Shurmur vs. Litton IV: the Chiefs QBs in the final preseason game

The 27-20 preseason loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night was the last chance for the young undrafted free agent quarterbacks on the Kansas City Chiefs roster to prove that they belong on the Chiefs roster — or practice squad.

Here’s how the two of them performed:

Kyle Shurmur

Shurmur got the entire first half to himself and had some good moments — along with some not-so-good moments. He did well early on, taking the Chiefs 80 yards on 17 plays for a field goal on his first drive. When he had time in the pocket, Shurmur looked comfortable and made clean passes. But when the Packers began to bring pressure, things started to go downhill.

On his next drive, Shurmur was sacked by Tray Matthews and lost the ball. The Chiefs recovered it, but shortly after that the Packers pass rush got to Shurmur again, forcing him to throw a pick-six to Ty Summers. Then a bad handoff from Shurmur caused the Chiefs to turn it over for the third straight drive — which is concerning to say the least.

With five minutes left in the half, Kansas City got an interception of its own, and Shurmur used that opportunity to redeem himself, throwing a clean fade to Jody Fortson for a two-yard touchdown.

Shurmur ended the night completing 14 of 20 passes for 143 yards with a touchdown and an interception. His passer rating for the night was 86.0.

Chase Litton

With the Chiefs down 20-10, Litton played the entire second half of the game — and had his ups-and-downs, too. A couple of offensive penalties cut his first drive short, but he came through on the second drive, engineering a 16 play drive for 68 yards that was capped off with a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Nick Keizer.

The Chiefs forced a turnover on special teams. Even though Litton went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, the Chiefs were in field goal range and tied the game at 20-20.

Litton had put together a ten point comeback, but then his flaws started to show. He showed good pocket presence, but struggled to make accurate medium and deep throws. His lack of accuracy made it hard for the Chiefs to convert on third down, and Litton couldn’t put together another long drive for the rest of the game.

Eventually the Packers scored, and the Chiefs lost 27-20.

Litton ended the game completing 10 out of 17 passes for only 62 yards and a touchdown. His passer rating for the game was 81.5.

Both quarterbacks showed their strengths and weaknesses on Thursday night.

Shurmur looked comfortable in the offense and made decent throws — but when he was put under pressure, he repeatedly turned the ball over. Litton was more careful with the ball — which helped the Chiefs make a comeback — but his accuracy (or lack thereof) killed drives early.

Shurmur had the better passer rating with 86.0 to Litton’s 81.5. If Shurmur already had the advantage in the minds of the Chiefs’ coaching staff, Litton’s performance was unlikely to change that.

But who knows? Maybe Litton bringing the Chiefs back from 10 points down was impressive enough earn him a spot on the team.

We’ll find out sometime before 3 p.m. Saturday, when the Chiefs announce their 53-man roster.