterday afternoon. I'm already scared of the time wasting possibilities of it. I also feel bad for some of my friends who have obviously spent a lot of time on their profiles. But then again, I'm sure they feel bad for me when they see how much time I've spent on AP.

I'm so glad I finally have an accurate count of who my friends are.

A couple of weeks ago, a reader e-mailed me asking about putting together an Arrowhead Stadium gameday guide, especially for fans who are traveling in from outside of the Kansas City area.

He had an excellent idea. The majority of the people who read AP do not live in Kansas City and when you do travel to Arrowhead for that special game, you want things to go right. You want the full Arrowhead/Kansas City Chiefs experience.

Of course, there isn't one magical experience, which is what makes Arrowhead the best stadium on the planet. There are thousands of awesome rituals and experiences on gameday.

I haven't been lucky enough to go to as many games as I've wanted over the years but I do have a few gameday requirements. First, because I would always travel from the west to the east to get to the stadium, I'm taking the shortcut down Coal Mine Rd (which is off of Blue Parkway) and sneaking in past all of the traffic.

Second, and we haven't had a good BBQ war on this site in a long time, is to get Oklahoma Joe's BBQ before I left. The Z-Man sandwich - a brisket sandwich with provolone cheese and an onion ring on it - is the best BBQ sandwich I've come across in my life.

After getting to the stadium, I can't say I'm much help for entertainment.

This is where you guys come in. Let us know you gameday rituals, experiences and advice for the out of towner. We'll eventually put this all into some sort of guide with all of your recommendations.

If you were making a special trip to Kansas City to see the Chiefs, what would you have to do?