Arrowheadlines: Chiefs go 2-2 in preseason games

The latest

Green Bay Packers 2-2 in preseason after falling to Kansas City Chiefs 33-21 in finale | Fox 6 Now

The Green Bay Packers finished the preseason with a matchup vs. the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City Thursday, Aug. 30. Heading into this matchup, the Packers were 2-1 in the preseason, losing to the Oakland Raiders Friday, Aug. 25, 13-6. They won vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers 51-34 on Aug. 16, and vs. the Tennessee Titans, 31-17 on Aug. 9.

Chiefs report card: Backups make the grade against Packers in preseason finale | The Wichita Eagle

Player of the game: Byron Pringle, the Kansas State product, caught three passes for 82 yards in the first half, including a 62-yard reception from Matt McGloin to set up a touchdown in the second quarter. He started the second half off by returning a kickoff 47 yards.

There’s meat in these pancakes! The 5 beefiest blocks of the NFL preseason! | SB Nation

The preseason might be a tune up for the starters, but it’s not a tune up for pancake blocks. We saw them all over the field over the first three weeks of the preseason. I have Kyle Long of the Bears, finally healthy and dominating a linebacker on a pull. Chiefs center Mitch Morse got back-to-back knockdowns to start the game against Atlanta. Panthers center Ryan Kalil and left guard Greg Van Roten got a double throw down block on a long run. Finally, we finish with rookie Mike McGlinchey finishing well on pass pro!

The Defining Traits of the Coaching Trees Taking Over the NFL | The Ringer

During Reid’s time as Kansas City’s head coach, the Chiefs’ offensive staff has maintained a dry-erase board affectionately known as the “Beautiful Mind” board. Every Monday throughout the season, the board is blank in Reid’s office, waiting for members of the staff to fill it in with their most outlandish concepts. Some are play designs drawn on napkins or pulled straight from a coach’s mind, never before seen. Others are familiar concepts dressed up in new formations. “We know where the bones are buried [on those plays],” Nagy says, “but we just do it from a different look.”’

This Chiefs player already knows where he stands for opener | The Wichita Eagle

Tight end Demetrius Harris won’t be with the team next week when the regular season opens. Harris will serve a one-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy. He’ll miss the opener on Sept. 9 at the Los Angeles Chargers.

Could Tavon Austin be the Cowboys’ version of Tyreek Hill? | Sports Day

Scruggs: When I see Tyreek Hill of Kansas City I see exactly what I wish Tavon Austin would be for the Cowboys.

Which AFC West team will have a better or worse record in 2018? | The Comeback

Kansas City Chiefs

2017 Record: 10-6

10 wins seems like an achievable amount for the Chiefs this season and them finishing with 11 or more doesn’t seem too crazy of a thought to have either.

Prediction: Better in 2018

2018 Fantasy Football Mock Draft: Final Predictions Before NFL Regular Season | Bleacher Report

Round 1

11. RB Kareem Hunt, KC

Round 3

31. WR Tyreek Hill, KC

34. TE Travis Kelce, KC

Round 4

45. WR Sammy Watkins, KC

Round 12

143. QB Patrick Mahomes, KC

Round 16

188. K Harrison Butker, KC

Around the league

The NFL Is No League For Old Men | FiveThirtyEight

There are certainly high-profile examples of older players still at the top of their game. But even the New England Patriots, who have been witness to the age-defying brilliance of 41-year-old Tom Brady, haven’t stockpiled older players. Brady was joined by only three other Pats players 30 or older who started at least eight games last year: Danny Amendola, Patrick Chung and Devin McCourty. And the Patriots let Amendola leave via free agency to the Dolphins.

Aaron Rodgers: NFL not ready for non-traditional deals | NFL

“I don’t think the NFL is ready for those type of contracts,” Rodgers told reporters, via ESPN’s Rob Demovsky. “There’s language that need[s] to change for those to become more standard, but there just isn’t the movement in that area on franchise side to do contract[s] that allow players to have more of the leverage that NBA players have.

The NFL’s Weak Links: Which Units Could Doom Some of the League’s Top Contenders? | The Ringer

As Michael Crabtree learned the hard way the last two seasons, the chain always breaks at the weakest link. There are plenty of Super Bowl contenders this season with stacked rosters, but the underbellies of their depth charts can be exposed over the course of the season and doom them in the playoffs. Here are the units that could undo some of this year’s top contenders.

NFL’s bad wheel: Hamstrings leave star players in quicksand | ESPN

Barkley leads a growing list of players falling victim to the NFL’s hamstring epidemic. He’s one of nearly 10 Giants to suffer a strain or a tweak or whatever arbitrary euphemism head coaches like to use for the injury.

How NFL players approach their short shelf lives: ‘You’re investing in your body. Sometimes those things are priceless.’ | Chicago Tribune

“We have to remember there’s something about young people that is the same throughout generations across time,” Turner said. “They think they’re invincible and whatever has happened to everybody else is not going to happen to me, and so I’m the exception to the rule.”

There are exceptions, but most players will have a tough time sticking around the league beyond age 30.

2018 NFL Bold Predictions: Steelers’ defense will be the catalyst for a Super Bowl run | CBS Sports

There have been few years during the Ben Roethlisberger era when the Steelersweren’t the favorites to win the AFC North, and beyond that, among the handful of teams that could realistically challenge the Patriots for a chance to represent the conference in the Super Bowl. But the 2018 season could be Pittsburgh’s best chance yet to upend New England and in the process find its way back to the title game for the first time since the 2010 season.

NFL notes: Arbitrator decides Colin Kaepernick grievance case can go to trial | Los Angeles Times

An arbitrator is sending Colin Kaepernick’s grievance with the NFL to trial, denying the league’s request to throw out the quarterback’s claims that owners conspired to keep him out of the league because of his protests of social injustice.

Helmet Rule Will Change the NFL, But Only If the League Can Figure It Out | Bleacher Report

Then the preseason games began and the flags flew abundantly and nigh-randomly. Officials called 51 use-of-helmet penalties in the first two weeks of the preseason, according to Michael David Smith of Pro Football Talk, a rate that extrapolates to 396 new penalties this season. A grand majority of those calls were on defensive players, many of them for routine-looking, not-too-intense tackles.

In case you missed it at Arrowhead Pride

Three offensive players that need to step up for the Chiefs in 2018

Under defensive coordinator Bob Sutton — not to mention special teams coordinator Dave Toub — the Chiefs offense has tended to face shorter fields and fewer opponent points to overcome than most NFL franchises, which has enabled Reid to do more with less on the offensive side of the ball.

Reports: Chiefs trade offensive lineman Parker Ehinger to Cowboys for rookie cornerback Charvarius Ward

According to our sister blog Blogging The Boys, Ward had shown flashes during training camp and preseason, and many believed he would make the final 53 man roster for the Cowboys.

Chiefs beat Packers 33-21 in final preseason game

The Kansas City Chiefs beat the Green Bay Packers 33-21 at Arrowhead Stadiumon Thursday night. After falling behind 24-10 in the second quarter, the Chiefs scored 23 unanswered points to win their final preseason game of 2018, and raise their preseason record to 2-2.

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