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Welcome to the all important third preseason game where the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Minnesota Vikings. Besides this being an important football game because the Chiefs starters will play a lot more, it also marks the return of former Chiefs QB Matt Cassel to Arrowhead Stadium. Cassel left the Chiefs after the 2012 season and joined the Vikings where he is on his way to securing a starting job while fighting off rookie Teddy Bridgewater.
Will Cassel get booed by Chiefs fans? Probably.
The Chiefs starters, including Alex Smith, are expected to play into the third quarter on Saturday night against the Vikings. From there, it's expected that Tyler Bray will come in and finish off the game. Last week, Smith played the entire first half followed by Chase Daniel for one series in the third quarter and then Aaron Murray for the rest of the game. So it's not expected that the Chiefs will play Daniel and Murray as much (if at all) in this game.
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Must Reads
The Chiefs recently traded guard Rishaw Johnson to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for safety Kelcie McCray. It seems unlikely McCray would be able to play in this game so quickly but we'll see how the Chiefs handle it.
The Chiefs have injuries to be concerned about in this game. Jamaal Charles, Dwayne Bowe and Eric Berry have all missed practices due to injury this week. Charles was working with the scout team at practice on Thursday which doesn't sound like a team getting ready for him to play. Meanwhile, Bowe has a quad injury suffered in last week's game against the Carolina Panthers and Eric Berry has been dealing with a heel injury that has kept him out of both preseason games to this point.
Unfortunately for the Chiefs run defense, they won't be facing Adrian Peterson, who will not play in this game. Peterson is one of the NFL's top running backs so it would've been nice for the Chiefs to see some work against him. Another player we won't be seeing is former Chief Jared Allen, who left the Vikings this offseason after six years in Minnesota. He's now with the Chicago Bears.
Must Reads
Must Reads
The thing I want to see the most in this game is Travis Kelce taking another one to the house. He went 69 yards for the score in the Chiefs first game against the Cincinnati Bengals and then again for 43 yards last week against the Panthers.
Information on how to watch, listen or stream the game is below.
Important links: Chiefs depth chart | Roster | 53-man prediction
Game time: Saturday, August 23, 7 p.m. (Arrowhead Time)
Parking lot gates open: 2:30 p.m.
Stadium gates open: 5:30 p.m.
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
TV channel: CBS (Do I get the game?) | NFL Network re-air: Monday, 9 a.m.
Radio: 101.1 The Fox (Mitch Holthus and Len Dawson) | Full listings
Online streaming: NFL preseason live | Verizon subscribers can watch games live with the NFL Mobile app (subscription required) | NFL Game Pass offers live online broadcasts to users outside the USA.
Announcers: Paul Burmeister, Trent Green, BJ Kissel (sideline), Rachel Santschi (sideline)
Injury report: There are several big names who may not play, including Dwayne Bowe (quad), Jamaal Charles (foot) and Eric Berry (heel). Junior Hemingway has also missed practice time recently. Mike DeVito has been dealing with a broken hand. Joe Mays recently had wrist surgery. The Chiefs won't release an official injury report but they will likely announce who is and isn't dressing shortly before the game.
Odds: Chiefs are 3.5-point favorites
Prediction: Chiefs win 24-17.
Matchup history: Chiefs lead 1-0 (Super Bowls); Chiefs lead 7-4 (regular season); Vikings lead 8-7 (preseason).
Enemy blog: Daily Norseman | 5 questions
Twitter: @ArrowheadPride
Facebook: Please like me.
Chiefs Preseason schedule
Week 1: Cincinnati Bengals (Chiefs win 41-39)
Week 2: at Carolina Panthers (Chiefs lose 28-16)
Week 3: Minnesota Vikings (Aug. 23, 7 p.m., KCTV-5)
Week 4: at Green Bay Packers (Aug. 28, 6 p.m., KCTV-5)
Editor's Note: SB Nation's partner FanDuel is hosting a $1,000,000 Fantasy Football Contest for Week 1's NFL games. It's only $25 to join and first place wins $100,000. Starts Sunday, September 7th at 1pm ET. Here's the link.