Kansas City Chiefs vs Carolina Panthers: Game Notes
Aug 17, 2014; Charlotte, NC, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Aaron Murray (7) drops back to pass during the third quarter against the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Third Quarter:
* Cyrus Gray continues to look good running the football. He’s not as explosive as Charles or Davis, but he runs hard, smart, and makes good cuts. You combine those abilities running the football with his key contributions on special teams and I just can’t see him not making the final 53 man roster.
* Chase Daniel looked bad. His one long completion felt like it was in the air for about 20 minutes and then he had that HORRIBLE underthrown ball to Gray that should have been a TD and cost KC four points. I like Chase and think he’s probably the only QB besides Smith that could mentally handle the full offense if Smith went down, but I’m just not sure you can justify cutting Tyler Bray or Aaron Murray when they clearly have so much more upside. I’d trade Chase Daniel for a 7th round pick in a heartbeat.
* Right on cue, Aaron Murray comes in a puts a perfect touch pass on Travis Kelce who for the second week in a row runs for a “beast mode” type TD. I think you can make a strong case for Kelce being the second most physically gifted offensive weapon for KC after Jamaal Charles. The Chiefs need to get him more involved with the first string offense.
* Right now Dee Ford is a one trick pony. He’s REALLY fast and a definite pass rush weapon. KC will be wise to get him in on clear passing downs to take advantage of that speed on the outside. However, he is a liability in both run defense and coverage. I actually think Josh Martin might be a better every down starter at OLB if either Hali or Houston went down. That’s partly because I think Martin has looked good and partly because Ford needs a lot of work in those non-blitzing facets of the game.
* In the second half KC is getting pushed around up front on defense and Fozzy Whittaker is going bananas. However, the fact that KC was missing both Mike DeVito and Mike Catapano meant the defensive line was short on depth tonight. Assuming DeVito would have started, we probably would have seen Howard and Catapano with the second string and that may have helped in the trenches in the third quarter.
* Murray followed up his nice TD pass with an interception. He shouldn’t have thrown that ball, but it looked like Demetrius Harris should have fought for it and allowed the defender to get in front of him.
* Phillip Gaines gets beat for a touchdown. With Ron Parker playing so poorly it would be nice to see Gaines step up and possibly pass him by, but it looks like he’ll need more time to develop.
* If you were playing some kind of drinking game where you took a drink every time there was a screen pass or a Chiefs penalty you’d be dead by now.
On to the fourth quarter……