Preseason game 1 in the books and if you aren’t a little excited about what you saw, than you should be. Here are my thoughts of what I am going to take from this first preseason game for the Kansas City Chiefs.
-It was the Arizona Cardinals. I realize the Cardinals aren’t any good. In fact they are awful.
And so I will temper my enthusiasm a little, but after picking them to win 9 games in another article today, I feel really good about that pick.
-Jamaal Charles and Peyton Hillis look healthy. Charles was showing no ill effects of last years injury. He was quick and elusive and while he didn’t get to show off a lot of straight line speed, seemed to be back in form. Hillis showed the power he did 2 years ago in Cleveland and the 2 of them together look like a very promising duo.
-Cyrus Gray wants to make the team. If this team wants to run the football, keeping Gray on the final roster seems to make perfect sense.
-Matt Cassel seems to be playing with more confidence. Maybe he heard Dwayne Bowe was in town, but his throws were crisp and even moreso his body language read confidence to me, and with the skill players he has being confident is key.
-The offense line is ready to run block. Again, it’s against the Cardinals, but still the unit as a whole looked solid. This offense looks to use its backs in the run and passing game, and this line looks to be on the right page.
-Dontari Poe was a non factor-But that’s ok. He’s a work in progress. Like I said in my Rookie Impact Report, Poe has tons of potential but the film wasn’t there. It’s going to take him some time to get involved, but I am hopeful he will. Not to mention Anthony Toribio looked solid.
-The pass rush looks promising. The tandem of Tamba Hali and Justin Houston look poised to have a nice season. I especially like Houston’s get off on several plays. Add in guys like Jerrell Powe and Cameron Sheffield as rotation players and there’s a lot to be excited about.
It was only the first preseason game, but Chiefs fans, feel good that the new system and the new players are starting to gel, and most of all that all those injured players are looking healthy and ready to return to 2010 form.
-Curt Popejoy
Look for even more on the next preseason game, and don’t forget to come find me on twitter @nfldraftboard.
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