Looking Back, Looking Forward: Chiefs Notes For Vikings, Seahawks

It wasn’t only a crazy weekend for the Chiefs, as they entered a bizarro world in which Brett Favre wore purple and sold-out crowds and millions of TV viewers watched their preseason games. It was also a crazy weekend for me. I adopted a pair of one-year-old cats — Andre and Antwan, but it would have been Page and Pollard if Page didn’t sound so feminine — from the Humane Society, aka Michael Vick’s new buddies. The brothers are now more sick than watching Barry Richardson block made me last Friday. In between the trips to the vet and the pet store, I’ve managed to re-watch the Chiefs-Vikings game on the ol’ DVR. This is what I took away from the game:

Vikings Preseason Game Recap:

One of Cassel's many successful scrambles.

Matt Cassel looked fantastic. Sure, he had two bad passes that could have been picked, but he had absolutely no blocking. Besides, the passes weren’t picked. He made things happen with both his arm and his feet and avoided turning the ball over. Get used to seeing him hit Dwayne Bowe while scrambling on broken plays. Their “parking lot pigskin” plays may not look pretty, but they’ll be hard to stop. The Chiefs must be feeling good about Cassel and back-up Brodie Croyle if they are discussing moving Tyler Thigpen to Jacksonville.

Todd Haley, it’s time to insert Dwayne Bowe back into the starting line-up (as it seems you have). The guy has star written all over him. If you’re a fantasy owner, D-Bowe is the Chief you want. Especially if this “demotion” caused him to slide down your league’s draft board.

Corey Mays. He’s this season’s poster child for overexcited Chiefs fans. Do I like him? Yes. The kid flies to the ball, is intelligent and isn’t afraid to wallop somebody upside their head. Should we wait a few weeks before calling him the next Bobby Bell? Most definitely. We’ve all been burned by preseason performers and training camp titans before. The book is still out on Mays, but he’s been impressive so far.

I know the game was on “Vikings Cam” or whatever, but did the NFLN tell Mike Mayock before the game that he would get fined every time he added any color about the Chiefs?

Tamba Hali, you must have been really overweight/out of shape last year. You look slim and fast. I am downright shocked you are playing so well. You are flying to the ball like a heat-seeking missile.

Rudy Niswanger is a joke. I’ve been saying this for two years. I think the masses are finally starting to agree. Kevin Williams one on one against Rudy was like me trying to fight Brock Lesnar. It was a one-sided ass whoopin’.

If you think Niswanger was bad, Barry Richardson was even worse. Barry Mannilow could have blocked better.

Larry Johnson ran the ball pretty well considering the blocking. He looks trim, too. Meanwhile, Jamaal Charles would have had a standout performance if it wasn’t for one of the most embarrassing fumbles I’ve ever seen. Was that Casper who popped that ball loose?

Derrick Johnson got trucked a couple of times and got burned deep by Visanthe Shiancoe. Not feeling No. 56 right now.

Jarrad Page was a difference maker out there. The play where he wrangled and brought down Adrian Peterson in the backfield really impressed me. That can’t be easy to do.

Maurice Leggett is a ballplayer. Hard not to love the kid considering his balls-to-the-wall playing style.

Shouldn’t the Chiefs, of all teams, have known that Benny Sapp was coming on that corner blitz? I was yelling “blitz, BLITZ!” at my TV screen. Maybe with all the changeover many of us at home knew the scouting report on Sapp better than the Chiefs did?

The defensive line looked pretty good. How do I figure? The rest of the D was able to penetrate, especially on passing downs. That means Glenn Dorsey, Tank Tyler, Tyson Jackson and Co. were doing a solid job of occupying the Vikings’ offensive lineman up front.

Overall it was a much, much better performance from the Chiefs. The first game was a D-. This game was more like a B+ considering all the new pieces and a stronger opponent on the road.

Five Early Thoughts on the Seahawks Game:

Housh and Branch will test the young Chiefs.

The Seahawks handed the Broncos a beatdown last week. Jim Mora, in my opinion, is a terrible coach. But he prepares diligently and is a good motivator. The Seahawks should be ready for the game.

1. It’s going to be important to continue seeing development in Matt Cassel’ decision making under pressure.

2. Dwayne Bowe should terrorize the ‘Hawks without Marcus Trufant around to cover him.

3. The Seahawks have a pretty stout front seven. Will our offensive line once again get annihilated? Will the imports from the Dolphins have any impact?

4. Walter Jones is out, so look for our defensive line to continue to improve against a so-so Seattle offensive line unit.

5. Will Deion Branch, Nate Burleson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh torch our young secondary, or will Brandon Flowers and crew be up to the task? That is, if Seattle’s receivers don’t catch some weird new plague this week. Remember how they were dropping like flies last season?

(Adam Best is the senior editor of Arrowhead Addict. Follow him daily via email/RSS feed and Twitter.)