Kansas City Chiefs vs Carolina Panthers: Game Notes
Aug 17, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Kansas City Chiefs Alex Smith (11) runs a quarterback keeper play during the first half of the game against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports
First Quarter:
* In the first three defensive series where KC held the Panthers to three straight three and outs the defensive front seven controlled the line of scrimmage and pressured Cam Newton enough to keep their offense out of sync. This will be the key for KC all season long. If the front seven stops the run, forces third and long and then pressures the QB, KC will have success. As the first half wore on, that dominance up front disappeared some. I don’t know if that’s because KC scaled things back a little to save it for the regular season or if Carolina made adjustments to counter KC.
* On offense early on Alex Smith did an excellent job of moving around in the pocket, getting the ball out quick, and finding different receivers. Early on, the OL was “holding on” just long enough for Alex to operate. As the half wore on his time seemed to get less and less and the pressure started getting through. When they gave Alex time, he looked like the QB from the Colts playoff game. I remember a criticism of Smith being that he holds onto the ball too long, but in that first quarter I thought he did an excellent job of getting the ball out fast.
* Eric Fisher is not playing well enough right now. I know the Chiefs will give him time to develop because they believe in his upside and have a lot invested in him, but LT is a SCARY position for someone to be learning by the “trial by fire” method.
* Zach Fulton lived up to my previous scouting report on him: he’s solid in the trenches but bad on the move. He got a holding call on one play because he couldn’t lock onto a guy at the second level and on another screen play he simply whiffed on his man. He’s either going to have to improve this quickly or KC is going to have to scheme around it and have different OL pull or lead and leave Fulton pretty stationary.
* Speaking of screen plays……I know they are a staple of Andy Reid’s offense but I think they lose their effectiveness when you call SO many of them. It seemed the slants and crossing routes were working better early on so I’m not sure why they went away from them and became so screen happy.
* Dwayne Bowe looked great. It figures, he gets suspended for the first game and then decides to play great. He better go nuts week two. Knuckle Head!!!!!!
* Ryan Succop boomed that 54 yard field goal. Someone isn’t giving up his spot without a fight.
* KC got lucky on the deep ball overthrow by Newton to Kelvin Benjamin. Abdullah was beaten badly on the play.
* Possibly the most relevant 53 man roster note of the first quarter: Cyrus Gray is always out there with the first string special teams units. You would think that if there was a good chance of him getting cut they would be preparing other guys for those spots, but Gray seems to be one of Dave Toub’s key guys. (More on Gray playing RB later)
On to the second quarter…….