Laddie Morse
Before we get into the Chiefs last preseason game against the Chicago Bears, there was some breaking news about Creed Humphrey being signed to a new deal making him the highest paid Center in the NFL:
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It doesn’t take a mathematical genius to tell that Creed Humphrey will make on average as much as $18M per year. While that sounds like a lot of money, it is, especially for a Center. It is also a giant step up in pay raise per year. Here are the top five (previously) paid Centers in the NFL:
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Adapted from overthecap.com – Photo Credit
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There have also been reports that Brett Veach is working on deals for LB Nick Bolton and RG Trey Smith. How he’s going to fit all these contracts under the cap, I’ll never know. And now… on to the last preseason game of 2024….
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It may have been a no-win preseason, but at least we got to see some Chiefs ball out and make the final 53 man roster in the process. Those who were excellent included Jaden Hicks on defense and RB/FB Carson Steele on offense. Steele has become the darling of this preseason and his 31 yard run was the latest in a number of running plays that tell why. Steele had just run the ball for an 18 yard gain when he burst out for a 31 yard run which was called a TD at first then over ruled, to say he was down at the one-yard line. No cause for concern, Steele punched it in on the very next play as you’ll see below. The score was 20-to-7, Chicago, at half-time, but here’s Mitch Holthus and Brett Veach talking about Carson Steele while he was going off (1:47):
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While Carson Steele was doing his thing on Offense, Jaden Hicks was making plays on Defense, #21 (0:21):
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While Jaden Hicks and Carson Steel were the story — for the Chiefs — in the first half, they were by no means the whole story of the game. Here’s what the Half-time Scoreboard looked like:
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The Chiefs had the ball first to start the second half but after only five plays Punted to the Chicago 8 yard line. Ariza had a good game totaling 196 yards for 49.0 yards per Punt average (on 4 Punts) with a long of 59. On that punt I was concerned that Ariza might sometimes out-kick the Chiefs players who were in coverage.
From the 8 yard line Chicago drove 92 yards on 11 plays for a TD. That seemed to be the story of this game. The Bears were able to drive the length of the field at will. Chicago had drives of:
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• 7 plays and a TD
• 10 plays and a FG
• 7 plays and a FG
• INT and a TD
• 11 plays and a TD
• 7 plays and a TD
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While I was on the road home just before halftime, the Bears, Reddy Steward, intercepted the ball and took it to the house (0:34).
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That was the first of two INTs that DB Reddy Steward had in this game (0:23).
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This TD came as the Chiefs were getting ready to punch in their first TD, but QB Chris Oladokun tried to squeeze a pass in where he shouldn’t and Reddy Steward was there to make his first of two INTs.
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Play of the Game
It’s likely the run by Carson Steele (0:16):
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Quote of the Game
The quote this week come to us from Louis Riddick:
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“Jaden Hicks is a f’ing star in the making.”
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I would concur.
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Player of the Game
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Since Jaden Hicks was likely to be kept on the final 53-man roster already, I have to go with Carson Steele. When the odds were against a RB/FB striking while the iron was hot… he did just that and made a name for himself in the process. Voice of the Chiefs on radio, Mitch Holthus, says Carson Steele looks like the lead guitarist for Metallica. If he fails to make good on his newly found success, he’ll at least become preseason lore on lockdown.
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That Which is On the Horizon
With the Chiefs first regular season contest coming up in exactly 13 days from today… all their efforts will go into getting ready for the Baltimore Ravens at Arrowhead on September 5th, three days after Labor Day. First however, is what I call Alchemy Day, which is my fancy name for NFL cut-down day. That’s the day that all teams in the NFL must cut their 90 man rosters down to 53 men. The date and time for that event is 4 days from today on August 27th at 3:00 PM CDT.
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Laddie Morse — ArrowheadOne
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