We won, but....

[Frankenchief]

...

1)

The O-line didn't look good. I was most disappointed in Fisher whom I want so passionately to succeed. It could be that his body is still going through readjusting to the LT position after the travesty of having to play RT all season. Hopefully it's only a muscle memory issue that will go away soon. But he was overpowered on almost all plays. I thought he put extra emphasis on getting stronger this off season. Boy, it did not show!

The rest of the O-line was poor, but we all now O-lines need to gel and this one hasn't had the time to do so. But that gelling needs to come by the time the season starts or we are in deep trouble. Somewhat on the bight side, though, was the play of rookie Zack Fulton whom I did not see make rookie mistakes.

2)

Ron Parker, was bad. I don't know why, but I expected better play out of him, hoping he was one of those diamonds in the rough we might have lucked into.

3)

I soooo wanted Tyler Bray to do well.... OUCH!... In my perfect world he will develop to be our long term starter. There was one pass though that impressed me. It was a bullet completion that traveled a fair distance with velocity all from a flick of his wrist. My thought is he saw his allotment of 3rd quarter play was in danger when he finally took the field at midpoint. I think he forced it and wanted to impress immediately, given he was short of time. That's when a young QB falls into the trap of immaturity. Looking forward to the next game to see how he does.

4)

Ho hum was all I can say about another player whom I want soooo much to succeed. TE Demetrius Harris. I love this formula of making TEs out of ex basketball players. seems to be a natural transition. I'm still holding a lot of homerish hope for Harris. Go get 'em DH.

5)

I have nothing against Succop, but I've been hoping Santos would win the job, if nothing else, for the cap savings. Didn't like Santos' kickoffs.

OK, now that I have played devil's advocate, let's look at some positives and/or pleasant surprises.

1)

WR Wilson. My son, having seen him play against Iowa, had told me he'd be good, when we signed him. He certainly did not disappoint.

2)

D'Antony Thomas. Some kids are gang busters in college, but get lost in the pros. I think he will be something special.

3)

Cyrus Grey has been a favorite of mine ever since we drafted him. Quietly one of our better RBs. I like his determined style when he runs. Hopefully he will make the roster and contribute.

4)

I'm gonna keep my eyes on Malcolm Thomas. Something tells me HE could be that diamond in the rough in the secondary that I was hoping Parker was.

5)

Last but not least, TRAVIS KELCE baby!!!! Yes it was against the scrubs, but that speed for a TE?! That should be illegal! people who have compared him to Moeaki never stopped to think that Moeaki's injury history was way more extensive. Kelce's was of freak timing. Right at the start of his pro career. That's all.

I know all of this is from a small sampling of one preseason game. So things can change starting the next game. Hopefully for the better.

[Justin5772002]

...

1)

The O-line didn't look good. I was most disappointed in Fisher whom I want so passionately to succeed. It could be that his body is still going through readjusting to the LT position after the travesty of having to play RT all season. Hopefully it's only a muscle memory issue that will go away soon. But he was overpowered on almost all plays. I thought he put extra emphasis on getting stronger this off season. Boy, it did not show!

The rest of the O-line was poor, but we all now O-lines need to gel and this one hasn't had the time to do so. But that gelling needs to come by the time the season starts or we are in deep trouble. Somewhat on the bight side, though, was the play of rookie Zack Fulton whom I did not see make rookie mistakes.

2)

Ron Parker, was bad. I don't know why, but I expected better play out of him, hoping he was one of those diamonds in the rough we might have lucked into.

3)

I soooo wanted Tyler Bray to do well.... OUCH!... In my perfect world he will develop to be our long term starter. There was one pass though that impressed me. It was a bullet completion that traveled a fair distance with velocity all from a flick of his wrist. My thought is he saw his allotment of 3rd quarter play was in danger when he finally took the field at midpoint. I think he forced it and wanted to impress immediately, given he was short of time. That's when a young QB falls into the trap of immaturity. Looking forward to the next game to see how he does.

4)

Ho hum was all I can say about another player whom I want soooo much to succeed. TE Demetrius Harris. I love this formula of making TEs out of ex basketball players. seems to be a natural transition. I'm still holding a lot of homerish hope for Harris. Go get 'em DH.

5)

I have nothing against Succop, but I've been hoping Santos would win the job, if nothing else, for the cap savings. Didn't like Santos' kickoffs.

OK, now that I have played devil's advocate, let's look at some positives and/or pleasant surprises.

1)

WR Wilson. My son, having seen him play against Iowa, had told me he'd be good, when we signed him. He certainly did not disappoint.

2)

D'Antony Thomas. Some kids are gang busters in college, but get lost in the pros. I think he will be something special.

3)

Cyrus Grey has been a favorite of mine ever since we drafted him. Quietly one of our better RBs. I like his determined style when he runs. Hopefully he will make the roster and contribute.

4)

I'm gonna keep my eyes on Malcolm Thomas. Something tells me HE could be that diamond in the rough in the secondary that I was hoping Parker was.

5)

Last but not least, TRAVIS KELCE baby!!!! Yes it was against the scrubs, but that speed for a TE?! That should be illegal! people who have compared him to Moeaki never stopped to think that Moeaki's injury history was way more extensive. Kelce's was of freak timing. Right at the start of his pro career. That's all.

I know all of this is from a small sampling of one preseason game. So things can change starting the next game. Hopefully for the better.

from what Reid said in his post game interview the kickers were instructed to keep the ball in play. Succup kept sailing them out and Santos did what he was told to do on knockoffs.

[Seek]

Malcom Thomas. Do you mean Malcom Bronson? If so I am going to keep an eye on him too. I liked his ball awareness.

[ctchiefsfan]

Yes.....I'm glad we won the game. Glad any time we win a game--even preseason.

But I did not find the win very encouraging. Reminded me too much of the first 9 games last year with Defense and Special Teams always saving the offense's butt. I was hoping to see the 1st string offense come out with all guns blazing and really lighting things up. Didn't happen.

Yes....I know that Reid likes to keep his cards close to his vest and that he probably has some wild and wacky plans that we won't start to see until the regular season, but I would have liked to have seen Alex Smith and the starting offense put up at least 10 or 14 points rather than 3..

The Defense.....Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde. Either getting burned or getting a pick-6. Heart attack city. Reminds me of last year.

Special Teams.....What is there to say? Toub is a Genius! Top 5 in the NFL.

[brdempsey69]

...

1)

The O-line didn't look good. I was most disappointed in Fisher whom I want so passionately to succeed. It could be that his body is still going through readjusting to the LT position after the travesty of having to play RT all season. Hopefully it's only a muscle memory issue that will go away soon. But he was overpowered on almost all plays. I thought he put extra emphasis on getting stronger this off season. Boy, it did not show!



Not to make excuses, but according to this link here, Fisher has not participated in any 1-on-1 OL/DL drills until today.

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/article-2/89-Camp-Recap-Alumni-Watch-Chiefs-Back-at-Practice/c69eb103-cb96-480c-8033-b244d669528e

Yes, he's got work to do & lots of room for improvement and personally, I never liked playing him out of position at RT in his rookie season, as I believed this would set his development at LT back a year and he probably wouldn't fully arrive until year 3. Time will tell.

[jap1]

My observations:

first, it a preseason game and we didn't see anything more than the most basic, vanilla offense and defense. We did blitz more than expected, though. That was likely because they wanted to test our secondary's ability to cover man while blitzing.

i don't think Fisher played horribly as an individual. The strip sack he gave up wasn't entirely his fault. Allen got beat as well, which kept Smith from stepping up to avoid Fisher's guy. Smith held on to it too long (because no WR were open). Granted Fisher could have done a better job, but not entirely his fault. He is going to take some time to not be overpowered. His shoulder surgery really kept him from strengthening his upper body during the offseason.

Overall, I hope to see the OL do better, which the homer in me hopes smoke time will allow them to gel and improve.

I liked what I saw from Bailey and the rest of the DL. It will be interesting when we start adding in more complicated blitz packages.

Special teams looks great again. Granted it was preseason and many of the people playing ST may not even be on a team in a month. De'Anthony Thomas showed that despite his size he can catch in traffic and take a hit. His acceleration is ridiculous. He went from stumbling to 100 instantly.

Secondary is suspect, but no more than it was last year. The refs are going to be calling a LOT of defensive PI calls this year. They are told to make an emphasis on contact past 5 yds and def holding. This is going to hurt teams that play man press (I.e. Us, the Seahwaks, etc).

Kelce has some good speed. I just want to know if he has the ability to get open against the 1s. If so, he can be dangerous.

I hope we see more of the A.Smith to DBowe slant passes. It is what DB excels at, and how he needs to be used to draw the LB or Safety to get the TE or RB open.

JC hasn't lost a step. Knile picked up right where he left off. Cyrus Gray is making a strong case for why he needs to be on the team as a backup RB and ST player.

I was impressed by some of the depth players on defense. I think our front 7 has much better depth this year.

[matthewschiefs]

Outside of getting all excited just for the return of football I don't put much of anything on preseason game 1. Game 2 and 3 are the ones that I take things away from. The good news is that even with the team not looking as sharp as they could the Chiefs still beat a team that went to the playoffs last season. But I will say this if this D doesn't get it together real fast be ready for a weekly rant about just how bad this defense can be. Although they did cause some turnovers and got some pick 6s they still gave up WAY WAY to many points.

[ctchiefsfan]

Can't argue with that. I like Sutton's high risk, press the quarterback style of defense, and we saw last year that it CAN WORK.....but one or two injuries and all of a sudden we can't stop a high school team. SCAREY!!!!

[Seek]

Not to make excuses, but according to this link here, Fisher has not participated in any 1-on-1 OL/DL drills until today.

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/article-2/89-Camp-Recap-Alumni-Watch-Chiefs-Back-at-Practice/c69eb103-cb96-480c-8033-b244d669528e

Yes, he's got work to do & lots of room for improvement and personally, I never liked playing him out of position at RT in his rookie season, as I believed this would set his development at LT back a year and he probably wouldn't fully arrive until year 3. Time will tell.

I know you feel he is out of position, but from what I saw, he was pushed aside on that sack Fumble like he was a feather. I don't see how out of position fixes that.

[jason1981]

I know you feel he is out of position, but from what I saw, he was pushed aside on that sack Fumble like he was a feather. I don't see how out of position fixes that.

Remember it took albert a few years. I remember his 1st year he was awful and needed to be replaced but then the next season he improved. Fisher just started to do one on one drills which doesnt make sense if that was true why did they put him in the game if he wasnt ready. Anyways Il give him till mid season before il start to wonder if he is a bust or not. But just remember alberts 1st 2 years wasnt great at all.

[Justin5772002]

Remember it took albert a few years. I remember his 1st year he was awful and needed to be replaced but then the next season he improved. Fisher just started to do one on one drills which doesnt make sense if that was true why did they put him in the game if he wasnt ready. Anyways Il give him till mid season before il start to wonder if he is a bust or not. But just remember alberts 1st 2 years wasnt great at all.
He's already way ahead of Luke Joekel. If we must Donald Stephenson can move back over to left Tackle again and Fish can swing back to right. I agree with mid season try outs, if not performing by mid season switch them up.

[Seek]

Remember it took albert a few years. I remember his 1st year he was awful and needed to be replaced but then the next season he improved. Fisher just started to do one on one drills which doesnt make sense if that was true why did they put him in the game if he wasnt ready. Anyways Il give him till mid season before il start to wonder if he is a bust or not. But just remember alberts 1st 2 years wasnt great at all.

And Albert is gone because the Chiefs didn't think he was worth what he was asking to be paid and they just let him walk without any compensation. Sorry but Fisher unfairly comes with a much higher expectation being the #1 over all than comparing him to Brandon Albert.

His season at RT last year has pretty much labeled him a bust and only hopes of him "playing out of position" is the only last hope to get some values from this pick. The problems I saw with him last year was him getting man handled and I feel moving him to LT is a mistake. However, I have not heard anything good about Donald Stephenson this year which was my argument against the move.

So regardless of him not doing one on one drills. For the few plays he was in. The same concerns are not just still there, they are now magnified and I can only HOPE that he gets better at his weakest part of the game which ironcially needs to best skills set a LT has. I can't optomistically think things will be okay with excuses of him being out of position, or he is not getting one on one work. He is a huge issue on this line but not the only Huge issue on this line. The whole line is in trouble.

[matthewschiefs]

And Albert is gone because the Chiefs didn't think he was worth what he was asking to be paid and they just let him walk without any compensation. Sorry but Fisher unfairly comes with a much higher expectation being the #1 over all than comparing him to Brandon Albert.

His season at RT last year has pretty much labeled him a bust and only hopes of him "playing out of position" is the only last hope to get some values from this pick. The problems I saw with him last year was him getting man handled and I feel moving him to LT is a mistake. However, I have not heard anything good about Donald Stephenson this year which was my argument against the move.

So regardless of him not doing one on one drills. For the few plays he was in. The same concerns are not just still there, they are now magnified and I can only HOPE that he gets better at his weakest part of the game which ironcially needs to best skills set a LT has. I can't optomistically think things will be okay with excuses of him being out of position, or he is not getting one on one work. He is a huge issue on this line but not the only Huge issue on this line. The whole line is in trouble.

I think there is more hope then playing out of position with Fisher

1. He was a ROOKIE. People forget that. They see the few rookies who are able to come in and right away make an major impact and make that the normal way. Those are the exceptions. More often then not rookies come in and struggle when they are getting their feet wet. Fisher was no different in that case.

2. The improvement he showed by the end of the year. While I can't say that he was playing at a high level I did see a MAJOR improvement in his play by the end of the year. That's what I look for in Rookies for hope. If they show improvement I'm always looking forward to seeing what they look like year 2. I'm looking forward to seeing Fisher in year 2.

I was vocal in the off season that I think they are mishandling Fisher. I think they are setting him up to fail. I mean they brought him in ask him to change position from right to left which is a bigger adjustment then most think then right as he's progressing in that spot they are going to move him right back and he's going to have to adjust back to the spot he was playing before. It's a mess. But I will trust the Reid knows what he's doing and hope that Fisher does well. But I haven't been a fan of how they have handled him at all. But we shall see how this all works. They let Albert walk not only due to money which he wasn't worth his asking price IMO but they are taking a gamble on Fisher's upside. So we all better hope it works.

[brdempsey69]

^^ Plus they will get a compensatory pick for Albert's departure. As I said before, Fisher will probably perform better in his 2nd season, then what Albert did in his 2nd season in 2009.

My concern is Jeff Allen at LG and he was the chief culprit that caused that sack to happen last Thursday night. I'm hoping LDT keeps progressing and beats him out of the LG position.

[Frankenchief]

from what Reid said in his post game interview the kickers were instructed to keep the ball in play. Succup kept sailing them out and Santos did what he was told to do on knockoffs.

Yes I heard this to AFTER my thread was posted. I guess that puts Santos slightly ahead. It sounded like Succup went rogue.

[Frankenchief]

Malcom Thomas. Do you mean Malcom Bronson? If so I am going to keep an eye on him too. I liked his ball awareness.

YES. I actually said Bronson in my mind and still typed Thomas. Bizarre!

[Frankenchief]

Not to make excuses, but according to this link here, Fisher has not participated in any 1-on-1 OL/DL drills until today.

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/article-2/89-Camp-Recap-Alumni-Watch-Chiefs-Back-at-Practice/c69eb103-cb96-480c-8033-b244d669528eson, as I believed this would set his development at LT back a year and he probably wouldn't fully arrive until year 3. Time will tell.

Good point. I'm sure he will be a solid LT in time. I just hope he'll get there quickly. His arrival will be the most important factor in the gelling of the O-line.

[Frankenchief]

The refs are going to be calling a LOT of defensive PI calls this year. They are told to make an emphasis on contact past 5 yds and def holding. This is going to hurt teams that play man press (I.e. Us, the Seahwaks, etc).

Welcome to NFL's "Peyton's Lombardi" project. They will do all they can to have Manning get his second SB championship. If our guys breath in his or his receivers' face they'll be flagged. just watch.

[ctchiefsfan]

Welcome to NFL's "Peyton's Lombardi" project. They will do all they can to have Manning get his second SB championship. If our guys breath in his or his receivers' face they'll be flagged. just watch.

This is probably true. And it may bite us in the butt this year. But no team is capable of beating the Zebras if they have an "agenda" especially an NFL-ordered agenda. So we have to field a defense that is designed to defend a pass-happy NFL. I wish we had more strength in the secondary, but if you don't have that, the best choice is to pressure the enemy quarterback. Once the NFL GIVES PM and Elway another Super Bowl things will go back to normal and our style of defense should be very effective.

[Eydugstr]

The thing is this...This year, I hope KC plays a game against Denver where we don't shoot ourselves in the foot, in addition to what the zebras do to us, especially like what happened in the second game last year, where we drive the ball straight down the field only to throw an INT at the goal line. Not to mention all the dropped passes.

With that being said, after what happened last year, figure out a way to get in PM's face...That ball is up for grabs. Pass rush, there is no substitute. That's why Dee Ford's in KC, that's why TJ got sent to Altanta in favor of Vance Walker.

[ctchiefsfan]

Yup. Pressure on the enemy QB is the name of the game in this NFL.

[doobs_05]

Welcome to NFL's "Peyton's Lombardi" project. They will do all they can to have Manning get his second SB championship. If our guys breath in his or his receivers' face they'll be flagged. just watch.
It helps Peyton but it also helps other QBs and you get to see more passing yards, more TDs which = more $$$$$$$$$ for the NFL, they'll make more money having high score game then they will with defensive battles

[Frankenchief]

It helps Peyton but it also helps other QBs and you get to see more passing yards, more TDs which = more $$$$$$$$$ for the NFL, they'll make more money having high score game then they will with defensive battles

Other QBs are peripheral benefitiaries of the "Peyton Rule." You know this was designed after what happened in the last SB because Peyton's window is closing and the NFL LOVES to hand him another Lombardi.

[Seek]

Good point. I'm sure he will be a solid LT in time. I just hope he'll get there quickly. His arrival will be the most important factor in the gelling of the O-line.

So Fisher is being analyzed by former offensive lineman for the local media here and they are all basically saying the same thing. His initial punch is too slow and if he does not fix this he will never make it in the NFL. Tim Grunhardt was on this morning and said, it is a very big concern because he had mentioned this to the radio heads before camp started and he has seen no improvments. However, he did say that one on one drills will help this but really this is something that instinct. If you don't have the punch it is not something you can easily develop.

He also said that he watched the entire offensive line and he is concerned that they are not finishing their blocks. He said this was something he learned very early with Okoye. If you did not finish your blocks he just ran over you to make the hole. He did say though that the offensive line coach was working on this with them.

[Frankenchief]

So Fisher is being analyzed by former offensive lineman for the local media here and they are all basically saying the same thing. His initial punch is too slow and if he does not fix this he will never make it in the NFL. Tim Grunhardt was on this morning and said, it is a very big concern because he had mentioned this to the radio heads before camp started and he has seen no improvments. However, he did say that one on one drills will help this but really this is something that instinct. If you don't have the punch it is not something you can easily develop.

He also said that he watched the entire offensive line and he is concerned that they are not finishing their blocks. He said this was something he learned very early with Okoye. If you did not finish your blocks he just ran over you to make the hole. He did say though that the offensive line coach was working on this with them.

This sounds like a good point. But is it not obvious to our O-line coach or Reid who himself was one in the past? Seems like an easy fix. Maybe Grunhardt should email Chung ad Reid on this in case (unlikely) they have missed this little detail.

[jap1]

So Fisher is being analyzed by former offensive lineman for the local media here and they are all basically saying the same thing. His initial punch is too slow and if he does not fix this he will never make it in the NFL. Tim Grunhardt was on this morning and said, it is a very big concern because he had mentioned this to the radio heads before camp started and he has seen no improvments. However, he did say that one on one drills will help this but really this is something that instinct. If you don't have the punch it is not something you can easily develop.

He also said that he watched the entire offensive line and he is concerned that they are not finishing their blocks. He said this was something he learned very early with Okoye. If you did not finish your blocks he just ran over you to make the hole. He did say though that the offensive line coach was working on this with them.

I really like our coaching staff and think they are pretty good ... except for the OL coaches. I have never been impressed by them and I think they are the weak links from a coaching perspective.

[Frankenchief]

I really like our coaching staff and think they are pretty good ... except for the OL coaches. I have never been impressed by them and I think they are the weak links from a coaching perspective.

And like I said, Reid is an old O-line coach himself. That's the irony.

[ctchiefsfan]

Y'know.....Fisher CAN do the job. But he needs to get coached up right. But he surely has the potential. He'll do "OK" this year but not too much more than that. But bust or star will me determined by coaching. And he is not being coached primarily by Andy Reid. Reid is not the O-line coach. He's the Head Coach and his specialty is offensive schemes. That is what he did best in Philthy. He delegates O-Line coaching.....as he should. Time will tell if Fisher was worth the first pick overall, I think probably not. But eventually he will be an important part of the team.