Chiefs Preseason Game 1: 3-and-out, 11 Plays, 1 TD
Laddie Morse
It took all of 14 plays from scrimmage — the first 14 to be exact — to see that the 2022 version of the Kansas City Chiefs will be a dominant team. I was a pretty happy dancing Kingdom camper when I saw that the Chiefs defense would take the field first, and they came up big.
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• Chicago’s first play, a running play, was stopped by Safety Justin Reid for a two-yard gain at the 36.
• The Bears second play was stopped by LB extraordinaire, Willie Gay, for a two-yard gain at the 38, setting up a 3-and-6. A passing down for sure.
• That’s when DT Chris — Mr. Sackiness — Jones sacked Bears QB Justin Fields for an 8-yard loss.
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While I was betting on the first team for the offense staying on the field for more than one series, I was wrong. Deadly, and happily, wrong. That’s mainly because the offense, and the defense, first series, was such a raging success. Here’s what that first series for Patrick Mahomes and the newfangled offense looked like:
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• Mahomes rolled right and hit FB Michael Burton for 11-yards and a first down.
• Next, Mahomes hit Mecole Hardman for a 9-yard gain
• Then it was Clyde Edwards-Helaire off Right Guard for no gain.
• Next, it was FB Michael Burton off the Right Guard for 4-yards.
• Next, Clyde Edwards-Helaire went off Left Tackle for a 6-yard gain.
• On the 6th play of the drive, Mahomes hit Travis Kelce in the middle of the field for 19 yards.
• Next, Mahomes over threw Marquez Valdes-Scantling — MVS — as he dove across the goal line.
• On the next play, rookie 7th round RB, Isiah Pacheco went off Right Guard for two yards.
• Mahomes went back to MVS for an 11-yard pick up.
• Next, Mahomes hit Pacheco in the right flat, he alluded a tackler and was pushed out of bounds at the five yard line.
• On this eleventh play of the drive, Mahomes threw a 5-yard TD pass to TE Blake Bell who started out blocking, but was majorly uncovered underneath.
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Patrick Mahomes ended his — shorty shorts — day, completing 6-of-7 passing attempts for 60 yards with a TD and a 142.0 Passer rating. Ho-hum, another yawner of a day for him. Hehe!
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That was the end of the story for Patrick Mahomes and most all of the offensive first team.
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Guess what Chiefs new Safety Justin Reid was doing in pre-game warm ups?
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We should also mention that when K.C. scored their second TD later in the first half, they sent out Safety Justin Reid to kick the extra point. Here’s how that turned out:
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Several Reveals
UNO
By re-watching the game on NFL+ it looks like the middle of the Chiefs defense will be a much stronger unit this year. The Bears RBs had to bounce several of their runs to the outside, where they found a little bit of room to run. The running plays that did stay up the middle, were stuffed for very short gains, or no gain at all.
DOS
Also, it looks like WR Justin Watson is making this team. He had a strong showing in this game, had 5 receptions for 46 yards, was the Chiefs leading receiver, and added a TD to his name. If he doesn’t make the Chiefs final cut, he’s making someone else’s team, that’s for dang sure.
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TRES
The Chiefs second first round pick made the most of his snaps.
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QUATRO
Eric Bieniemy and Andy Reid made sure the first 11 plays they called were good ones… without giving too much away of course!
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PLAY OF THE GAME
I’ve been touting Skyy Moore as the Chiefs eventual #1 WR by season’s end… and this play tells me he’s still on pace.
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The halftime score was: Chiefs 14, Bears 0. That’s the score that really matters when it comes right down to it. Did most of us watch to the end of the game before the Bears mounted their comeback and won 19-to-14? Maybe not, but as Andy Reid always likes to say, it gives his players a chance to put some good tape out there for other teams to see. It’s all on tape now.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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