Despite losing their preseason opener, the Kansas City Chiefs looked good last weekend.
The Chiefs were efficient and, dare I say, fairly explosive on offense against Seattle’s first-team defense. The sample size was insanely small, but looking good is better than looking bad.
Still, there is plenty of room to improve. The first-string defense didn’t have the same luster, allowing Seattle huge chunks of yardage on the ground. The Seahawks were only kept out of the end zone because Russell Wilson made a poor throw, and Marcus Peters is a demigod.
This Saturday, the Los Angeles Rams are the next opponent. Los Angeles is a team with one player on offense (Todd Gurley) and nobody else. While the CHiefs won’t gameplan for this contest, it stands to reason that the secondary should play well. If it doesn’t, there could be cause for concern.
Ultimately, this is a preseason game. The score does not matter, but the process does. Last week, we saw so many good things ranging from Chris Jones and Dadi Nicolas to Alex Smith and the offensive line. It all looked terrific.
Yet, Dee Ford was awful. And I mean awful. He failed to set the edge against the run multiple times and was stonewalled in pass-rush situations. He needs to be much, much better in Week 2. If he continues to struggle, defensive coordinator Bob Sutton will need to start trying to hide him.
On the offensive side, it would be nice to see Nick Foles sling in against his old team. Barring disaster, Foles won’t be seeing the field until the third quarter, meaning he sees the backups. Time to torch the team that let you walk.
Finally, the Chiefs must display consistency. We need to see the offensive line go out and dominate another strong defensive front four. We need to see Smith continuing to make the tough throws, especially to Jeremy Maclin and Travis Kelce.
Luckily, we don’t have to wait much longer.