A.A.D.Q.: Your Players Of The Game

Sean, be cool. I wasn't saying Kuale looked like an All-Pro but he certainly didn't look "terrible". He overran one play, which I stated, but was also around the ball a ton, got to the holes quicker than the other LBs (which is how he overran one) and made a couple of huge hits. One on a kickoff or punt, I don't recall. He tied for leading tackler of the game, so I wouldn't say that is terrible. Just curious, what is you experience with evaluating linebackers?

We could realistically get a 4th-5th for Kolby, especially if he gets some touches in the upcoming games, and some teams get into dire straights with their RB situations. Have you even heard of our FB, Manderino? This game was the first time I'd heard of him. One thing I thought about was moving Battle (who ran hard at the end of last year, when he had playing time, and who is big and strong) to FB, where he would be of more use than he currently is. If we didn't keep Manderino, that'd give us 2 FB's, 4 RB's. We could realistically keep that amount. Although most likely we'll only have 1 FB.

I really like Savage. I thought he would be too small to amount to much, but he impressed me. He ran hard, even right up the gut against the 'fatties'. And he has the speed that would make him an asset on special teams/limited carrying opportunities. On the one return, it looked like he spun the wrong direction (or may have been forced to spin in that direction) and collided with a Bear. If he had gotten a spin off in the other direction, he had more open field to eat up. I like seeing chances at an all-the-way return, especially after all we saw last year was Drummond getting swallowed up by non red/gold jerseys within 5 yards.

My players of the game: Lineman/Skill player/ST player.

Offense: Niswanger. For not having significant experience, he played nicely. Gotta go with Savage, he looked good, at least to me. For special teams, I'll go with Colquitt. Good punting, especially against a highly feared returner in Hester. Nice job.

Defense: Turk. I saw him in on many a play, and he even chased down the QB a few times. He wasn't spectacular, but he wasn't horrid either. 'Missile' Morgan, chasing down Wolfe impressed me, I know Wolfe is fast, and even on an angle, he covered ground quickly, and tried to strip the ball, while still wrapping him up nicely. He was also in on countless plays, he looked good. And for ST defense, I'll go with Pollard. We've all seen Pollard block a few punts in his day, and he came very close on two occasions versus the Bears, who have a highly-praised Special Teams. If he can work on his technique/speed, or get a slightly better jump off the ball, we're in for a lot more fireworks this year from our ST unit.

1. LJ

2. Charles

3. Savage

4. Kolby

5. Battle

Savage really impressed me.

No way we should deal Kolby for less than the 5 pick we used on him. And now, after the way he filled in last year for LJ, he's a proven commodity. I have him third on the depth chart because LJ/Charles makes the best 1/2 punch in terms of contrasting styles. But if LJ were to go down again... I'd move Kolby to the starting slot and leave Charles in the change of pace role. Kolby is a too serious a talent to let go of.

That said, Steven Jackson's holdout looks to be a longterm one, and St Louis might give us a 2nd or 3rd for Kolby.

If we take a late round pick for any of our backs, it should be either Savage or Battle as they're both a tad undersized, and they both free agent signings. Chances are our brain trust can find that kind of talent again in the future.

No matter what, it's a clusterF@#k at RB. Right now I like ALL of them. Currently I have them rated: 1) LJ, 2a) Kolby, 2b) Charles, 3) Battle, 4) Savage. I don't see how we can keep more than 4 of them and then one of them is going to have to play special teams and rotate on/off the practice squad as need requires. Whichever one we let go of we need to get value for. A 6th or 7th pick for either Battle or Savage when we signed them as FA would be cool.

Rihavens, how in the hell was Savage a disappointment? He got great yardage, made a few just plain great plays, and pounded the rock for a decent average straight up the gut, at 5'8 182 lbs. The dude's a beast, did you not see him straight up bullrush his own blocker, #10, Arthur, out on the right side? He didn't care who was in his way, he blasted them. Savage was a little ball of fury... Savage, you could say. Rofl. Such a great name for an RB, and an NFL player in general. He also didn't look horrible on returns, with more practice, he could be our Darren Sproles. If we had to keep only 3 HB's right this minute, I'd feel confident with LJ/J. Charles/Savage. I even like Kolby Smith, and have defended him, but pssh. If the injury bug comes to any of the teams during this pre-season, we may be able to pack Kolby away for a late round pick. It's a bit hasty to send him packing after seeing Savage once, but the dude's a beast.

Rihavens, I think we all have man crushes on the Catching Cousins (D-Bo & Sippio)!!

larry, good to see you're back--football is finally here! I did see Surtain giving a lot of cushion. He was also a tad slow on his breaks. His days are numbered.

Been a while but thought I would weigh in. All the comments are spot on. One observation that may have gone unnoticed: Did anyone catch the coverage of Surtain during the first couple of defensive series? Couple of Chicago's first downs we made at the stick while he was 5 to 10 yds off the reciever. I don't know if it was the scheme or a possible misread, but definitely raised a flag in my mind.

No love for Jamal Charles?

I would have to say Croyle, Sippio (I have a huge man crush on this guy) and Charles where the players on the offence.

Biggest offence disapontment? Thats a tossup between Savage and PigPen.

Defence - I am giving the entire 1st string props. They made some good goal line stands against the Bears.

And the entire 3rd string offence? WTH?

shmuck, EJ Kuale is #52, right? He was terrible!

POG

O 1st half - Brodie Croyle
D 1st Half - Derrick Johnson

O 2nd half - Dantrell Savage
D 2nd half - E.J. Kuale

Pleasant surprises - Well I guess my second half guys pretty much are that. Kuale had one terrible overrun/misread but was around the ball a ton and hit like a truck. Cottam looked great. Cox impressed at FB.

Disappointments - D Line pass rush. Reed isn't going to cut it in pass rush, and Johnston did nothing to make me believe he'll make the team, let alone the be the next JA. Tank needs to step it up, although he faced a ton of double teams.

O - Jackie Battle was outshined by Charles and Savage, who are much more explosive, faster, more natural RBs. They should be ahead of him on the depth chart.

I think some of you are being too rough on Thigpen here. He has the right athleticism for the bootleg passing offense that Chan is running. He made a few bad decisions, a couple of bad throws (but those might have been bad routes by the receivers), but overall I thought he managed things decently. He showed some promise, and some poise on that last drive in getting the game winner to Sippio (sippio earned his roster spot last night). Personally, I think we have a potential Romo-type in Thigpen. Let him get significant snaps in the preseason to learn the speed of the game and grow into the role and he will turn into a potential starter.

Nice Red Dragon! LOL...
"DUSTIN COLQUITT - Are you serious? Brad Maynard is one of the top punters in the league and you made him look like a novelty act at a child’s birthday party."

and to that I touche!

My players of the game are: Croyle, DJ, Cottam, and I thought all of the WR's played pretty well.

Hey, it's just preseason, but Chiefs 1-0, Patriots 0-1. lol... yeah, I know.

http://www.kcchiefsfootball.com

sorry, here's the link to that Brian Waters quote: http://www.cjonline.com/stories/080808/chi_315641383.shtml

Brian Waters Quote: "This is not the same offense as a year ago," the three-time Pro Bowl guard said. "We overcame a lot of long downs on that touchdown drive. Today you saw a much more confident quarterback than we saw last year."

He's right. The offense coverted FIVE third downs on that opening drive, at least two of them after silly mistakes put them in long yardage 3rd downs.

Offensive POG - Croyle, Taylor, All wide receivers
Defensive POG - DJ....that guy has some vision and can flat move, if we can get the rest of the linebackers anywhere near his level, we are going to have some gamers!
Special Teams - BAAAARTH....that field goal was a thing of beauty....I could get use to that.

Other thoughts.
Seriously, I know we don't have alot of big names, but there are some football players at the WR position on this team. The Show, The Helicopter, Darling (although catchless), Sippio, Price showed up alot, I don't think I saw a pass put on the money that was dropped by anyone. The second thing about them is they are HUGE, when one of them makes a catch he is good for another 3 most times at least. Plus you add Charles, Cottam, Tony G, Mike Cox, who can all catch the football...there are alot of passing options on this team. Consider me not worried about our passing game. Cottam, while big and can move, didn't impress me with his agility, if he improves on that a little in the next years, I think we mighta found a keeper!

The O-Line, while not impressive, held together pretty well. Old Herb looked good, and I would love to see the push to move him to guard when Albert is back, jones to me was the weak spot. LJ, while not pissed off looking, I think got some rust off this game. He said himself there were some nerves, and he made some nice cutbacks when the line sealed down and got us some yards. I bet by game 4 he looks alot better, but I can't say I'm disappointed with this performance in his first game back. We have some weapons at running back as well. Savage for whatever reason didn't really impress me. I liked Battle and LJ banging it up and then the changeup with charles. Would be nice to keep LJ Smith (assuming he is the same after injury) battle and Charles, but we will see.

Things I didn't like were linebackers and secondary. I know the talent is there, and while Flowers, Morgan, and Carr played and did make some plays, most of the time when I watched them they seemed tentative. But again, thats what the preseason is for, get that out of the way guys and bring the wood. If they could bring some of that swagger they had in college as the season moves on we will have something, but I am unimpressed as now.

Linebackers has me worried. I think with guns style though and everything he is asking of them, everyone except DJ is thinking their way through the game instead of reacting. Hopefully that will change as time continues.

All in all, good first game, nice to get the win. I am happy with Huard and Thigpen. Thigpen has a way to go, but he can play in this offense I think.

The Crimson Cannon did impress...how about that beebee he threw to Franklin at the 5 or so??!! I know it's only one game, but if Croyle is consistent and plays like that all year, 9-7 is within reach.

CONNOR BARTH - YES SIR.

MIKE COX - YES AS WELL - great game.

Devard Darling - Did he play? I didn't see him out there. What number is he? He better make a splash or Franklin is going to rob him blind of his spot.

Bobby Sippio - I am interested in seeing more of this guy in a red uni - you guys weren't kidding about his hands.

GLENN DORSEY - we need you...get your ace back quickly.

DUSTIN COLQUITT - Are you serious? Brad Maynard is one of the top punters in the league and you made him look like a novelty act at a child's birthday party.

My offensive players of the game were definitely Herb Taylor and Rudy Niswanger. I would like to see maybe keeping Herb Taylor on the line someway. I didn't think Adrian Jones looked that special. I know we paid a lot of money to Albert, but why not put him at right guard and leave Taylor at left tackle.

I think our defense will be much better when the injured players return. Plus they are getting used to the speed of the game again. I overall liked what I saw yesterday.

WHO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo

Coach of the game: Without any doubt Chan Gailey.

Man this feels good!!

Offensive POGs: Cottam, Croyle, Price, Huard
Defensive POGs: Pollard, DJ
Special Teams POGs: Barth, McGraw, Morgan

Offensive Dissappointments: LJ, DMac
Defensive Dissappointmennt: Page
Special Teams Dissappointment: BJ Sams - NEXT!!!!

Survivors until next week: Wife, kids, dog

I have to agree with Adam about Sippio and Croyle on offense, but the guys that really knocked me out were Herb Taylor - LJ's biggest run came when Herb sealed off the line on the left side to spring him. Wasn't it GREAT to see Brodie calling audibles at the line??!

Meanwhile, over on Defense our erstwhile fullbacking Linebacker Oliver Hoyte made a number of tough stops against the Bears running backs... if he'd gotten any kind of help from the rest of the LB's and secondary...

I think we just have timing and gel issues on D, and they'll get better as the preseason progresses. It occurs to me Gunners focus on the LB's might have hurt us in this game from an overall D view. At times it seemed they were in exactly the wrong formation for the play called by the Bears. Maybe it's just me, but Chicago seemed to have the matchup advantage a LOT.

Thigpen looked like the undersized rook he is, but he seemed to take a large step forward the longer he was in there - I think maybe it was mostly a speed of the game thing for him... that and being a tad too short to see over the dline. I dont think he's ever going to be a long-term solution as a starter, but he has some tools and his adjustments during the game were encouraging even if he did look bad on the whole.

Huard satisfied me that we need to keep him. He's competent and he only costs 2.5 mil against the cap this year. We're not going to find a better insurance policy for that kind of dough from anyone else.

Finally... is it just me or does a Chiefs win just make a lot of other things right with the world?

I've been M.I.A. guys, I know... I just didnt have much to say... But now that the we're getting back to business... So am I...

O players of the game: Brodie Croyle (16-play, 85-yard drive to open the game), Jamaal Charles, and our young recievers, for sure (Webb, Price, Sippio, Franklin, and Cottam)

D players of the game: Derrick Johnson and I saw B. Pollard in a lot of plays (always around the ball is good)

Disappointments....

Let's bring in Pennington. I'm a little shakey with Thigpen. He did O.K. But I wonder how he would've done if it hadnt been for Gould's kick outta bounds and our move to the 40.

I was pretty pissed at our 2nd and 3rd string Deffense. Chicago was running the ball hard.

One more disappointment; Jared Page...

You may be asking why... Well, the play where D. Clark caught a short pass from Kyle Orton... Insteada of wrapping him up, he tries to pop him, but it didnt phase Clark. I was pissed. He should know by know that he needs to wrap the bastard up.... He's gonna get an ear full at the team meeting next practice. Haha!

Oh yeah...

L.J. ALL DAY!! WELCOME BACK, BUDDY!

Offensive Player of the Game: Brodie Croyle

Defensive Player of the Game: Derrick Johnson

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Offensive Disappointment: Tyler Thigpen

Defensive Disappointment: Brandon Flowers

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Special Teams Player of the Game: Connor Barth

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Coach of the Game: Chan Gailey