0-4 It Is: Notes from Packers vs. Chiefs

I have never seen a preseason game where the Chiefs acted like they wanted to win it as badly as the preseason game between the Chiefs and Packers. And the result was a five turnover, 20-19 loss. And although it is just another preseason game, I am disappointed at the result of the game.

As you remember, last preseason, the Chiefs were 0-3 until they finally beat the Packers in their last preseason game. We all remember how the rest of the season went. If the Chiefs had done the same this preseason, I would have interpreted this as a sign from the football gods that everything is going to be ok. Instead I get this ambiguous result of a loss, even with many of our starters playing the entire game. I don't want to say that losing a game to a team's second and third string is disheartening, but it definitely is not encouraging.

What the Chiefs could have done better

Besides the loss, we didn't even really accomplish the golden rule of the preseason: avoid injuries. At separate times during the game, the Chiefs had Cassel, Charles, Berry, Moeaki, and McClain limp off the field with injuries. If any of these players had been seriously injured, our season would be in jeopardy. Luckily, that is not the case.

Five turnovers. Seriously? Two by Jamaal Charles. Are you kidding me? Palko accounted for three turnovers? Alright, that I believe. We ran 86 plays to Green Bay's 42 for 405 total yards to Green Bay's 122. For the Chiefs to not come out with a win seems like a statistical anomaly except for the fact that we couldn't hang on to the football.

Holding penalties are still a problem for the Chiefs, and Barry Richardson is still apart of it. Unfortunately, however, he's not the only one. Asamoah was flagged for two holds in the game against back ups, and Gaither was even flagged once while playing right tackle. Between the amount of penalties and the amount of turnovers, the Chiefs are playing very fundamentally unsound football right now.

What the Chiefs did right


Well, they didn't hold anything back. Players like Dwayne Bowe and Jamaal Charles played into the fourth quarter; Dustin Colquitt completed a pass on a fake punt; Todd Haley called for the onside kick. I enjoyed this aggressive style of play in the final preseason game.

Matt Cassel, before leaving the game after having the wind knocked out of him, finally looked pretty good. He went 15 of 17 for 129 yards and 1 touchdown. Cassel was even 4 for 4 of 3rd Downs, for three 1st down conversions and one sack. These are much better numbers than in the previous preseason games this year, but I'm not going to be too encouraged considering most of his success came after Green Bay's starters had exited the game. So, consider me cautiously optimistic about his performance.

Dexter McCluster has been the Chiefs MVP this preseason. He's been running out of the backfield, catching passes out of the backfield, catching passes out of the slot, pass protecting on third down, and being an all around good player. This was especially displayed when he made a leaping catch on third down and a twisting catch in the end zone. I'm excited to see how the Chiefs use McCluster this year and I hope they really open up the playbook for this guy.

And, as always, just another typical Chiefs preseason game.