The Annual Crystal Ball Game

I noticed this pattern better than a year ago: that Kansas City Chiefs like to use the 3rd game of the preseason to test-pilot their regular season lineup by playing their starters well into the third quarter. I’ve seen where NFL.com tabs this game as a “Dress Rehearsal” but a year ago, while writing for ArrowheadAddict, I coined this, “The Crystal Ball Game.” While there’s been a lot of talk recently about the need for fans to not over-react to the outcome or quality of preseason games, it’s time get your grandma up and have her watch this game with you… cause this one will matter… for at least the first half. Then you can let her go back to knitting the dog sweaters.

The Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has a hankering for “hammock-ing” his veteran players for much of the preseason, and even more so, the last game of the preseason. He does this, presumably, to rest his vets for the week prior to the beginning of the regular season to protect them from injury. It appears he may also be sitting his experienced players so that he can get one good last look at those players who are not so experienced with the impending NFL deadline for cutting the roster down to 53 players approximately 42 hours following their final preseason game at Lambeau Field against the Packers which will be played on the evening of September 1st… and that game is now only 8 days away.

Watching the team perform as a first team unit in the Crystal Ball game tomorrow may assist general manager John Dorsey in his final evaluation of team-needs going into the season… and more importantly, going into cut-down day when other teams will not only be releasing quality players worth signing but announcing who will be placed on each team’s practice squad, making those players available to be signed by Dorsey to the Chiefs 53 man roster… as we know he’s done in the past three seasons.

So, a final evaluation in weeks 3 and 4 of the preseason is critical but if I had to choose one game that was more important of the two… it would be the Crystal Ball game, preseason game number three tomorrow at noon.

Having said all that… and while it may be true for the offense this year… there may be but few starting defensive backs invited to the Crystal Ball game. It’s not that their invitations got lost in with the carrier pigeon’s droppings… the King (Reid) just refuses to write out those invitations until he knows exactly who he can trust to guard the castle. Okay, okay… enough of the metaphor (or was that a simile?). Both Andy Reid and DC Bob Sutton will likely still be in search-and-fine-tune mode with any defensive players (on the back end) who can do their job right… or efficiently. Consequently, we may still see Phillip Gaines being held out of the game (although I’ve heard he’s supposed to give it a go) and not as much because Andy Reid says he needs more time to “feel right” but because they know what they can count on with Gaines and they don’t know what they can count on with guys like D.J. White, KeiVarae Russell and… most other defensive backs and linebackers not named D.J. or Peters. Developmentally speaking… these guys all need more reps and so it’s very likely we’ll see a mish-mash of DBs and LBs in the Crystal Ball match-up.

The Crystal Ball game comes down to a conversation about the Chiefs offensive players… because, as I mentioned above, I believe there are too many unknown, or moving pieces, on defense for Sutton to trot out his best 11 at this point (besides, the players sitting out include, Tamba Hali, Phillip Gaines most likely, Eric Berry obviously and Josh Mauga, all important starters… not to mention Justin Houston). While you will gain no insight in this game about what play-calling will be like during the regular season, this game should be inform us about the Chiefs regular season line-ups. So, here’s what to watch for:

Number One– the starters today will in all likelihood indicate who the starters will be… to a 99% solution… in the first regular season game.  The play featured in “Anatomy of a Touchdown” by Jason Seibel on Wednesday displayed what is likely to be the starting line-up for the Chiefs come opening day on September 11th vs the San Diego Chargers. I’d go along with that idea even if Jamaal Charles is available and considered 100%. I think JC will be fine “coming off the bench” in the first few games but after that he’ll probably take over his spot as the RB “Supreme Being” fixture that he’s been for quite some time.

Number Two– there will probably to be a “Thrill Moment” to capture the fans imaginations. It’s simple math, as many games are lost every season… as there are games that are won. Not only that but I hope you won’t find it superfluous for me to say, “Only one team wins the last game of the season.” The Point? Simple, many times it is not the victory which is the “Thrill Moment”… although that’s what we’re all hoping for… but we’re also all hoping for that one memorable play to take away from the game. The “Entertainment Highlight of the Day.”

Such as… the TD down the seam (which Jason Seibel highlighted for us this week)… or the De’Anthony Thomas punt return for a TD (two preseasons ago)… or a Knile Davis playoff kick return for a TD (in Houston). Yes, to me… most memorable moments are connected to TDs. I rarely (probably never) recall a Field Goal as that pinnacle moment in a game. Just think back to all the Super Bowl moments and there’s only Scott Norwood’s wide-right missed field goal (which turned Bill Parcels into a legend)… which I recall as a FG highlight. Even then, it should be called a “Lowlight”… unless you’re a N.Y. Giants fan.

The Crystal Ball game hopefully will give us at least one of those TD moments to inform us that everything is progressing as it should in the Chiefs-Base-Camp.

Number Three– the Crystal Ball game is as close as it comes to simulating the whole regular season game atmosphere including tailgating. From my own piece a few years back called, “The Seven Meanings of Highly Meaningless Games” (don’t you just love it when writer’s quote themselves? In fact, I’ve never done it before, and I like it!),

“Football without tailgating is like the Grand Canyon without colors, the Ludwig von Beethoven Symphony #7 without instruments, the President of the United States without a good health care reform policy (oh, wait a second, we do know what that’s like, never mind).

You see, the game of football without tailgating is like … the game of football without tailgating. I know, I just used an example of what it would be like with an example that was exactly like what I was describing but, it seems to be the only clear way to communicate exactly how that feels.”

 — Yes, I oftenly often do spend too much standing time standing in line at the Department of Redundancy Department.– (How do ya like them apples?)

So, it’s necessary to emphasize that the Chiefs last really meaningful game is this one today: meaningful to the regular season, that is. Of course, if there’s any meaning to be found in the 4th preseason game it centers around, “The Last (First) Cut is the Deepest” and “Bubble Popping.” To borrow from Baron Von Bubble himself, Lawrence Welk, “Ah wunerful, ah wunerful.”

Please tune back in tomorrow morning, before game time, for a breakdown on the “Chicago Bears Match-up, Plus Game Thread.” See ya then!