FIRST QUARTER
The man who took one of the most famous hits in the history of preseason, Trent Green, says at the top of the Chiefs broadcasts that one of the things the QBs look forward to in the first preseason game is... taking a hit. Yeah, just keep it above the knees, though, huh? If that wasn't enough of a reminder of August 1999, tonight's scoreboard sponsor: Hy-Vee.
And about 50 yards into KC's first drive, Green gets to report on a penalty on Dan Williams of the Big Dead for hitting Matt Cassel late, below the knees (though not very dirty). He does not mention August 1999, however.
The Chiefs put together a 7-minute, 70-yard drive their first possession and take a 7-0 lead. Their whole drive was exploitation of Sam Acho overplaying for pass rush. Several nice runs right through holes Acho left overpursuing. Chiefs ran well left and right, especially left, running at Acho and Calais Campbell. Arizona looked very vanilla other than Acho nearly getting to Cassel on an early stunt. Hillis scores the TD when Cassel calmly floats a pass over the madly-rushing Acho for a 12-yard TD. A neat play on that drive: 4th-and-1 across midfield, the Chiefs line up tight, then split into a 4-receiver, empty backfield set, then sneak Cassel up the middle for the first down when Arizona has to let up and account for the outside threats. Chiefs 7, Big Dead 0
John Skelton starts, looks calm in the pocket and hits Andre Roberts a couple of times, but good for only one first down before Derrick Johnson forces a punt by stuffing LaRod Stephens-Howling in the backfield on 3rd-and-1. Chiefs not very vanilla at the start, blitzing effectively and Arizona having a little early trouble with it.
Chiefs take barely three minutes to tack on their 2nd TD, and the Cardinals are just not an effective defense when they don't blitz, which they still haven't done, much against their regular-season character. Without the extra blitz pressure, the Cardinal D has no one winning 1-on-1 and no pocket push. They can't stop the short passing game or the play-action deep game. One of KC's big plays is a play-action bomb to Dexter McCluster for 35ish inside the 5. No pressure at all. Hillis set that up with a 28-yard run off right guard, and someone named "Shaun Draughn," which I bet is actually a made-up name, scored the 4-yard TD around right end. Both runs went through pitiful tackle attempts by Darryl Washington. Big Dead getting nothing from their front seven early, and the LBs are about invisible. Chiefs 14-0
And, just what the Cardinals need, a 3-and-out. Lyle Sendlein gets beaten badly for the second time run-blocking to start the drive off with another loss for LRSH. Skelton has enough time to unload on 3rd-and-11, but gets sacked when Adam Snyder fails to pick up Derrick Johnson red-dogging. The Cardinals, from one end of the roster to the other, are playing like a very soft team right now, one that's not going to win a lot of games.
Dream game for Cassel: two easy TD drives and the rest of the night off. Brady Quinn in as replacement. The main thing stopping the next drive was the replacement referees' failure to call a penalty for Adrian Wilson's dirty hit on Terrance Copper, launching into him when he was in a vulnerable position, clearly couldn't have caught the ball and clearly with plenty of time to pull up. Should have been 15. Chiefs continue to run successfully at Acho, though.
SECOND QUARTER
Skelton gets Arizona to midfield with a couple of completions to Larry Fitzgerald, but they go backward on a hold, then on 3rd-and-14, Skelton goes to the well once too often. Tamba Hali beats LT Levi Brown fairly easily to flush Skelton forward, and he looks for Fitzgerald again, deep and double-covered, and Abram Elam picks him off. Long return sets the Chiefs back up at the AZ37.
After a DPI of the "let 'em play" variety on William Gay puts the Chiefs inside the 5, the Cardinals do a couple of things for the first time all night. Their LBs finally show up as Wilson and Stewart Bradley stuff a run. Acho then stays home for the first time all night and blows up a Quinn bootleg. Great call by KC, but Acho finally did his job properly. O'Brien Schofield beats the backup RT with ease on a blitz and hits Quinn as he throws on 3rd down. Drive ends with a chip shot FG. Chiefs 17-0
Kevin Kolb enters the game behind the starting o-line, but not with the starting receivers. DeMarco Sampson goes 1-for-2 catching back-shoulder throws to get Arizona to midfield. Blitzing shuts Arizona down from there. Cameron Sheffield beats poor-blocking TE Rob Housler to sack Kolb and Kolb's flushed on third-and-long and has to fire out of bounds.
Strong running by Droughn and a completion to Steve "Saturday Night Fever" Maneri put the Chiefs quickly across midfield, but a hold on rookie Donald Stephenson bogs them down and forces a punt that splashes down in the end zone. Good thing they tried that stupid draw play on 3rd-and-12, huh? Why not try for about half of that and see what you can do in a 4th-and-6 situation, or try a long FG?
Kolb's earned a lot of criticism, but on this 4-and-punt drive, he's largely hurt because he's working with scrub receivers who can't get open. Jeremy Bridges gets beaten a couple of times for late pressures that force throwaways, but Kolb's not exactly throwing to Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin out there. Haven't seen or heard a peep out of Michael Floyd, btw; not sure why.
The Chiefs' 2:00 drive burns up after they get to midfield. Cardinal blitzing starts to throw off Quinn's timing, and he's rushed into throwing a high pass that goes through both of Devon Wylie's hands and is picked off by Rashad Johnson.
Hmm, maybe Ryan Lindley should be the Big Dead's starting QB. It takes him less than 30 seconds to get the Cardinals into FG position, with a couple of long completions to very big LaRon Byrd. Jay Feely puts Arizona on the board to end the half. Chiefs 17-3
Skelton earns the lead in the starting QB "battle" from this game, but it's not like Kolb had a level playing field.
THIRD QUARTER
Just an observation, and though we have a lot of well-earned doubts here in Rams Nation, from the two Chiefs games I've seen, the Rams' offensive line play is clearly better than Arizona's. That's been a problem in games between the Rams and Big Dead in recent years.
The Thin Man, William Powell, opens the second half by changing directions in a clogged-up backfield and sprinting away around left end for a 65-yard gain. Trent Green said the safety got sucked in there. A Lindley scramble keeps the Big Dead alive... wait a minute there... inside the 2. Powell ulitmately scores on a shotgun handoff on 4th-and-goal from the 5. The Chiefs did stop a couple of goal-line passes to Floyd. Chiefs 17-10
Maneri boogies for an initial first down after stealing a ball from Colin Parker, but Ronald Talley and others blow up the Chief backfield on 3rd-and-1 near midfield to force a punt. Scott Pioli visibly unhappy with that play in the broadcast booth. At least somebody's taking scrub-a-palooza seriously.
I'm no longer sure Lindley is. He fires three straight passes nowhere near his receivers, sometimes nowhere near anybody. Wylie gets a big seam to return the punt around left end, and gains another 15 on Floyd's blatant facemask penalty. Yes, the Cardinals have their first round pick defending punts. And poorly.
Pretty good field position for KC: the Big Dead 14. After Cyrus Gray pounds out 8 yards on 2 carries, the Chiefs, of course, pass, and Jamar Newsome can't stay in bounds with a slightly-overthrown fade pass from new QB Ricky Stanzi. Wisely working to prevent a tie, Romeo Crennel sends the FG team in, successfully. Chiefs 20-10
Powell gets most of the yards to get Arizona out to midfield before new QB Richard Bartel's protection has too many breakdowns. Jerrell Powe runs right over Scott Wedgie, um, Wedige, for a sack, then Bartel tries to scramble away from a safety blitz, flubs the ball away over his head while attempting to throw, and Donald Washington recovers the loose ball for KC. Refs originally ruled incomplete pass, but Crennel challenged and the call was overturned.
More good field position for Jeff Spicoli, er, Stanzi, just across midfield. Maneri ends the quarter with a 25-yard gain on a corner route. Stayin' alive, indeed.
FOURTH QUARTER
Stanzi scrambles down to the seven, then Cyrus Gray makes another of several nice runs he's made tonight, bolting right up the middle for the TD. Chiefs 27-10
Cardinals 3-and-out next, with Edgar Jones sacking Bartel on a Chiefs jail break on 3rd down.
Followed by a Chiefs three-and-out. Gray loses big yards after dropping a pitchout, and Stanzi overthrows a deep receiver by a mile on 3rd down.
Bartel hangs in the pocket well, hits Isaiah Williams for 25, gets John Skelton's brother Steve killed on a middle route, survives another fumble under pressure, and ultimately hits Jaymar Johnson over the middle for an 18-yard TD to complete a 60-yard drive. The TD didn't help Johnson; he didn't make the cutdown to 75. Chiefs 27-17
Gray continues to run well, but he's about the only functioning part of the Chief offense at this point in the game. Stanzi is 1-for-6. More 3-and-out "action".
If I hang my head in eternal shame for wanting the Rams to draft Mississippi tackle Bobby Massie, what about the draft "experts" like Charlie Casserly who thought the Rams should use a second-round pick on him? A blocking dummy would be more effective at tackle than this guy, and he's going against players the Chiefs are going to cut. Massey gets whipped on a jailbreak on first down, gets Bartel sacked, downhill from there. On a second-down run play, he got knocked ten feet off the line. In two games, Massey hasn't even looked like a draftable talent, let alone a second-rounder.
Stanzi completes a pass to Jake O'Connell to get his passer rating up to probably 50. The Chiefs celebrate that by kneeling out the clock.
Final score: Chiefs 27, Big Dead 17
Postgame show:
What have we learned: Arizona's a completely different, and completely bad, defense when they don't blitz. Still, any team watching this game would be foolish not to run frequently at Sam Acho. Football games are won in the trenches. The Rams are as good or better on both lines than Arizona, and run an offense like the one the Chiefs carved the Big Dead up with in this game. This is still a team the Rams can beat. The Cardinal o-line is downright soft in the middle, and they have no quality depth. They will look better when Skelton's settled in as the likely starter, Fitzgerald's on the field every play and their RBs are healthy. But this is a very flawed team that didn't do a good job addressing its problems in the offseason. The real Chiefs are closer to the team that played Arizona than the one that played the Rams. They committed to the run more, but mixed runs and passes very well, and were not vanilla on defense. AFC West should be a four-team dogfight this year.
Player of the game: goes to Peyton Hillis for scoring the first TD and having the big run that led to the second. Plus, I can't give every POTG to a QB this season, sorry, Matt Cassel. Also, kudos to Chiefs OC Brian Daboll for a very well-called game.
Up next: Rams-Cowboys week 3, then I'll circle back to the NFC West week 2 action with 49ers-Texans.
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