The Kansas City Chiefs are going to lose this preseason game to the Baltimore Ravens. You know that, right? Last week we saw the Chiefs give great effort at practicing their own plays. Unfortunately, they weren't concerned that there was, you know, another team on the field.
The Chiefs clearly treated the first preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a practice and I'm guessing their approach against the Ravens won't be all that different. And, I don't think that approach is so bad.
The Ravens defense is among the most physical in the league. They're aggressive, they're vicious and they can certainly hurt you. That's enough reason for the Chiefs to take it easy on QB Matt Cassel and the rest of the starters. There's no reason to risk one of your stars, like RB Jamaal Charles, by having Ravens NT Terrence Cody drop 350-plus pounds on him. (That video just looks painful)
The Chiefs aren't prepared to run their entire playbook so send Cassel and Co. out there for a series or two to get the game-atmosphere feel back and then send in the backups. Without the full playbook, it's hard to gain much for the starters who know the entire offense.
History says the Chiefs don't care much about the preseason. Todd Haley went 0-4 in his first preseason with the Chiefs and started out 0-3 in his second preseason with the Chiefs. That's part of the reason I'm guessing the Chiefs starters don't play into the second quarter, and why the Chiefs are probably going to lose this game.