The Kansas City Chiefs Return Friday

After a long and boring offseason filled with courtroom football and contract negotiations, the Kansas City Chiefs will return to the football field this Friday when they take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Arrowhead Stadium.

The game will be nationally televised which is kind of amazing considering this time last year both teams were supposed to be so bad that you couldn’t pay folks outside KC and Tampa to watch them play.

What a difference a year makes. The Chiefs and the Bucs are two of the NFL’s youngest and most exciting teams. It is fitting that they should square off in their first exhibition game of the 2011 season. Both will be looking to prove that their 2010 success was no fluke.

While many NFL fans are bored by the preseason, we are big fans here at AA. While the eventual starters may not be on the field very long in the first preseason game, Friday’s exhibition will be a chance for us to get our first look at the team’s new acquisitions. I am excited to see guys like Allen Bailey, Jerrell Powe and Jonathan Baldwin hit the field. Since Matt Cassel is the unquestioned starter at QB, we’ll likely get a pretty good look at new QB Ricky Stanzi Friday night.

In recent years, the Chiefs were so think on depth that it was always pretty evident who the starters would be at each position. This year, however, the Chiefs are getting deeper and thus guys will be fighting harder for their starting positions than ever before.

The outcome of the game might not matter Friday but what happens on the field certainly does. Make sure you stop by AA to watch the game with us and take part in our live game thread.

Which new player are you most looking forward to watching Friday night?