Welcome to game day! The Kansas City Chiefs and Tennessee Titans kick it off tonight for the final preseason game at 7:30 p.m.
Let’s jump right into it. We asked Music City Miracles, SB Nation’s Titans blog, to give us three under the radar players to watch tonight. Here’s what they said:
WR Tre McBride- One of the places the Titans roster is still uncertain is at WR. Will they keep 5, 6 or 7? McBride is one of the guys that is on that bubble. He should get a lot of playing time in this game with Corey Davis and Eric Decker still sidelined. Mike Mularkey's biggest criticism of McBride has been his inconsistency. Can McBride change that and make the roster?
RB David Fluellen- Fluellen has been one of the most impressive players in the preseason. He probably has the third running back spot locked up at this point, but he needs to show that he can contribute on special teams to be safe through the waiver process after the cut down to 53.
OLB Kevin Dodd- He might not qualify as under the radar because he was a second round pick last year, but he missed last the majority of the season last year with a foot injury. The Titans really need him to provide pass rushing depth behind Derrick Morgan and Brian Orakpo. Dodd hasn't really shown us that he can do that thus far. A lot of people are really down on him. Can he use this final preseason game to turn that around?
The other thing to watch for tonight is the roster cuts coming on Saturday afternoon. The Chiefs will cut from their current 90 players to the required 53 players by Saturday afternoon. That means a ton of players from the Chiefs will be cut and a ton of players cut from other teams will be available for the Chiefs. This is a big weekend for GM Brett Veach!
The Chiefs will be sitting most or all of their starters so this will be a chance for them to look at everyone from the second team down. There are probably still a couple or a few roster spots still available. With the roster bubble, you’re talking about the final receiver spot (Marcus Kemp? Seantavius Jones?) or the tight ends (Ross Travis or Gavin Escobar?) or the pass rushers (Earl Okine? Marcus Rush?) There are a few spots like that where someone could sneak onto the roster.
Then there are the surprises. The Chiefs will make a surprise cut this year. Did anyone see them trading for OL Cameron Erving or LB Reggie Ragland? I didn’t. The new GM views this roster differently than some of us.
The Titans are playing some starters so this should be good work for the Chiefs. Find the nuts and bolts below...
Nuts and bolts
Location: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri
Game time: Saturday, August 31, 7:30 p.m. (Arrowhead Time)
TV channel: KCTV-5 (Do I get the game?) | NFL Network replay: Sunday, 6:30 a.m.
Online streaming: NFL Game Pass (free 7-day trial)
Radio: 101.1 The Fox (Mitch Holthus and Kendall Gammon*) | Spanish Radio Broadcast: KCZZ 1480 AM (Tico Sports) | Full listings
Matchup history: Bengals lead 15-13
Odds: Chiefs are 3-point favorites
Announcers: Carter Blackburn, Trent Green, BJ Kissel (sideline)
Enemy blog: Music City Miracles
Twitter: @ArrowheadPride
Facebook: Please like us!
*Len Dawson is not calling the games this year but instead doing some pre-taped stuff as well as pregame stuff.
Chiefs 2017 preseason schedule
All Chiefs preseason games are on KCTV-5 locally. Check NFL Network for nationally.
Week 1: 49ers 27 Chiefs 17
Week 2: Chiefs 30 Bengals 12
Week 3: Chiefs 13 Seahawks 26
Week 4: Titans-Chiefs
Thursday, August 31, 7:30 p.m.